Education Fit for the 21st Century

We all recognize that the American education system is in need of a major overhaul. All across the country, educators and academics, parents, concerned citizens, and organizations are calling for meaningful reforms to give our students a truly 21st-century education and hence a more competitive edge in an increasingly global market. But there seems to be a big disconnect in these calls. People recognize a need to reform education, and they are not shy to express it, but at the same time, this writer has yet to hear about any truly creative, meaningful ideas on how to achieve it. So I'm compelled to offer my own.

Secondary Education

American education is still stuck in the late 1800s-early 1900s in the sense that today's schools retain the same model of teaching students book knowledge by repetition and then testing them on memorization. This teaching style works well if we want to prepare our youth for a life based on repetitiveness and memorization in the industrial workforce, but going straight from high school to machine shops and foundries is no longer the norm.

Bringing education into the 21st century means finding ways to build subjects such as goal setting, building leadership skills, financial literacy, networking, current trends in business and technology, entrepreneurship, and personal development into the mandatory curriculum for high school students.

It also means finding and implementing ways to foster closer ties with local service organizations and private sector businesses in order to enhance hands-on learning opportunities outside of the classroom.

In short, rather than giving our students mere fish in the form of repetitive knowledge, we must show them how to fish with the skill-building tools, strategies, and resources of the 21st century.

College

The same subjects I called for inclusion into the secondary curriculum must also be built into the mandatory curriculum for all college and university students, irrespective of major or area of concentration. These subjects take on more meaning at the college level, as the students are older and can better appreciate how they will directly impact their professional careers.

While I was in college, I took every opportunity to study these topics outside of class, and admittedly, I learned more outside of class than in it.