Education

Today’s grad­u­ates face a new breed of chal­lenges as they enter the work­force. They will con­front messier, intractable prob­lems such as cli­mate change, global ter­ror­ism, antibi­otic resis­tant dis­eases and per­sis­tent mar­ket weak­ness. The same tech­nolo­gies that empow­ered them as learn­ers at the same time also mul­ti­plied the poten­tial for global havoc.

And this has changed the def­i­n­i­tion of an appro­pri­ate education.

Teach­ers know this

Teach­ers appre­ci­ate that han­dling the new, intractable prob­lems requires a new skill set. They require empathiz­ing, imag­i­na­tive cit­i­zens –in touch with their own cre­ative impulses, con­fi­dent indi­vid­u­als who can imag­ine totally new solu­tions. Teach­ers want to facil­i­tate their stu­dents’ growth as artists. But teach­ers know some­thing else as well.

Tomorrow’s man­agers must also be lit­er­ate and numer­ate. As well as being cre­ative lead­ers, reach­ing out and find­ing fresh answers to the prob­lems of the future, they need to know every­thing we grad­u­ated know­ing. And they need to be firmer in their foun­da­tions than we were. The stakes are higher for them and the com­pe­ti­tion for jobs is more fierce.

Inside most class­rooms today you find teach­ers tak­ing an iter­a­tive approach, bal­anc­ing the advan­tages of con­stancy and rou­tine with their neces­sity for exper­i­men­ta­tion and adap­ta­tion. You find teach­ers who are doing the best they can with the resources they have. The demands on teach­ers have never been greater. And they know it.

Did you enjoy this arti­cle? Sub­scribe for free by RSS or email and you’ll always know when I pub­lish some­thing new. (What’s RSS?)

{ 0 comments }