Practical Skills: What Should We Be Teaching Our Students Today?

Over the years, I have had many spirited discussions with a wide variety of professionals working in and around the field of education debating the purpose of the public education system. What are our ultimate goals of achievement for our students?

I believe the main objective of education is to help prepare students to survive and thrive in the world beyond academia. I support the integration of practical skills in secondary education over the continuation of solely academic pursuits.


Unfortunately, no matter how much we push, prod, and cajole, no matter how much we extol the virtues of seeking an education beyond high school,  approximately 7,000 students drop out of high school every day. Nationally, 75.5% do manage to graduate, but only about 68.3% of these students go on to enroll in college.

For those who see secondary education as a preparation period for students' continuing education, what exactly are we doing for the approximately 31.7% of our students who either do not graduate or do not go on to attend college, but enter the workforce instead?

In 2011, there were 15.9 million people, ages 16 to 24, who were not enrolled in school. They were out in the world working or looking for work.  Even those who attend college are going to have to seek employment. either during college (38.8% of full-time college students also work) or after.

The fact is that in our society today no one knows what the future is going to look like. As educators, we are currently trying to prepare our students for a world (and a job market) that does not yet exist. According to Meghan Casserly's article at Forbes, here are 10 jobs that didn't exist 10 years ago:

• App Developer
• Market Research Data Miner
• Educational/Admissions Consultant
• Millennial Generational Expert
• Social Media Manager
• Chief Listening Officer
• Elder Care
• Sustainability Expert
• User Experience Design
• Cloud Computing Services

According to the 2012 Job Outlook Report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, employers today are looking for:

1. Ability to work in a team - 79.8%
2. Leadership - 77.2%
3. Communication skills (written) - 75.6%
4. Problem-solving skill- 74.1%
5. Strong work ethic - 73.1%
6. Analytical/quantitative skills - 72.0%
7. Communication skills (verbal) - 67.4%
8. Initiative - 65.3%
9. Technical skills - 61.1%
10. Detail-oriented - 57.5%
11. Flexibility/adaptability- 56.0%
12. Computer skills - 55.4%
13. Interpersonal skills (relates well to others) - 54.9%
14. Organizational ability- 50.8%
15. Strategic planning skill- 29.0%
16. Friendly/outgoing personality - 29.0%
17. Creativity - 22.3%
18. Entrepreneurial skills/risk-taker - 21.8%
19. Tactfulness - 21.2%

This is a lot of information to consider, but it seems to me that a systematic and concentrated integration of practical skills education would be the place to begin educational reform.

 

Technology

 

First, when looking at both the list of new jobs and the skills employers are looking for, technology obviously plays a huge role. From what I've seen in the majority of high school technology programs, they need to be improved. Kids today know all about playing with technology, often better than the teacher - my students have taught me many tricks. However, if all we are allowing them to do is play with it in school, then they really aren't learning much. Students need to be given practical assignments to show off their skills, learn new ones, and realize that technology can be far more than play.

 

Not to say that there are not exceptional teachers in the field of technology or those that integrate technology in practical ways, but as a whole, technology applications need to be made more practical. Additionally, I strongly believe that all schools should require compulsory technology training as part of their Professional Development Plans every year for all teachers.

 

How can we possibly teach kids about technology, if we do not have the skills ourselves? Also, an added benefit would be teachers who actually use the technology available to them in their classrooms. I cannot count the number of classrooms I have been in that are equipped with SMART boards that are NEVER used - what a waste of money and resources!

 

Practical Work Opportunities

 

The majority of students who drop out do so because either they see no life value in what the are receiving from their educations or they believe they would be better off working or they have to work to help support themselves and/or their families. Why not take advantage of the government monies available for training (it is out there) and involve the larger community by partnering up and offering students the opportunity to apply for paid internships with local businesses?   

 

Additionally, students in high school should all be required to take a personal finance/life skills class, and it should be as realistic as possible. Students should be taught to manage a budget and balance a checkbook using information from the real world such as average pay, rental prices, gas prices, etc. from they area in which they actually live. They should be taught how to write resumes and fill out job applications. They should be exposed to tax forms and learn how to read them. They should be exposed to paycheck stubs and learn how to interpret them. These are all practical skills that everyone is going to use eventually. When they are tailored to a specific area and to a particular student, they can be invaluable and, best of all, applicable to his/her life.

 

Team Building and Teamwork

 

Notice the top two attributes employers today are searching for: ability to work in a team and leadership. Team building and group work should be used on a regular basis across the curriculum. In real life situations, your students are not going to be working all by themselves exclusively. Dealing with group dynamics (both the good and the bad aspects) is a skill that must be learned. How to work effectively in groups is a skill that must be learned. Helping facilitate this learning is the responsibility of each and every educator.

 

Schools and teachers should also always be looking for opportunities to generate leadership roles and spread them out among the school population. Working in groups and teams can help provide these roles. I also support the use of community service projects and volunteerism to foster leadership skills, teamwork skills, and a number of other skills which I will discuss further at another time. Participation in sports, clubs, and organizations also offer the chance to work on leadership and teamwork. I believe teachers, sponsors, and coaches should use these opportunities to allow members to take on responsibility for and leadership of various tasks to help the greatest number of students.

 

 

Overall, I strongly believe the integration of practical skills education has the potential to both encourage and retain disenfranchised students, while also offering all our students (college-bound or not) authentic abilities applicable to their worlds beyond academia. So, if we are going to discuss educational reform, this seems like the most logical place to begin.

 

 

To Know or Not to Know, That is the Question

Entering the world of education with a background of working with kids in the private sector my whole life, I have received many fantastic nuggets of wisdom about teaching from veterans in the field. I have found these tips on organization, ideas about classroom management, and tricks to ensure sanity invaluable. However, there is one piece of advice I actually received from several veterans that I have never been able to wrap my mind around – “don’t get too involved with the students; it makes it easier to discipline them.” What? What exactly does that mean?

Now, I suppose this could be a way to keep the line between teacher and student unmistakably defined. When I pushed my helpful advisors for a more finite explanation, I never received the clarity I sought. This statement just seems entirely too general in my eyes. I crave specificity.

Don’t gossip with your students – of course not, this is both unprofessional and juvenile. Don’t hang out with your students casually – yeah, I can understand that, after all we are not BFFs. Don’t go out and party with your students – ok, now I’m just being facetious, but I have heard of it happening, so I’ll throw it in here.

These statements are precise and could be helpful to people who have either never been around kids or who are young and lack life experience or who just have no common sense. But “don’t get too involved” – I didn’t understand it then, and I don’t understand it now.

When I decided to go into education, my main reason was because I wanted to be involved in the lives of children. I mean, what better way to help kids learn, grow, and succeed than teaching, right? And it seems to me that the better you know the kids, the better you can anticipate their needs, differentiate to overcome their personal issues, and catch potential behavior problems before discipline or intervention becomes necessary.

TMI – How much is too much?

As I have said before, I am new to the world of teaching. I have however worked with kids in the private sector my whole life. For my “work kids” and those I have tutored over the years, I have provided help with homework and assistance with college entrance exams. I have been there to help my kids and their families fill out FAFSA and college applications. I have given assistance with job applications and resumes.

I have acted as a confidant and offered advice on relationships, parents, school, jobs, drugs, alcohol, and even a couple of unplanned pregnancies. I have always refused to be caught up in their adolescent dramas and have never failed to quite bluntly call them out on drama for its own sake. I always approached them as the young adults they were and treated them with honesty and respect. They never failed to reciprocate.

I am still in touch with many of these kids and their families. And I still refer to them as kids, even though the oldest among them have recently said good-bye to their twenties and now have kids of their own. They are spread far and wide – going to school, working, and living lives of their own. The thing they have in common is this – when they come home, they look me up. They shoot me an email when they can and keep me apprised of the big events in their lives – graduations, marriages, births, new jobs, promotions. Their parents keep me informed of their progress in school and in life whenever I run into them at the grocery store. I have to say that the fact these kids still allow me to be a part of their lives long after I’ve outgrown my ‘usefulness’ in their day-to-day means the world to me.

Did I become too involved with these kids? Do I know too much about the parts of their lives that were not directly related to my professional association with them as a tutor or boss? I’m sure that everyone has an opinion on how much information is too much, but I believe the more important questions are these. Did I help these kids learn, grow, and succeed? Yes, I believe I did. Did I make lasting connections with these kids? Definitely.

So, who gets to decide how much is too much? Aside from gross misconduct or criminal behavior, I can say that I firmly believe the more information you know about the kids you work with, the better you can meet their needs.

In the Classroom

Being present enough to pay attention to what my students are talking about among themselves and taking the time to listen to them when they need someone to talk to has allowed me not only to understand what is happening in their day-to-day, but also to use that information to assist them in improving their performance and experience in my room.

Has this resulted in some TMI overload situations at times? Yes, of course it has, but without this involvement I would have never known:

·         That freshmen girl in your class who has suddenly developed a “diva from hell” attitude has just gotten her first ever boyfriend and is feeling extremely self-conscious and nervous about exactly what that means.

·         That student who has been skipping class and refusing to turn in work has parents who have recently split up; the mother left the state, and the father is out of the country on business.

·         That sophomore who went from falling asleep in class every day to bouncing off the walls and picking fights with everyone sitting around her has made the decision that she is old enough to determine whether or not she needs to take her ADHD medication, and she chose no.

·         That student who seems to have problems with social interactions and quickly becomes combative with his peers just had his little brother and sister taken out of the home by the state which left him all by himself because he has aged-out of the system. He hasn’t seen them in over two months.

·         That student everyone calls lazy is working two jobs to help his family keep a roof over their heads and food on their table.

Now, I’m interested to know exactly how not getting involved with my students serves their best interests or my own? Do these situations influence the way I deal with each of these students? Yes, it does. It doesn’t change my expectations for these kids. I expect the same from them as I do all my students. What it does change is my approach. And isn’t that what individualized education is at its core? Adapting instruction to meet the needs of all students?

If you are a veteran teacher, I have a sincere question for you. Have you ever given this type of advice to a new teacher? What exactly did you mean by it?