July 2007 — Features
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Curriculum-Based Reform :: An Eye on the Future
Employers say that US schools are not teaching students the skills they must have for the 21st-century workplace. What may be needed is a sweeping change in how we think about curriculum.
“To succeed in today’s workplace, young people need more than
basic reading and math skills. They need substantial content
knowledge and information technology skills; advanced thinking
skills; flexibility to adapt to change; and interpersonal skills.”
—J. Willard Marriott Jr., CEO of Marriott International
HE’S NOT THE ONLY ONE SAYING SO. Indeed, if Marriott and numerous members from the business sector whom I have spoken with are correct, then we are not teaching the right things in school to our students, at least not all the right things. Marriott’s quote comes from a report released last October titled “Are They Really Ready to Work?”, the result of a collaboration of four organizations led by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
The four companies polled several hundred employers, asking them to “articulate the skill sets that new entrants [into the workforce] need to succeed.” When employers were asked to rank nine basic skills (including reading comprehension, math, and science) and 11 applied skills (such as critical thinking) in order of their importance for success in the workplace, the few identi- fied as the most important for graduates from every level were: 1) professionalism/work ethic; 2) teamwork/collaboration; 3) oral communication; and 4) critical thinking/problem solving.
The report is not the first publication to point up the gap between the skills needed in the workplace and the skills students are being taught. In a 2005 survey, the American Diploma Project found that nearly 40 percent of high school grads feel unprepared for college or work, while a survey the same year from the National Association of Manufacturers showed that 84 percent of employers say K-12 schools are not doing a good job of readying students for the workplace. And then there are books such as The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman and A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink that question what schools are teaching.
The new emphasis on real-world skills is due to our evolution into a knowledge-based economic model, with a highly transient workforce. The Department of Labor projects that people will on average hold 10.2 jobs between the ages of 18 and 38; thus workers need to be able to transfer skills and knowledge from one area to another. As Mike Schmidt, director of education and community development for the
