Wednesday Keynote: Daniel Pink Makes Case for Forward Looking Education
November 12th, 2009
By Brian Fisher, AdmissionsQuest
Pink, author of A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Rule the Future made the case for faster changes in American educational structures- arguing that we’re missing the future by basing our school educational models on our past.
It’s tough to shift our thinking, basing our educational approaches and philosophies- not on what worked best in the past- but on our best judgments of what will be best for the future.
Past approaches worked for me; it worked for my parents; it should work for tomorrow. We seem to leave the constant of change out of our educational planning.
Arguing that the abilities of the future mater more than the abilities of the past, our educational system needs to begin looking forward- preparing students for future economic and cultural realities.
Making the case that routine tasks, automation have become commodities and will seek the lowest labor costs, what, then, does the future hold for the US economy and educational systems- complexity, premium design, and new products.
Creative engagement based on looking toward the future.
Education, Pink argued, isn’t moving fast enough to build and support the shift away from the routine production based economy. The tools and approaches that worked in past decades aren’t necessarily the best tools for the future.
What worked for parents in the past stands in the way of updating our childrens’ education for the future.
To prepare for the future we must let go of our past-based assumptions- “myth of metrics,” “myth of math, science and engineering,” and move beyond the motivation of “if-then incentives.”
Our best economic and educational future lies in moving our world and educational view from compliance to engagement- not just doing, thinking creatively about your environment and how to do things differently.
Success in a complex world requires engagement.
“Compliance will get you through the day. Engagement will get you through the night.”
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Tagged:A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brainers Rule the Future, children, commodities, Creative engagement, Daniel Pink, education reform, educational approaches, educational planning, educational system, Engagement, labor costs, parents, school educational models, students, teachers, US economy
