Disturbing trends in the Education System and our Future

I’ve been at World Future Society’s World Future Conference 2014 all weekend. It’s been four days of people like me (and some not so much like me!) bringing together their ideas and visions of the future.

However, as ‘crazy’ as some of us here might be, it’s the people at this conference who will play an active hand in shaping our future. I hope fall into that category somehow too.

There’s been a lot of information, ideas and potential solutions throughout the four days.

We’ve covered nanomanufacturing, the future of cities, the changing cultural values and trends of youth, transhumanist ideas, and the problems — both politically and socially — that new, cutting edge technologies bring.

And from it all, there’s been one glaring theme I’ve noticed that is perhaps the biggest barrier to a better future for us all.

But before I get to this troubling theme, there’s something I want to remind you of… With the way technology advances in today’s world, nothing stands still. The speed of technological development is so great that change is almost a constant in society and industry. Those who don’t adapt to this speed of change will effectively die.

One of the more interesting facts I’ve come across is that the average business life of corporations these days is less than 15 years. Back in 1955 the average corporation life was over 75. And of the Fortune 500 companies from 1955, only 70 of them still exist.

These were companies that couldn’t adapt to the accelerating changes in a post-war era society…and they died. More than likely, they tried to compete their way out of their problems. They saw their barriers as issues and problems rather than opportunities to innovate and adapt.

And that’s the critical point for successful companies in today’s world. They must take a different mindset when it comes to business. Barriers and problems are opportunities for change and innovation.

Barriers are merely the world telling them that they need to change the game, innovate their way to the next level. As Einstein said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Well, I’m certain there are companies that are on the verge of insanity (or already are insane). And it’s only a matter of time until they succumb. But for innovative, adaptable companies, the world is full of opportunity. And with the way in which technology changes, it’s likely those opportunities will come from outside their industry.

For me, that’s one of the crucial aspects in finding great companies in the 21st century. They must be flexible, nimble and willing to look outside what they know to find other avenues of opportunity and growth. These are the companies that will survive beyond the 15 year lifespan of most companies. These companies will return great long term wealth and impact the very fabric of society.

But most companies face a huge problem. You will hear it described as a ‘skills shortage’. But the reality of it is our education system is failing us, and kids aren’t prepared for the modern world. But it’s not just that — businesses and industries that are slow to adapt aren’t ready for the new breed of worker.

Ditch the tests and bring back the fun

Of all the industries in the world, three stand out as laggers, slow to adapt — politics, finance, and education.

Education was one of the most pressing concerns of the futurists at the conference. How do we shift the way we educate kids in an increasingly competitive and results-focused education system? And perhaps the education system we use now isn’t building the right kind of people we need in an information era.

Here’s the problem: There is a lot of uncertainty in the world — political, economic, professional…to name a few.

Millennials are people who have ‘come of age’ since the turn of the millennium. I’m one of them, so I empathise with this generation.

The problem is kids go through an education system and no longer have the guarantee of a good, solid, well paying job. In the past, if you had a degree, you could enjoy a life long career, earn good money, build and provide for a family, and establish yourself for a lifetime of fulfilment.

That’s no longer the case. That’s why you’re seeing such strong growth in micro-employment. That’s where people might have two, three or four jobs as freelancers rather than permanent employees.

This is something that the world is going to have to get used to. Millennials and the generations that follow will likely have four or five ‘careers’ in their lifetime. This is just how it’s going to be, so we must adapt education to prepare them for it.

But schools, and higher education in particular train young people for one career. This kind of education is suited to an industrial era, not to an information age.

And because it’s so competitive to get a job around the world, we force kids to be more academic too early. We push kids into academic tests, results, and competition far earlier and younger than ever before. In other words, we’re taking the fun out of education and making it far too serious.

We won’t know the impact of this for another 10 to 15 years, but it seems clear that the one industry in need of the biggest overhaul globally is education. Perhaps we need to bring the fun back into education. We must teach young people to be multi-layered, multi-faceted individuals.

The world is no longer linear. Going from A to B to C isn’t necessarily the right way in an evolving information age. The new business model means going from A to C to X and back to B while simultaneously going from A to 15.

What worked for the last 100 years won’t work for the next 100. So why do we still educate in a linear way?

The future of our world needs everyone educated in a way that will allow them to thrive in an information age. If we continue to educate in a linear way, focussing solely on results, we’re not going to build creative, adaptable leaders.

I don’t have all the answers. But I do know that we can fix this problem. And it will be with the help of innovative, creative, and adaptable companies. A problem this big means an even bigger opportunity — and prize — for those brave and smart enough to fix it.

Regards,

Sam Volkering+
Editor, Tech Insider

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