Three challenges for education

We hear a lot about “the knowledge economy.” But unless we live in a part of the world where countries are faced with millions upon thousands of unemployed people, we may not have considered what this change in the structure of our world means for education and the economy in the world today. development. I put education and the economy together, because they are so closely linked that politicians consider them together. It is still true that education must be the answer for extremely poor people everywhere to learn, grow and eventually participate fully in the world. These are modern countries where some people enjoy the same luxuries and access that people in the West enjoy, but are challenged by large percentages of their populations living in extreme poverty at the same time. We must remember that the school, as we know it, developed in very similar circumstances during the early days of the Industrial Revolution. It is not uncommon in world history for education to be considered, and eventually succeed, in helping the poorest of the poor understand the challenges and learn the tools that make them unemployed, thereby fueling the growth of the new economy. That is what is sought here.

This article is the first in a series on the challenges facing education internationally for the next decade or more. Having just returned from a conference initiated by Crown Prince HH Shaikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, of the Kingdom of Bahrain, I have been privileged to participate in the discussions that constitute the substance of these articles. My writing here is intended to be an overview and to prompt the interested reader to think more deeply. Let’s first look at three challenges that dignitaries and lawmakers agreed need to be addressed.

Challenge number one: Students leaving school are not ready to take jobs

Employers in international settings increasingly require what have been termed “soft skills.” These include: the ability to work in a team, communicate, discuss challenges and new ideas, and fully participate in the group design process. The school design that came out of the Industrial Revolution wanted something completely different, the person getting a job in those days needed to sit back, passively receive instructions and do what they were told. We can see, therefore, that the student who sits, listens and can repeat the content that is given, is not well prepared to assume these new roles.

The modern high-paying job requires a higher degree of literacy and problem solving. Skills that used to be relegated to academics and scientists are now required by teams of designers everywhere. Here we are talking about: the ability to search for information, write a brief synopsis of the details, use technology to disseminate it, and build an argument that is based on facts and data, one that will stand up to debate. These are not management skills. They are what is required for entry level positions.

Challenge number two: change the culture to entrepreneurship

The numbers in the Gulf alone are staggering. In the next 10 years it will be necessary to create 100,000 new jobs so that the growing population of young people is well employed. Similar to the challenge the United States experienced during the 1950s with baby boomers, these countries need to prepare their youth to create their own jobs. Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan has made this her main mission. Beyond the initial goal of giving every child in the world a chance to go to school, educators are now also focused on changing the curricular requirements to include problem solving, critical thinking, business economics, and other requirements that encourage entrepreneurial ideas.

However, this is a bigger challenge than just teaching a few new skills. In much of the world, the goal of education from the student’s point of view has been to prepare him or her to get a government job. That job would ensure that they and their family were cared for and that prosperity was assured. The economics of this no longer work. Modern governments cost a lot today and cannot be the main source of employment. Modern governments require a diverse tax base on which to continue to grow services. Even oil-producing countries are looking for a strong and diverse range of companies to employ this growing population of young people.

Challenge number three: prepare teachers and reorganize education to meet these needs

The final challenge, and the one that the rest of this series of articles will focus on, is that education is not ready to change as fast as it needs to be to help the world meet these needs. Anyone who has been taught to do a job a certain way has a harder time adjusting to work in different conditions than someone who was taught the new way, from the beginning. The world has seen this as a regular story for the last 15-20 years as technology has changed the face of most work environments. It’s an even tougher challenge when you’ve been taught to train people, because you first have to understand the new requirements, and then completely redo almost everything related to your job, and finally you’re ready to implement a new job with new standards. Unfortunately, education asks teachers to take this on while they are still teaching. It’s a train wreck, or as a more apt analogy, a train trying to transform into a rocket wreck.

As I mentioned at the beginning, world leaders, big thinkers, problem solvers, policy makers, and governments focus on these three issues. The world needs to address how to restructure our societies, but especially those in the developing world, so that students leaving school are prepared to take jobs in the knowledge-based world, seeking to join that world rather than asking the government to take charge. of them, and that will have been taught in educational systems established to meet those needs. Throughout this series of articles, I’ll be looking at the ideas that people are discussing and implementing to address these challenges.