Notes

A Call for Future-Oriented Education
Encouraging and supporting a high quality system of educating youth and adults is fundamental to our being truly a thriving and competitive country in today's global marketplace. A nation that would short-change its schools and training opportunities gets what it pays for-an unmotivated and unskilled workforce.

But the role of educational institutions is under great pressure to change not just a few of its practices, but its core mission. Preparing citizens for future years is not what it was previously. Historically it had been accepted a relatively limited set of skills were had a need to fortify a person for the world that awaited. We had the canon of reading, writing, and arithmetic (still important, of course) and threw in some knowledge to encourage citizenship, but beyond that students were largely by themselves to find out which of several career paths they would choose.

Not so in the 21st century. A good Bachelor's Degree is not enough to suffice for a whole career. The nature of work and professionalism is changing too rapidly. Actually, it is estimated that today what one learns in college will in lots of ways be outdated before the student loans are paid off. Even the so-called blue collar jobs have become more technical and require skills and certifications that didn't exist recently. Blue collar no longer equates to low skill. To think that achieving a particular level of education will undoubtedly be adequate for every career today is short sighted and rooted in old fashioned ways of thinking.

For those focused on teaching, training, and helping people learn this news is actually good. It means your task never ends. Education is ongoing. Learning is lifelong. The people who most need to reframe their thinking are ordinary people who need to wrap our arms round the reality that obsolescence will be nipping at our heels and that learning, relearning, and unlearning are now constants. Complacency is the greatest threat to our careers. Growing familiar with changing skills and demands is the greatest benefit.

Workforce growth is linked to sophisticated skill development. High degrees of unemployment will stay unless there is a decrease in talent shortage. According to the U.S. Labor Department t here exists a insufficient talent in the STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math), healthcare, and business. A very important factor this recession has clarified is that economic recovery isn't about recreating conditions w here by people can return to their old jobs. It really is much more about realizing that successful long-term employment is in preparing a workforce with the capacity of performing in relevant jobs into the future. And that future is now.

Companies that do the hiring are increasingly worried about the lack of necessary skills available. This issue is now as egregious as other competitive issues such as location, transportation of products, and procurement of materials. The problem grows larger once you look out over the legions of unemployed and see that three-fourths of these only have a higher school education. In order to be a player in the workforce of tomorrow you must accept that a high school diploma is not enough. Be ready to obtain higher ed, vocational ed, or other skill training nevertheless, you can and know that learning will be continuous. For many of us this will be the only path to living the lifestyle we want.

Schools should strat to get this message to students at a age. We as a society have to shake loose this notion that education is something you do before living. Rather it really is what we do within living. more info thriving, dynamic, and competitive nation is one which is definitely learning and adapting.
Homepage: https://musescore.com/user/64148848