Trained Workers or Educated Citizens?

I am going to post some really good education stories from around the country that I've been saving. 

But here's what the U.S Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, tweeted on December 16th:

Every student should have access to an education that aligns with industry demands and evolves to meet the demands of tomorrow’s global workforce.

It was apropos nothing and that is the full and complete tweet.

And he tweeted this today:

Our work to transform our schools is crucial to creating a strong economic foundation for our country.

It’s time to break down the silos between K-12 systems and college, career, and industry preparation programs. This is how we transform education in this country.

As you might imagine, many of us on Twitter had replies because that particular statement seems to makes it sound like U.S. education is for training workers and not creating educated citizens.  BOTH are important.

Peter Greene:

That's not education. Public education is not meant to serve the needs of employers, but the needs of students. Yes, students probably need a job. But a job training system is meager and narrow. Our children should aspire to more than being useful meat widgets.

Diane Ravitch

Schools do not exist to meet the demands of industry. They exist to help every student reach his or her full potential and build a thriving democracy, where everyone counts and participates.

Christina O

That’s NOT “education”. That’s churning out workers for corporations. We need critical thinkers. How sad that the Secretary of education is tweeting out Amazon hiring propaganda. Worse yet is this isn’t satire. Step down sir. You are NOT an educator.

Dismantalope

I can’t even wrap my head around this. Frightening. Someone check his calendar for the names Koch and Bezos.

Carpe DM

He doesn't even start it with education. He starts it with "access to" an education. Whatever that means.

Benjamin H

I get why that sounded good in your head, but why would we be aligning elementary school curriculum for today’s industry?

“Industry” even five years from now will look vastly different.

I am very disappointed in the Secretary.

Comments

Anonymous said…
At the same time I see our schools deemphasizing the important of basic skills like math and not educating for a future where every job involves tech to some degree. In a conversation about poor trends in math in schools, i even had a principal tell me that "most kids won't need math in their careers". He told this to us, 2 PhD scientists who look around at our neighbors who are in tech, biotech, accounting, marketing, architecture. Yes we want to educate students but we also want them to be able to succeed in tomorrow's world... or even in today's world. The lack of emphasis on advanced math, lack of rigor overall is putting these kids needlessly behind.

Aim high
12/19/22, 9:37 AM
Anonymous said…
Two things can be true at once and I’m not reading that he thinks more “global” education should be replaced with workforce training.

I also think it’s time we reassessed what we require to graduate high school and why. Remember, it’s not just what do we think is legitimate education, but it’s how our children spend their time and what resources districts expend to offer them. Why do we still require two years of a language? Most do not go on to study or speak the language, and many rural district struggle to provide them; it’s a check the box requirement. Same for art and math. Maybe what makes most sense is the ability to explore more subjects, aka electives? Why not follow what our students want?

Half In

12/19/22, 1:27 PM
Anonymous said…
We are failing to grasp how much AI will change our workforce in our lifetime. We are better off training up kids to be big picture and critical thinkers, with skill sets that can pivot with a changing labor market. I actually think interpersonal skills will become *more* important with time as being human will be all there is left to do,eventually. I have zero faith that our public school Can standardize teaching such skills; it’s the reducing education to a widget that has done so much harm to our students and our education that IS the public school system.

Aim High, I am in support of *offering* advanced math but not requiring it. Most will not need them in their careers. Agree that rigor is important, but it’s draconian to require mastery in a little-used part of curriculum in order to graduate.

Hold On

12/19/22, 1:54 PM
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