A Different World

Preparing Learners For A Different World

I highly recommend reading Eric Sheninger's new blog post "Preparing Learners for the Fourth Industrial Revolution"  .  In the post, Sheninger shares why schools must to change to prepare learners for anything, not just for something. That something in education has been the phrase "college and career ready". We need to move beyond the buzz words. Are college and career important? Sure. It's also myth in 2018 that all high paying careers require a 4-year college degree. The skills learners need to enter into the global workforce today are far different from those required of my graduating class in 1996. Read this report: Automate This "Building The Perfect 21st Century Worker to gain a greater picture of the skills learners need to enter today's workforce. Employment growth has been fastest in jobs requiring more critical thinking and computer skills and slowest for jobs requiring the physical skills that many middle-class jobs relied on 50 years ago. We need our schools to shift to prepare all learners for the work of tomorrow. That starts by transforming student task and redesigning schools today. We can no longer sit idle and continue on the same trajectory we've been on for generations. The world is rapidly changing and our schools must change with it. 


Let's take a deep dive into the world during my childhood and compare it to that of my 4 kids today. 

The global economic landscape is rapidly changing, accelerated rapidly by technology. The ways upon which we live, work, and connect with one another have changed dramatically in the last 22 years since my high school graduation in 1996. Reflecting back, I can remember how big it was to have dial-up internet service at our house. As a kid, I kept the phone numbers of friends next to our wall mounted home telephone. Quite often, I'd run through the call list to organize a game of whiffle ball or baseball with a meet-up time and location. For taking pictures, I'd buy one of those disposable Kodak cameras and take it with me on trips. I remember packing several for baseball camp at the University of Michigan when I was 13. I got to meet Cecil and Prince Fielder at that camp, unfortunately I didn't have my Kodak disposable camera with me the day Cecil showed up and signed autographs. My parents for some reason kept these dictionaries and encyclopedias in my bedroom closet (probably a subliminal message there). There must of been 20-30 various books on my shelf, all of which collected a good amount of dust. Encarta 95' might have replaced those books. I love music, always have. I can remember recording mix tapes onto cassettes using a dual tape deck. When I got to Detroit to stay with family when I went to baseball camp that summer -- it was a brand new world recording rap songs from the radio right onto my Maxwell blank cassette. And videos, blank VHS tapes and a camcorder capture my Little League and High School football games. 

The world I experienced is far different from the world my 4 children are experiencing. This is greatly noted in a fun read on tech things from the 90's from Pop Sugar here: https://www.popsugar.com/tech/Tech-Things-From-90s-37055065 

The question is: Has school really changed much from when I graduated in 1996 to today April 30, 2018? In some ways, yes and in others no. Therein lies the problem. We can no longer continue to prepare learners for our world because that world by in large no longer exists.

I'm 39 years old and turn 40 in August. I have a 17 year old HS junior, a 6th grader, a 4th graders, and a Pre-Kindergartener. The world I grew up in for the most part doesn't exist or exists in a significantly different medium in part to the technological revolution. I celebrated hearing the dial up noise and having a low speed connection to the internet in my house. My kids have multiple devices connected to the internet and can access whatever they want within seconds. I had a phone number list on paper next to my wall mounted rotary dial phone. My daughters have cell phones that have all their friends names and numbers at their disposal to dial at the touch of a button. Not to mention they can call their friends and talk to them with the person on each end able to see the other. Those old, dusty encyclopedias and Encarta 95' vs. Wikipedia and Google. No contest there. I don't know how my kids would even react if I gave them a cassette mix tape. They probably would have no idea what it is or how it would even be used. All of their music is digital (no tapes, no cds) and they've got apps now like music.ly where they create their own music videos. Camcoders and VHS tapes - my kids have them on their iPhones and can store what they record on YouTube. 

How has instruction changed in the last 22 years to address these changes? What shifts to teaching and learning have occurred? We must as Sheninger and Tom Murray  state "transform the learning experience." This starts with the tasks we intentionally plan for our learners. Are we intentionally designing learning experiences or are we merely planning (or in a lot of cases following) a lesson plan because that's what the scope and sequence tells us to do? Kids will remember learning experience they won't remember lesson plans. A critical lens into instructional design and asking these critical questions is important:  

• WHAT AM I TEACHING?
• WHY AM I TEACHING THIS? 
• HOW WILL MY STUDENT APPLY THIS? 

We need to have clarity as educators on those 3 questions. If the answers to those questions are clear to you the educator they will be clear to your learners. 

When I talk with my kids about what, why and how they are learning - their experience isn't all that different from mine at their age sans the leveraging of Chromebooks for skill practice (ex. Cool Math or Mobi Max) or using Google Docs instead of Microsoft Word. Personal (soft skills), critical thinking and digital skills will become all the more critical as technology continues to advance. We must move beyond for example the mindless daily Math homework worksheets and develop all learners ability to design, reason, connect, ideate, question, collaborate, and problem solve.

In just the last 5 years the skills needed for today's workforce have shifted. I cannot imagine the world my grand children are going to experience just reflecting on my childhood compared to that of my children.

What absolutely cannot happen is that school is the same for me, as it was my kids, as it was their's. We would do today's children and those they have one day of their own a major disservice if we don't transform learning and redesign our schools to prepare all learners for their future -- a future where they are ready not just for something, but for anything.

CJ