“Tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”
(an African proverb)
Schools of the 20th century adopted a factory model of schooling, with an assembly line for producing multiple copies of the same product. During the first half of the 20th century, the job market was dominated by agriculture, mining and manufacturing. After World War II, it was driven by manufacturing that became increasingly high-tech as well as by a growing service industry. In recent decades, jobs once available in agriculture and manufacturing have given way to a wide variety of professional, technical and service occupations.
The rise of global connections and the recent surge of outsourcing by many industries and businesses are having a radical change in jobs. The kinds of work opportunities our children will have in the 21st century continue to evolve. The factory style schoolhouse met the needs of the era, however, it falls short of the needs of the 21st century global society. Change and transformation are happening daily in communication, industry, workforce and recreation and the 21st century schoolhouse will need to evolve into a new model in curriculum, instruction and assessment. There will be many remaining jobs in the service sector because but nearly all service-producing jobs already require computer skills. 21st century students also need to be prepared to work in emerging fields such as biotechnology, e-commerce, telecommunications and the environment.
Are schools today preparing students to effectively work and live well in a future that will continually become more and more high tech and technology dependent? Will students have mastered the 21st century skills that include critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation, and communication and collaboration, before they leave school? Will they be information literate, media literate, and technology literate, to name just a few kinds of new literacies required in the 21st century? (as identified by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills http://www.p21.org/)
Are students today being prepared for tomorrow?
