I'm sure it won't be a surprise to anyone to consider that the world we live in today is fast paced and quickly evolving.
Renewable energy, material science, sustainability and big data are all terms that weren't commonly known just a few years ago and yet nowadays they are in our daily vocabulary, we know what they are and what they do.
The first space missions were powered with the computing capabilities of a calculator. Today we take the processing prowess of our phones for granted. I suspect aside from
"old school" authors, long gone are manual typewriters replaced by hugely powerful personal computers, laptops and iPads - my point is that the world and our demands on our world are quickly evolving.
So what job skills will the early learners of today require for the employment of tomorrow. Accordingly to The World Economic Forum Future Jobs Report in just the last 5 years the Top 10 Skill requirements have seen a dramatic change, with Critical Thinking, Emotional Intelligence and Cognitive Flexibility leading the way. Interestingly Negotiation Skills have been demoted from 5th to 9th place whilst Creativity has moved up from 10th to 3rd.
In 2014 the US Bureau of Labour Statistics predicted between 2014 and 2024 the highest demand for jobs would be in Healthcare. In fact out of the top 10 jobs only 3 would be outside of Healthcare; Statistician, Wind Turbine Technician and Commercial Diver. I'm certainly no expert but I would think on hindsight, if the same list were compiled today, it could look a little different.
So to my point, what should the children of today be learning at school?
Science, creative and lateral thinking, to be curious, technology, astrophysics, biology to name but a few... in my humble opinion we need to start building for a very different future. Equip our future generations with the mindset and abilities to save our planet, to feed the population, to cultivate healthy and renewable food sources and energy, continue to evolve medicine and look to the skies beyond our planet.
Lets ignite the curiosity of our future generations, embrace diversity and those square pegs who just don't quite fit into society's round holes.
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