Optimising future opportunities for your child Erica McWilliam Montessori International College, Sippy Downs, 20 June, 2013.

Optimising future opportunities for your child  

Erica McWilliam

Montessori International College, Sippy Downs, 20 June, 2013

Education: more important than ever

Better lifestyle

Better health

Less likely to be unemployed

Bigger pay-packet

More chance of re-engagement

More community infrastructure

Education: less relevant than ever

Credentials are ‘tick box’ items

Global marketplace means new competitors

Creative capital is worth more

Learning best done through ‘peer-to-peer’ networks

We are more ignorant than ever

Unpredictable futures mean that traditional templates are not as valuable

Data Transformation: the 4 Vs

Volume

Variety

Velocity

Veracity

Jodie, 19 years Born in 1994, same year as the internet

1996: Hotmail

1998: Google

1999: Napster

2000: DVD mass market in Aust

2001: iPod and xBox,

2007: iPhone and Playstation3 and Tumblr

2008: Facebook, Twitter and iPad

2010: Youtube is primary source of info – Jodie has never watched the news on free to air TV - the world looks like Youtube to Jodie.

2012: Snapchat

Good News Bad News

• Technology is getting smarter

• They will need to be much smarter too

Good News Bad News

• Technology is getting smarter

• Technology getting cheaper

• They will need to be much smarter too

• Too much ‘stuff’ – storage and disposal a big problem

Good News Bad News

• Technology is getting smarter

• Technology getting cheaper

• They will have more chances to be creative and connected

• They will need to be much smarter too

• Too much ‘stuff’ – storage and disposal a big problem

• A global job market means very high level of competence and competition

Good News Bad News

• Technology is getting smarter

• Technology getting cheaper

• They will have more chances to be creative and connected

• Many diseases are being eradicated by modern science – means longer, healthier life

• They will need to be much smarter too

• Too much ‘stuff’ – storage and disposal a big problem

• A global job market means very high level of competence and competition

• New ‘superbugs’ mean new diseases and poverty likely to get worse

Good News Bad News

• Technology is getting smarter

• Technology getting cheaper

• They will have more chances to be creative and connected

• Many diseases are being eradicated by modern science – means longer, healthier life

• Passion, kindness and ethical behaviour still matter

• They will need to be much smarter too

• Too much ‘stuff’ – storage and disposal a big problem

• A global job market means very high level of competence and competition

• New ‘superbugs’ mean new diseases and poverty likely to get worse

• In the era of Big Data, most information is untrustworthy – they need to be both keen and sceptical

Good News Bad News

• Technology is getting smarter

• Technology is getting cheaper and more global

• They will have more chances to be creative and connected

• Many diseases are being eradicated by modern science – means they will live longer, healthier lives

• Passion, kindness and ethical behaviour still matter

• Valuing their own abilities and capacity to learn is vital

• They will also need to be smarter

• Too much ‘stuff’ – storage and disposal a big problem

• A global job market means very high level of competence and competition

• New ‘superbugs’ mean new diseases and poverty likely to get worse

• In the era of Big Data, most information is untrustworthy – they need to be both keen and sceptical

• Being too self-focused can make them more vulnerable when setbacks occur

Global Labour Markets

High end personal services High end impersonal services

Low end personal services

Low end impersonal services

Global Labour Markets

High end personal services High end impersonal services

Low end personal services

Low end impersonal services

Global Labour Markets

High end personal services High end impersonal services

Low end personal services

Low end impersonal services

Global Labour Markets

High end personal services High end impersonal services

Low end personal services

Low end impersonal services

Global Labour Markets

High end personal services High end impersonal services

Low end personal services

Low end impersonal services O

utsourci

ng

Work Futures

“Only a certain kind of individual can prosper in unstable fragmentary social conditions.” (Richard Sennett)

“People who need managing are no longer employable.” (Lee Crockett)

“Low level routine transactions are no longer required.”(Daniel Pink)

“The most valuable workers are creative thinkers whose ideas can be turned into valuable products and services.” (Richard Florida)

design

accumulation

seriousnesslogic

focusargument

function

symphony

play meaning

empathy

story

High Concept/High Touch

Getting serious about Play

“Play will be to the 21st century what work was to 300 years of industrial society – our dominant way of knowing, doing and creating value.”

(Pat Kane, The Play Ethic)

Teaching in ‘Truth Mode’

Knowledge is an accumulation of known facts and concepts

Facts are best organised through disciplines

Instruction is the most promising strategy

Memory and imitation are useful

Answers are right or wrong

Test results measure success

Best evidence of learning = exam results

Teaching in ‘Design Mode’

What is this idea good for?

What does it do and fail to do?

Does it have a future?

How could it be improved?

What is the value-add?

The challengePerformance culture

• Content-driven

• Test-oriented

• Packaged in advance

• Pencil and paper

• Imitative routines

• Credential is the prize

• Discipline-focused

Learning culture

Capacity building

Personalised

Self-managed

Focus is on the journey

Virtual and ‘real’ have equal status

Open-ended

Creative

Knowledge WorkMandated Knowledge

data ‘at rest’

certain

agreed

evidence-base strong

largely individual

social context irrelevant

correct answers

Dynamic Knowledge

data ‘in motion’

tentative

often contested

evidence-base is weak

mainly collaborative

social context is relevant

better questions

Self-Managing Learners

Self-critical diagnosticians – not needy of constant affirmation

Keen and sceptical users of data, not passive consumers of information

Pay 50/50 attention to learning and performing

“Know what to do when they don’t know what to do”

Take risks and try new things, mix and match, assemble, edit

See obstacles are challenges

Work well in team situations

Self-managers with creative learning portfolios will be better

prepared for the future than those who rely solely on formal educational credentials.

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.ericamcwilliam.com.au/