Future You Memo No. 5
First, some numbers:
1.2 Million - US public school have lost ~1.2 million students since 2020 (NYTimes)
41% - Less than half of college students believe universities are doing a good job preparing them for the workforce, and….
11% - Only 11% of business leaders agree college grads are prepared for work. *
The post-industrial collision
Can you recall times when our young people freeze up and demand the adults around them “just tell me what to do”! Post-school, employers and managers hear the same from their employees and colleagues. But who’s at fault when our education system demands and rewards compliance?
Seth Godin writes about the two sides of compliance and agency in The post-industrial collision.
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Many knowledge-economy employees say that the main cause of dissatisfaction at work is lack of agency. Lack of control over our time and our decisions and our output is demeaning. It turns people into cogs.
As the nature of work changes, innovation and small groups are adding far more value than the race to the bottom of industrial control can.
So people are getting what they asked for. Autonomy. Responsibility instead of authority. The chance to speak up and be heard. Most of all, the opportunity to be on the hook.
Not surprisingly, some people, particularly if they’ve been indoctrinated into the industrial mindset, don’t like this.
They can’t ask, “just tell me what to do.” The search for an A, the hope to be picked by someone in charge, the desire for perfect–it’s gone. So is the deniability that comes with following instructions.
Be careful what you hope for.
What is the cost of compliant students?
The 20th century Industrial-Education Complex is the single biggest anchor on human ingenuity and freedom in the west. The highest value of this system is compliance. It prepares humans to act as cogs in the vast bureaucracies and factories of the mid-20th century. It was never meant to cultivate the beauty, genius, and freedom of your child.
Read more: What comes after the Industrial Education Complex?
5 Resources for Youth Voice and Choice
High school is a time of self-discovery. As your students explore who they are and what issues matter to them, you can empower them as leaders and thinkers by giving them a say in what and how they learn.
Here’s 5 ways and examples that focus on how you can give students power in their own learning, and partner with students to design the best school experience possible.
Read more at XQ
Till next time….
Almost every successful person begins with two beliefs: the future can be better than the present, and I have the power to make it so. - David Brooks
Cover photo: Ian Barsby