Posts Tagged work
The Future of Education in the Flat World
I have been reading Thomas L. Friedman’s The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century and it has got me thinking a lot about the future of education.
The main thesis of Friedman’s book is that times have changed, are changing, and will continue to change drastically. We are living in a “flat” world where technology and communication has dramatically changed the way we live our lives. We live in a world where we can outsource work to India to save our company money, which consequences in a percentage of lower-end jobs being cut from the work field. Friedman argues that in this flat world, to be employable we must become “untouchables.” He explains:
“The way I like to think about this for our society as a whole is that every person should figure out how to make himself or herself into an untouchable. That’s right. When the world goes flat, the caste system gets turned upside down. In India untouchables may be the lowest social class, but in a flat world everyone should want to be an untouchable. Untouchables, in my lexicon, are people whose jobs cannot be outsourced.“
Friedman places these “untouchables” into four categories: special (Such as famous Hollywood stars or big namers like Bill Gates); specialized (This includes knowledge workers-lawyers, brain-surgeons, software engineers); anchored (Jobs which must be done in a specific place-waitresses, nurses, electricians); and lastly, really adaptable (Employees who constantly are learning and improving upon their skills to become more of an expert and less mediocre). In this new flat world, mediocrity is the kiss of death.
Now that so many of the lower paid and low-skilled jobs have vanished in America due to outsourcing, the bar has been significantly raised for Americans seeking work. Friedman argues that in this new flat world, higher education is not an option anymore. A college degree is needed now because jobs require a much higher level of skill than they did before we entered the twenty-first century. He suggests that all citizens should be offered at least two years of a college education in order to level the playing field. If we do not make college available to all (like we once did with mandating the high school years of education), then only the privileged and wealthy will get the education needed for the well-paying jobs of the future. If the level of education needed to become employed has been upped, so must the mandatory schooling of the American people.
Friedman has made me think about education in a very different light. I once thought that not all people were “college people,” and not all people should go to college. This was based on my experience with many college freshmen who seemed to be at university because it delayed their adulthood for another four years, or because their parents made them, or because it was expected of them. Now I see that college must be the end goal for all high school students. If these students want to compete in the global economy and someday land a good job and live a comfortable life, they have no choice but to go to college. But this leads us to a terrible conundrum-how do the underprivileged and poor make it to this step? And how do we make those who do make it to college see how important their higher education is for their future?
Getting a college degree is already becoming a norm in our society, and maybe this is not such a bad thing. We are living longer, and our careers are lasting longer than ever before. Higher education leads to longer and happier lives, and is a direct deterrent to crime (and in a country where 1 in 10 US citizens are imprisoned, perhaps more education is really what we need). But we need support-from our government-to make it possible for all to attend college. And professors and teachers need to work to illuminate the importance of their subject matter. Why is what you are teaching important in the 21st century? Are you teaching your students the skills they will need to survive in the global economy and in the flat world?
And this leads me to the subject of technology and the use of it. Technology must not be the enemy inside the classroom. Technology is the future, it is the now, and it will make today’s students able to compete for jobs and survive in the uncertain job field of the future.
Add comment April 27, 2009
Intersected
My old friend from college, Jamie, has become quite a celebrity blogger as of late. She posted this contest, to write a short blurb in response to her blog tagline. I decided to take up the challenge because of the interesting question it posed (and for the prize—a blog make-over!).
“That place where work, love, and life all meet and you wonder, “where the hell do I go from here?”
The journey is the destination.
I keep reminding myself this when things seem tough, when the road gets windy and the wind stings my eyes. I am 23, and at the beginning stages of all possibilities. I have no attachments, no boundaries—my youth, my age, my bright attitude is at its peek and it’s now or never.
It seems that my work is my life, and my life is my work, and surrounded by this pattern is all encompassing love. I do not see work, love, and life as separate entities, which can become intersected in a jumbled mess. They are three faces of the same coin, all interconnected by my own life-energy.
The beginning of my journey, and the destination all live in this very present moment. I have nowhere to go from here, because I have already arrived.
2 comments March 25, 2009
Veal and Rabbits and Colloquialisms
My boss bought me coffee. A “veal” cappochino. I think he was getting me back for how much I tease him about his bright orange floral gym bag.
While walking to the bus, I passed a guy who was peering into a coffee shop through a set of binoculars. When I walked by, he turned to me and emphatically asked, “Do you have any rabbits???”
On the bus yesterday, I ran into a cast member. On the way home, I ran into a housemate.
People at my work (mainly David and Paul) use really funny sayings. Such as: “I’ve got a fish to fry,” and “I’m going to eat the frog,” and “One sandwhich short of a sack lunch.” This amuses me so much that I have begun to compile a list on my computer. Dolcie made fun of me because of how excited I was about this new side-project. It goes along nicely with my recent obsession of collecting words for my personal lexicon, all organized in a black plastic recipe file box.
Today I made flaxseed onion bread and agave cranberry/apple cookies.
I can’t wait for Thanksgiving!
4 comments November 20, 2008
