Preparing Students in FUSD for Their Future:
Points to Consider
Globalization/Changing Demographics/Technology/Changing Values and Attitudes
Students in Flagstaff are competing not just with each other, but also with students from other nations around the globe such as Asia, Europe and Eastern Europe. The fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the opening of China in the free marketplace have changed business, and the world our children are entering, at a staggering pace. Jobs in the United States have changed and will continue to change.
Schools in the United States today look much the same as they have for several generations. It used to be that a person was able to leave public school prior to completing high school and make a living and support a family. Today there are very few low-skilled jobs that pay much above the poverty level. It is clear now that a high school diploma is not sufficient for today’s economic realities.
The United States is changing demographically: aging (fewer young people going into a workforce that is beginning to lose large numbers of “baby boomers” some say a 4:1 ratio); declining birth rate; increases in young people who do not speak English, and increases in children who are in poverty. Many of these other nations have greater numbers of young people.
Technology has changed the way the way the world works. The power of computer technology doubles every 18 months. Huge strides in nanotechnology make the size of computing devices increasingly smaller. The intersection of nanotechnology, technology and biology (biotechnology) is changing the bioscience landscape.
Values change between generations. The “Greatest Generation” in the 1940s led to “Baby Boomers” in the 1950s, then the “Generation Xers”, and now we have what are being called the “Millennials.” There appears to be an “ambition gap” between youth in the U.S. and other countries. “They want what we have.” It is up to the adults of today to provide educational opportunities that will enable our children (the “Millennials”) to compete with the highly motivated youth in other parts of the world.
Trends in education:
- Quality early childhood experiences prior to kindergarten
- Renewed focus in early grades
- Middle and high school smaller learning communities (schools within schools)
- Relationships, rigor and relevance
- Quality, focused professional development for educators
- Rising community awareness of global changes impacting how we must prepare all our youth
Resources:
Daggett, Willard. “Globalization – Tipping the Scale of Economic Supremacy,” The International Center for Leadership in Education, December 2005. http://www.daggett.com/white_papers.html .
Daggett, Willard. “Preparing Students for Their Future,” The International Center for Leadership in Education, June 2005. http://www.daggett.com/white_papers.html .
Friedman, Thomas L. The World Is Flat, Frarrar, Straus and Giroux: New York, 2005.
