Governor Little hosted a Summit on the Future of Work in Idaho and beyond this week. Idaho Business for Education CEO, Rod Gramer led the discussion with the Governor and moderated as the virtual audience asked questions. The Governor has been very supportive of Educational excellence in Idaho. The IBE is a non partisan business led organization committed to transforming Idaho’s education system to better prepare our students for school, work and life. It is apparent that modern work force requirements are not consistently met in our current system. Additional funding might help, but there is more to consider than just higher investment levels.
Tony Wagner, Senior Research Fellow, the Learning policy Center is a globally recognized expert in Education and provided keynote comments. Wagner is a long time teacher and professor with Harvard academic credentials. He reminded us that we learn more from our mistakes than successes and noted a major innovation company who espouses failing early and failing often. There is no failure in his classes, A B and Incomplete are possible. The only failure is if you do not show up. No more teaching to the test, the focus must be on mastery of the skills needed. Each student should have a digital portfolio, a collection of merit badges as the student builds the desired skill sets. Students learn while carrying out projects individually and in teams. The idea is to encourage critical thinking, collaboration, problem solving, communication and presentation skills. Wagner highlighted One Stone and Two Birds, an Idaho not for profit that has proven the value of new teaching approaches. University of Idaho and Boise State are accepting mastery transcripts for enrollment—you got it, GPA is not the only measure.
Tim Taylor, President of American Succeeds, a national not for profit focused on education advocacy by harnessing the influence and acumen of the business community was the second keynote speaker. Taylor explained the value of durable skills in job success. He reviewed the top 10; critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, metacognition, mindfulness, character, fortitude, and leadership. A comprehensive study of 82 million job descriptions, 7 of the top 10 skills are durable. In those postings the top 5 skills are four times more often durable than technical. Are we teaching or measuring those durable skills in our classrooms? Taylor suggested Idaho would benefit from the “profile of a high school graduate”. What should a graduate be proficient at to move on to post secondary or a career. A model school in San Diego, High Tech High, is led by a physics and humanities professor. They utilize the scientific method in teams; create a hypothesis, do the research, reach a conclusion and defend your work in a presentation. Building multidisciplinary collaboration talent is a memorable learning tool and plays well in the workplace. We owe it our future generations and our nation to make changes to the education system.
The periodic table is very important if you are a scientist or a Jeopardy contestant, otherwise, not critical to daily life. Too much of our curriculum focus is on memorization that leaves us after the test. I wanted you to hear the positive trends coming for education. We have the dedicated teachers who will make the difference in the delivery system. I encourage you to get involved and use your durable skills on our legislative leadership. This is not a conspiracy nor intended to take away anyone’s individual freedom but for the good of the student.
Thanks for wearing a mask. Mike