#13 21st Century Education

      Are schools in America keeping up with the needs of students in the new Millennium? Our schools, for the most part, are still teaching the same way that they have been for the last several decades. While reading, math, science, and social studies are important, I believe students would benefit from a more hands on approach. A question is asked in Allison and Mugglestone's report The Future of Millennial Jobs, "what should people be taught when they can access all human knowledge all the time?" I would begin by educating children from a young age on how to access this information, and how to determine if a source is trustworthy or not. Once our youth is exposed to the internet as an information source for learning, rather than entertainment, they may utilize it as such.
      Their report also states:
                   "Multiple-choice standardized tests rely on a student reproducing content or stock knowledge. In post-secondary education, many exams are conducted through in-class essays, drawing from material facts covered in the course. This is a classic test of knowledge stocks, and will not have the same utility in the future of knowledge flows and access."
        I haven't met a parent yet that is happy with the standardized testing required by the school system. It seems that the whole school year is aimed at doing well on those tests, which also unfairly grades our teachers based on the children's scores. Unfortunately, a lot of what students are learning will not be used past high school. I've been in the workforce for 15+ years and have not used an algebraic equation one time. I'm not saying that algebra is never used, but why weren't we taught to balance a checkbook or do our taxes? Our schools have also gotten rid of a lot of vocational programs, which could be helping some students begin careers as soon as they graduate. An article by Hagel, Brown and Davison titled Abandon Stock, Embrace Flows, explains it this way:
                       "To keep it simple, think of tacit knowledge as the “know how” rather than the “know what.” Imagine trying to perform brain surgery after having read all the books you can find on the subject. The books are the explicit knowledge telling you what to do but knowing how to perform this kind of surgery critically depends on an extended apprenticeship process in which tacit knowledge gets communicated through observation and then by participating on the periphery of these operations. Accessing this kind of knowledge typically requires long-term trust-based relationships. And, in times of rapid change, tacit knowledge becomes increasingly valuable: because it’s the newest knowledge, it’s the most helpful in dealing with the latest changes in a fast-moving business landscape."
          We, as a nation, need to adapt and flow with the new Millennium and learn how to better teach our youth to succeed in the future.