If "the modern world needs citizens who can do what they were not taught" and prepare for a world that is "hard to see or define," how can we assist high school students to "take courses tailored for future careers" and self-select their curriculum? Who decides what has value and staying power?
In reply to Mary Morris
Re: How do we equip high school students for the future?
I think we may need to continue to ride both ponies at the same time: teach critical thinking skills so that students can solve problems that are currently "unknown unknowns", and also keep/update content classes for skills applicable in the near now.
In reply to Annette Lynn Finkelstein
Re: How do we equip high school students for the future?
by Lily DeBlieux -
I agree. The world is changing as we speak. We can not wait to know what is coming to prepare our students. We must continue to teach students to apply what they learn to different situations. They will figure it out. Our kids are brilliant and tech savvy.
In reply to Lily DeBlieux
Re: How do we equip high school students for the future?
by Mary Ann Jester -
I also agree that helping students learn to be problem solvers and critical thinkers is helping them be prepared for an uncertain future. Learning how to use the computer and to think your way out of a problem is a great example. I know of many adults that when they have a problem on the computer are ill equipped to "think" of a solution beyond calling the IT department or help desk. Many solutions can be found by just thinking it through and trying different solutions.
Another important thing all students need to have a strong grasp of is reading and being able to communicate with each other. Think of how much of our information is now shared digitally...and I know some of you are saying that one day computers will read the information to us.. but having the ability to read and to read well is vital. then being able to communicate, just like we are communicating right now on the forum... will also be important.
Good point--I think what we first need to look at is what will students need in order to be considered prepared and equipped for the future.
Clearly our future will be defined by the ways in which technology assists us to solve our problems and reach our goals. So to me, it is about teaching students how to integrate effective uses of technology with appropriate critical thinking skills.
I believe it's not as much the curriculum as it is the skills we need to help them gain. They need to learn how to be resilient, flexible, accept and embrace change. They need to know where their resources are and how to tap them. Those 21st Century skills are skills they should be getting from many content areas and curriculum. The only thing for sure in their future is that it will be different than what they know of today. Their careers may not even be in existence today.
In reply to Deleted user
Re: How do we equip high school students for the future?
by Gerry Pionessa -
Teaching students how to learn and use what they have learned is paramount.
Ya, when I read "the modern world needs citizens who can do what they were NOT taught," I had to re-read it a couple of times. I have a daughter in high school and I was trying to help her with her Science homework last night. I was really stuck on a lot of the questions. I remember learning that stuff in high school, but I quickly forgot about it because it didn't pertain to my daily life and career. I think we are teaching our students A LOT of things that they may or may not use for their career. It is merely impossible to teach them everything before they graduate from high school. As educators, we need to teach our students how to learn......so they can continue to learn no matter what their career may be.
I agree completely. I have had the same experience with my daughter and her homework. What results is that we end up working together to solve the question. We pool her knowledge from her class, my knowledge from years ago on the subject and the ability to search for resources that might help us, whether it be on the internet, books or friends. This is actually the way problem solving happens in the real world. What students need to do is learn exactly that. They need to know how to problem solve and learn independently.
Sunnyside HS and Desert View, like many high school's in town, are quintessential comprehensive high schools. They give students the opportunity to take a variety of classes while still promoting success and rigor in core academic courses. CTE/JTED and Fine Arts Courses give students the opportunity to specifically explore their interests and fine tune technological and higher-order thinking skills. My goal as a CTE teacher was to teach my core standards while incorporating science, math, english and social studies into my lessons. This, in a semi-orgranic fashion gives the students an idea that everything, as polar to each other as they may seem, is related in some way or another. I honestly don't believe its a high school's job to specifically prepare a student for a particular job or field of occupation. Rather, its job is to pepper student learning in a rigorous and innnovative way so when it is time the student can choose for themselves in a rational and educated way.
In reply to Deleted user
Re: How do we equip high school students for the future?
by Norma Mahoney -
Thank you Mario and everyone who responded to this question. I am so worried about my own son who will be starting high school next year and I hope he has learned all of the skills all of you mentioned. Together (teachers and me and my family) have done a great job so far in shaping my son for the future. Thanks to all of you who have believed in Public Education and are a part of the Sunnyside Community.
In reply to Mary Morris
Re: How do we equip high school students for the future?
by Jennifer Flores -
So many books to read on this topic-The World is Flat, Blink, The Tipping Point, A Whole New Mind, This Book Is Overdue!...
As human beings, so many of us worry that our world is changing-yet that is a constant of the nature of not just life, but our cosmos. How we handle it is the variable.
After suffering a potentially debilitating illness in 2002, I received a card from some of the staff at my school with the statements, "Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles. It empties today of its strength. " I've had it posted on my refrigerator for the past 8 1/2 years and read it every time I find myself anxious about something.
In one of this last weeks' newspaper (anybody read one of those anymore?) want ad sections, was a list of 4 jobs that everyone should have or experience at some time in their careers: server (waiting tables), retail clerk (counter/cashier), customer service (call center), and manual labor (anything from construction to cooking). Why? To develop empathy and understanding of our human condition, and step out of the hamster wheels of our minds (my interpretation).
Our kids need to know how to learn, critically think, effectively communicate, collaborate, problem-solve, create, change, adapt, and grow. They need to learn patience, persistance, resilience, independence, interdependence...
None of this deals with curriculum-the what that is taught, or even the why that it's taught. That's something that's dearly waiting for 2nd order change!
As educators, what we can change is the how it is taught, focusing on those things like individual strengths and needs, the creation of community and constructive, positive relationships. I see the thoughtful use of technology as a way to achieve that change.
In reply to Jennifer Flores
Re: How do we equip high school students for the future?
by Deleted user -
Great post
I see your point however, I believe that it is my responsibility as an educator to inspire learners and teach them how to learn. If we teach our students how to learn, think critically, and problem solve students will have many of the skills they need to be successful in the real world no matter their occupation. I can easily see the 1 to 1 aiding in this process.