A few hundred years ago, farmers would have been able to tell you what skills their children would need to thrive. Milking a cow and planting a field are necessary skills. Throughout history, general skills for a single profession have changed slowly-and this is how it has been for most humans.
But what about the last few centuries? I don’t think so.
Throughout generations and even within generations, some jobs disappear and others emerge. The manufacturing industry, for example, has been heavily automated, and it will continue to be automated in the near future. The decline of manufacturing jobs has led to the rise of once unimaginable professions such as bloggers, programmers, dog walkers, or professional gamers.
As labor cycles accelerate, the question is: What skills do we teach the next generation to keep up?
It is becoming more evident that current curricula, which teach siloed subject matter and specific vocational training, are not preparing students to succeed in the 21st century.
In response, some schools have begun teaching coding and other skills relevant to today’s technologies. Due to rapid technological changes, these new skills may not be relevant by the time students enter the workforce.
Cathy Davidson estimates in her book, Now You See It, that,
“65 percent of children entering grade school this year (2011) will end up working in careers that haven’t even been invented yet.”
As Brett Schilke, director of impact and youth engagement at Singularity University, noted in a recent interview, it is difficult to predict not only what careers will exist in the future, but which technology-based skills will be viable 5 and 10 years from now as well.
Is there anything we can teach you?
A brand-new model called phenomenology has been integrated into Finland’s national curriculum. The country plans to replace traditional classroom subjects with a topical approach focusing on communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration by 2022. Those four skills are crucial to working in a team, and reflect the ‘hyperconnected’ world we live in today, according to Singularity Hub editor-in-chief David Hill.
The four Cs directly correlate to the skills needed to become a successful 21st century entrepreneur. This is given that the jobs we’re educating for today may not exist tomorrow due to the accelerating pace of change. It represents a significant departure from the antiquated model used in most US institutions, which was built for a slower, more stable economy and labor market.
A mindset of continuous learning, adaptability, resiliency, and grit are three additional soft skills entrepreneurs demonstrate across the globe in addition to the four Cs.
Having these skills will enable students to be problem-solvers, innovative thinkers, and adaptive to fast-paced change. Adaptation, pivoting, and getting back up again are the only constants in an uncertain world.
The city of Buenos Aires is embracing change like Finland.
The city of Buenos Aires now requires technological education in the first two years of the high school curriculum and entrepreneurship in the last three years. The minister of education of Buenos Aires, Esteban Bullrich, told Singularity University recently that “I want kids to leave school and be able to create whatever future they want to create—to be able to change the world with the skills they learn and receive through formal education.”
Bullrich explains that the idea is to teach students to be adaptive and equip them with skills that will be highly transferrable to life after school. Future leaders will be able to move smoothly with the pace of technology by embedding these entrepreneurial skills in education. Mariano Mayer, director of entrepreneurship for the city of Buenos Aires, believes these soft skills will be most valuable in the future.
Its message is in line with research highlighted in a report by the World Economic Forum and Boston Consulting Group, New Vision for Education: Unlocking the Potential of Technology. Among the core 21st-century skills listed in the report are foundational literacy, competencies, and character qualities, with lifelong learning as a proficiency covering all three.
The journey from degree gathering to continuous learning
As an alternative to degree-oriented education, this continuous learning approach represents an innovative shift in education. In addition, it reflects the demands of the labor market, where lifelong learning and skill development keep a person competitive, agile, and valued.
The current setup of Singularity University doesn’t align with how the world has evolved and will continue to evolve, according to CEO Rob Nail. Supposedly, you get your certificate or degree, and then you’re done. The world we live in today doesn’t work that way.”
In the future, students will benefit from the shift from degree-oriented education to continuous learning. In the era of increasing democratization and decentralization in education, this shift in focus can also help academic institutions maintain their value.
Whenever we make a large change, we must overcome barriers. In education, there are many challenges-but fear of change is one in particular.
“We have fallen behind in innovation and human activities due to the fear of change,” Bullrich says.