Second to this is how we have always done it, the other most frustrating statement is “I am preparing you for middle school.” or “You will need to know how to do this for college” or some version of this. I have found that experiences and conditions vary in middle school and college (as they do throughout life) and preparing kids to take notes a certain way or have the endurance to sit through a lecture or do hours of homework is a function of doing school, not necessarily preparing them to be successful in life. As we look to the future and think about the best learning experiences, resources, and environments to prepare students, it is critical to deepen our understanding of the different types of careers and work environment that our students will need to work in.  

Past successes do not always ensure future growth when the context in which we live changes- and it always changes.

Connected to this, and what we do need to prepare students for, in a recent report from the World Economic Forum that highlighted 5 Things You Need to Know About the Future of Jobs, I found this section on skills on the rise and on the decline by 2022 particularly interesting and relevant to the field of education. 

“By 2022 the skills required to perform most jobs will have shifted significantly….Skills growing in prominence include analytical thinking and active learning as well as skills such as technology design, highlighting the growing demand for various forms of technology competency. However, proficiency in new technologies is only one part of the 2022 skills equation. “Human” skills such as creativity, originality and initiative, critical thinking, persuasion and negotiation will likewise retain or increase their value, as will attention to detail, resilience, flexibility and complex problem-solving. Emotional intelligence, leadership and social influence as well as service orientation are also set to see particular increase in demand relative to their current prominence today.”

 

Recently, in an effort to better understand the changing world of work, the increasing impact of technology, and what that could mean for our schools, a group of educational leaders from San Diego County Office of Education and local districts visited a variety of companies in Silicon Valley.  As we visited Google, Lyft, Forward, and Salesforce, although these companies varied in terms of size, mission, and impact, we noticed some common themes:

1. Skills and motivation to solve meaningful problems are critical.

I was struck by the common refrain in each place of business that came back to creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. WE say these words a lot in education and they are in most mission statements I read but seeing why these skills are important was really powerful.
We heard over and over that there was no roadmap or expected path to get the jobs that they had. We heard from a people from both modest and privileged backgrounds that attributed their success to working hard or “hustling” as a few put it, the desire and ability to persist in solving really meaningful problems. Success in their jobs and life were attributed to the fact that they had developed the skills and experiences many in programs (typically out of school) like wilderness adventures or Science Olympiad where they had opportunities to work with others and solve authentic problems that they were interested in.

2. Evaluation is based on impact, not seat time.

Notably, as we visited modern workplaces we couldn’t help but notice that food was abundant and yes, we took advantage of all the yummy treats, there were a variety of open spaces, workrooms, and gathering places. Google even has a gym and an arcade. It was great to engage in a variety of spaces and learn how employees use it to interact, recharge or refuel and to get the work done effectively.
As educators deeply entrenched in the ways we do school, it was hard to imagine that there was no set work day.  The questions were asked many times, what if an employee spends too much time in the gym? How do you keep track of the 8 hour work day?
The response was simple: we don’t.
This shocked the group but they realized the employees were held to extremely high standards and judged by their impact, not on putting in an 8 hour day. They are evaluated by their peers who they work with on cross-functional teams.  If you aren’t pulling your weight or easy to work with and not meeting your goals, you won’t likely be kept around long.

3. Passion is central to the work, not something you just do on the weekend.

I didn’t think of Lyft being passion-driven, I mean it’s a transportation app, right?!  But at each visit, I was struck by the mission-driven work that we saw across the companies. The technology has enabled these new businesses and products but the individual experience and mission was the focus and technology were used to solve a problem. I also loved to see how human-centered design was at the heart of solving these problems. I learned how passionate they were about increasing accessibility and streamlining how we commute for people to make their lives better.
I also heard at each company that people often got to have choice in the projects they were working on which was also motivating for them and increased their commitment to the project and the team.

So what?

Overall, It gave me hope that we are all on the right track and that I am honored to work with thoughtful educators working to create learner-centered models of education. It also reinforced that although skills are critical “knowing” doesn’t make you good at something on its own, we need the opportunities to practice and develop these skills in school and do real projects that matter. As I wrote in Learner-Centered Innovation: We can teach kids in ways that prepare them to be good thinkers communicators and critical problem finders and solvers. With these skills they will be more able to tackle standardized tests and other more important tasks in their lives, but make no mistake if we continue to focus on ranking students by grades and standardized curriculum and teach to the test, valuing compliance over learning and innovation, we will continue to struggle to meet this low bar and fail to develop learners to find employment and lead meaningful productive lives. We can do better than this and it’s not about adding more, it’s about looking at the time in the day differently, seeing our role differently and unlocking the genius that exists in each individual.