Because the clock is ticking, and I’m not sure if we have years or only months.
(Originally posted yesterday on the TechLearning Blog)
It’s Sunday, and I’m on my way out the door for my state’s ed tech conference, NCETC.I cannot think of any year, in the past six or seven, that I have feltthis optimistic about our future as educators. Spending much of my timeat conferences, I am hearing less and less about test prep, and moreabout 21st century skills and new literacies. The latest indicator ofchanging times comes from Susan McLester and Todd McIntire’s article inthe November issue of Technology and Learning magazine. The title, The Workforce Readiness Crisis struck me by its use of the word crisis.
I’ve written some lately about why we might need to start using scare tactics to facilitate change (see Scare Em). Talking about a crisis certainly does that. The authors described a recent report, released by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Society for Human Resource Management. The Workforce Readiness Report Card(pdf) claims that this nation’s new workforce entrants are…
woefully ill-prepared for the demands of today’s — and tomorrow’s — workplace.
The survey of employers was designed to verify assumptions about theupcoming workforce. However, “..even those commissioning the reportwere (not) prepared for the dramatic results.”
The following graphs (generated from data available in the report)indicate the percentage of respondents who found employees right out ofschool to be deficient in applied skills (blue), adequate (red), andexcellent (yellow). The skills are sorted in order of their importanceas indicated by employers of workers by education level.
A mere glance clearly indicates that workers coming out of a 4-yearcollege faired far better than the other two categories, while highschool graduates entering the workforce seem totally unprepared for the21st century workplace. This data deserves much consideration, but atthis point I’ll only mention some of the obvious:
- At all three levels, the applied skill that employers seemthe most satisfied with are graduates’ application of informationtechnology.
- They also seem relatively satisfied with worker’s understanding of diversity issues.
- One skill that seems deficient at all levels is written expression.
So why am I optimistic? Because this is scary stuff. What employersthink about the products of education’s work is far more important thanwhat our celebrated test scores show — especially in a time where theglobal competitive labor market practically defines today’s worldeconomy.
The message is clear. If we want to go back to the basics, thenbasic is what we’ll get, and that is clearly not enough for the 21stcentury experience. If we do want citizens who are prepared tocontribute and prosper in an information-driven, technology-rich world,then it is time for education to re-invent itself.
The clock is ticking, and I’m not sure if we have years or only months.
Afternote:
Conn McQuinn commented on yesterday’s posting of this piece. He suggested research that shows that “positive vision that clearly describes the potential benefits of changing, rather than the negative consequences of NOT changing..” is more effective. I agree, and had read the article (Change or Die) in FastCompany that reported this research. I suspect, though, that a combination what we need. Shock factor is necessary, because of the extreme entrenchment of today’s edu-culture. Then share the compelling positive vision — the New Story.
technorati tags:warlick, future, education, educationreform, workreadiness
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Hi,
I find the subject of Education fascinating and it’s even more fascinating to see what is happening around the world, in different cultures and systems. You are right ofcourse, Education needs to re-invent itself. In fact it has to be an ongoing process, it has to be dynamic. Nowadays I find that the world is completely absorbed with Science and Technology and ofcourse, the greatest changes are happening there. Eduation by contrast is neglected. But ironically, it’s Education which drives every thing, all other subjects.
I agree if we only focus on basics, that’s what we’ll get, but much of the basics is so important, particularly (this coming from a Social Studies teacher) in history. If technology can be used to reinforce the basics or make them easier to learn, then I’m all for it.
Using calculators to do math is a perfect example. When we were in school, our teachers would have scoffed at the idea that we need not figure it out by ourselves.
One of the problems I see is that educators are so focused on what will prepare students for the “real world”, but we really focus most or our attention on business. What about those who will be making decisions that affect all our lives, particularly in government. It’s astounding how little history today’s kids know, almost frightening. I hope history isn’t the basics we are talking about putting aside for “skills”.
David: I love your blog! I read it often. Why don’t we start a national Gagged for a Week Campaign in our schools? With this experiment, the teacher must write everything down and each student must put up a card with their understanding of what the teacher wrote.
It would be painful and ugly, yes. But no tech and one-to-one. Maybe it would open our eyes to the painful truth: we are creating a world where we don’t know how to communicate with one another. At the same time, we are stirring in built-in barriers that diversity brings such as language barriers, etc.
I take online classes at UOP and what I love the most is that everyone is required to post a written response in the newsgroup. Unlike the traditional classroom, they cannot just sit there and ‘get by.’ We also work in teams – and we help each other – sometimes with great pain at the lack of writing skills for some in the group.
If I go to Yahoo Answers, there are dozens of people looking for help with their homework. Those who get replies, get answers, not guidance.
I’m with you…this is a national emergency. My last class at UOP had many techies in it. Most of them were angry about off-shoring of jobs and poor opportunities here. Where is the American know how? Where is our creativity? We don’t know because we cannot express ourselves outside of MTV.
Thanks again for your blog.