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Pen Point: Cut to the chase
Ever since many young people were toddlers, they have been asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Limited in their knowledge of possibilities, they usually stick with answers involving those they know. They may say they want to be a nurse, firefighter, doctor, or teacher.
But times are changing. Lots of students don't know their options.
Graduates from high school and college are given many more choices than ever before in our history. A popular video on YouTube cites statistics from the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education that are astounding. The top “in demand” jobs projected for 2010 didn't even exist in 2004. The documentary notes that we are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist and will use technology that hasn't yet been invented.
Recently I was on holiday at the beach with extended family. In that group, there were several recent college graduates: an environmental consultant, a graphic artist, a human resources specialist, a Naval submarine engineer, and, believe it or not, a rocket scientist. I doubt that any one of them had already chosen their profession at high school graduation.
While they had impressive jobs, the irony of it all is they probably won't stay in these professions. The YouTube presentation projected that by the time the current crop of graduates reaches the age of 38, they will have had somewhere between 10 to 14 jobs.
With all of these predictions, how does a young person prepare for the workforce? I think it is complicated.
Some of our students are not even proficient in the basic “reading, 'riting, and 'rithmetic,” let alone ready for the fast future.
For others, their performance in academics will have to excel just to keep up with the rest of the world. This means education will have to go beyond academic basics, but with a global approach. Supposedly, China has more “top” students in its schools than our whole student population. And, to top it all off, China is expected to be the number-one English-speaking country in the world.
Our competitiveness in a global society is at risk. Rep. Frank Wolf has been voicing his concerns throughout Virginia's 10th District for some time now on our students' lack of proficiency and interest in math, science and engineering. It may take legislative action to improve our students' skills, but it is also up to educators, parents and the rest of us to let students know of their choices.
But are today’s choices enough? According to Dr. Jonathan Lewis, superintendent of schools, they’re not.
At a meeting of the Sunday Supper Club this week, Lewis said that we shouldn’t teach our children for the year 2008; education needs to reach much further into the future.
Kindergartners today will graduate in 2021, and Lewis said we must prepare them to succeed a dozen years from now. He came up with some of the “most pressing things we have to do.”
He suggested to be successful in 2021, we will have to speak a language other than our own. Along with language acquisition, we must be geographically literate, learning and understanding the world and its different cultures.
The long-time educator said global partnering is important. for our students to work with children around the world.. According to Lewis, such experiences would help mold their perspectives of others.
Such views, he adds, may also be expanded through tolerance education, enabling students to be tolerant of things they don’t understand.
Lewis, believing students today are the world’s next problem solvers, often tells them, “You are not a child of Fauquier County; you are a child of the world.”
I knew preparing our children for the future was going to complicated.
When my daughter was in kindergarten, someone asked her what did she wanted to be when she grew up. Her immediate response was...”famous.”
I think that's the easiest answer of all.
Felts covers education for the Times-Democrat.
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