Our faculty book club at school took on reading Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind: Why Right Brain People Will Rule the Future. There is so much happening as a result of technological advances in today’s world, but not many are considering the reality of what that means for our future and probably even fewer are thinking about it through the lens of education. Mr. Pink helps bring to light some concrete examples of how we are no longer living in a world that has a predictable future of success as a lawyer, accountant or other go-to recommendations for aspiring adults. He highlights how technologies are able to take on these logical sequential jobs more efficiently and effectively. He provides insight on what he believes are the six essential abilities that one should master to remain relevant in this new world we are living in. It is the artist, inventors, and other creative right-brainers that will be the dynamic individuals who will be able to stay ahead of the steep curve drawn out by the logical sequential computer programs that have already started to outperform humans.
These are the important conversations we need to be having in education. What does it mean when technology can do something more efficiently and effectively than humans. How do we redesign what we teach in schools to account for this? We have been looking into the 21st Century Skills from P21.org and understand that these are skills we need to develop in students, but many of them are ones that we already have been teaching for years. What I have realized after reading this book and The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman is that we cannot look at these skills in the same way. We must continuously question how is our world changing in the way we do things and how do we pivot learning to ensure that the level of skill we have developed within our students is adaptable enough to continue to feel confident and productive despite what the world becomes. I believe this will change the way we have to do school. I don’t feel like it has ever had to be as dynamic as it will need to be in the future. Oh, boy! That seems a bit overwhelming!
