optimising future opportunities for your child erica mcwilliam montessori international college,...
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Optimising future opportunities for your child
Erica McWilliam
Montessori International College, Sippy Downs, 20 June, 2013
Education: more important than ever
Better lifestyle
Better health
Less likely to be unemployed
Bigger pay-packet
More chance of re-engagement
More community infrastructure
Education: less relevant than ever
Credentials are ‘tick box’ items
Global marketplace means new competitors
Creative capital is worth more
Learning best done through ‘peer-to-peer’ networks
We are more ignorant than ever
Unpredictable futures mean that traditional templates are not as valuable
Jodie, 19 years Born in 1994, same year as the internet
1996: Hotmail
1998: Google
1999: Napster
2000: DVD mass market in Aust
2001: iPod and xBox,
2007: iPhone and Playstation3 and Tumblr
2008: Facebook, Twitter and iPad
2010: Youtube is primary source of info – Jodie has never watched the news on free to air TV - the world looks like Youtube to Jodie.
2012: Snapchat
Good News Bad News
• Technology is getting smarter
• Technology getting cheaper
• They will need to be much smarter too
• Too much ‘stuff’ – storage and disposal a big problem
Good News Bad News
• Technology is getting smarter
• Technology getting cheaper
• They will have more chances to be creative and connected
• They will need to be much smarter too
• Too much ‘stuff’ – storage and disposal a big problem
• A global job market means very high level of competence and competition
Good News Bad News
• Technology is getting smarter
• Technology getting cheaper
• They will have more chances to be creative and connected
• Many diseases are being eradicated by modern science – means longer, healthier life
• They will need to be much smarter too
• Too much ‘stuff’ – storage and disposal a big problem
• A global job market means very high level of competence and competition
• New ‘superbugs’ mean new diseases and poverty likely to get worse
Good News Bad News
• Technology is getting smarter
• Technology getting cheaper
• They will have more chances to be creative and connected
• Many diseases are being eradicated by modern science – means longer, healthier life
• Passion, kindness and ethical behaviour still matter
• They will need to be much smarter too
• Too much ‘stuff’ – storage and disposal a big problem
• A global job market means very high level of competence and competition
• New ‘superbugs’ mean new diseases and poverty likely to get worse
• In the era of Big Data, most information is untrustworthy – they need to be both keen and sceptical
Good News Bad News
• Technology is getting smarter
• Technology is getting cheaper and more global
• They will have more chances to be creative and connected
• Many diseases are being eradicated by modern science – means they will live longer, healthier lives
• Passion, kindness and ethical behaviour still matter
• Valuing their own abilities and capacity to learn is vital
• They will also need to be smarter
• Too much ‘stuff’ – storage and disposal a big problem
• A global job market means very high level of competence and competition
• New ‘superbugs’ mean new diseases and poverty likely to get worse
• In the era of Big Data, most information is untrustworthy – they need to be both keen and sceptical
• Being too self-focused can make them more vulnerable when setbacks occur
Global Labour Markets
High end personal services High end impersonal services
Low end personal services
Low end impersonal services
Global Labour Markets
High end personal services High end impersonal services
Low end personal services
Low end impersonal services
Global Labour Markets
High end personal services High end impersonal services
Low end personal services
Low end impersonal services
Global Labour Markets
High end personal services High end impersonal services
Low end personal services
Low end impersonal services
Global Labour Markets
High end personal services High end impersonal services
Low end personal services
Low end impersonal services O
utsourci
ng
Work Futures
“Only a certain kind of individual can prosper in unstable fragmentary social conditions.” (Richard Sennett)
“People who need managing are no longer employable.” (Lee Crockett)
“Low level routine transactions are no longer required.”(Daniel Pink)
“The most valuable workers are creative thinkers whose ideas can be turned into valuable products and services.” (Richard Florida)
design
accumulation
seriousnesslogic
focusargument
function
symphony
play meaning
empathy
story
High Concept/High Touch
Getting serious about Play
“Play will be to the 21st century what work was to 300 years of industrial society – our dominant way of knowing, doing and creating value.”
(Pat Kane, The Play Ethic)
Teaching in ‘Truth Mode’
Knowledge is an accumulation of known facts and concepts
Facts are best organised through disciplines
Instruction is the most promising strategy
Memory and imitation are useful
Answers are right or wrong
Test results measure success
Best evidence of learning = exam results
Teaching in ‘Design Mode’
What is this idea good for?
What does it do and fail to do?
Does it have a future?
How could it be improved?
What is the value-add?
The challengePerformance culture
• Content-driven
• Test-oriented
• Packaged in advance
• Pencil and paper
• Imitative routines
• Credential is the prize
• Discipline-focused
Learning culture
Capacity building
Personalised
Self-managed
Focus is on the journey
Virtual and ‘real’ have equal status
Open-ended
Creative
Knowledge WorkMandated Knowledge
data ‘at rest’
certain
agreed
evidence-base strong
largely individual
social context irrelevant
correct answers
Dynamic Knowledge
data ‘in motion’
tentative
often contested
evidence-base is weak
mainly collaborative
social context is relevant
better questions
Self-Managing Learners
Self-critical diagnosticians – not needy of constant affirmation
Keen and sceptical users of data, not passive consumers of information
Pay 50/50 attention to learning and performing
“Know what to do when they don’t know what to do”
Take risks and try new things, mix and match, assemble, edit
See obstacles are challenges
Work well in team situations
Self-managers with creative learning portfolios will be better
prepared for the future than those who rely solely on formal educational credentials.