In 2007 when our current first year university students sat in kindergarten learning phonics and the alphabet there was no Spotify, Uber, Airbnb, or Tesla. Today as they sit in their first year university lectures, we must ask ourselves, have we set them up with the skills to embrace the future? Can they be the voice of change, the innovators and the change-makers, or have we prepared them to fall in line and become worker bees?
Gavin McCormack states that although we cannot predict what 2032 will be like, the present Kindergarten students will be in their first year of university. But we do know that essential skills such as empathy, time management, executive functioning, independence, and emotional intelligence are important to teach our students as they will be able to deal with whatever the future holds.
Our present educational outcomes are for the Industrial Age that over are 150 years old, not for the future. There’s no point in teaching something just because it’s in the textbook or the curriculum.
We have a duty of care for our students and those who will follow them, to teach our students how to love in a way that protects all living beings and the natural habitat we call Home.