Educating for the Future - NZ #1?

I had to look twice at the Yidan Prize infographic floating around LinkedIn: wow, is NZ really the 'best in class' _globally_ in preparing students for the future? Well, sort of. https://lnkd.in/gXZNQMg

The graphic presents some slick stats on how the world's education systems stack up against each other; and New Zealand does indeed come out as "Best in Class". In my day - 88.9% was still a "B", even if you were the best in your class. So I really wanted to see some detail behind the pictures.

Turns out that the Yidan Prize commissioned the study from The Economist's Intelligence Unit, and they are measuring current INputs, not OUTputs; I think that this is an important point to come back to later. But first - yes, as a country we ARE trying to futureproof our education in such a way that our citizens can be first-world economic creators and not second or third world consumers. Futurists and STEAM advocates all agree, noisily, that we have to take some risks and create a system that will give kids strong skills in applied, creative, problem solving using the latest technologies - applying tech in new ways across all disciplines. They need incredible communication skills, and the ability to work in a team and be leaders of teams. They need the thinking skills to be able to create productive disruption of entire industries, and make it work for New Zealand. They need to be able to excel in a world that we, products of a different time, have a lot of trouble even visualising. But to be successful and in-time, education advocates need the support of industry - all of you - to actually help make the change. Lend a hand. Voice your support. Partner with it. Fund it.

We have a window of opportunity - NOW - to disrupt the entire educational paradigm that is accepted around the world and is, admittedly, failing at raising the next generation with sufficient skills in STEM, creative thinking, empathy, and social-mindedness. Hope I didn't lose you on those last two skills, but I have to insist, having come from America, that I see a significantly higher value placed on empathy and attention to social justice/causes/entrepreneurship every day of the last 15 years of living here in New Zealand. And it is what makes life here, being part of a community, a real joy - instead of just a beautiful place to live. Think on that.

Let's get back to the original observation: the study measures a countries inputs into educational change and not outputs resulting in students who will excel in the new economy. So, we are moving in the 'right' direction, but haven't found out yet if our methods are effective or not. We, and others, have got good practices in place, but we haven't committed to a policy direction yet like Canada or the UK, for example. So let's do what any company would do in this situation: look at the research (its' out there), trial some ideas, commit to the direction. Disruption is the global phase we are in, and education is the game-changing enabler that determines future success or failure. We can embrace it, commit to it - go from a "B" to an "A"; or we can drag our feet, cling to existing education methods we grew up with, and take the failing grade. Adapt or die. Check out the details at Yidan Prize website: https://yidanprize.org/en/tl-research-list2.php. And think about how you can support innovative change in education, because it not too many years that up-and-coming generation is going to be supporting you.