Prospects for a Capable Population
Chuck Lanigan
September 12th, 2006
How effectively are we as a society preparing young people to participate in the political and cultural discourse around them?
What skills and proficiencies do students emerging from high school and college need to enter and perform successfully in the workplace?
What is the place of information technology and mass-media in education? Are these part of the solution or part of the problem?
How should parents prepare their children for adulthood and membership in society?
What can we as a society do to ensure the competence and capability of students whose parents do not do this?
In The End of Childhood, Neil Postman explores the notions of childhood in our society and points to factors that encourage extended adolescence (so-called kidults). What influence do the Internet, mass-media (television) have on efforts to raise capable children and prepare them to function in our society as adults ?
Reports such as John Merrow’s recent Declining by Degrees, raise questions about the accessibility and value of higher education for the broad range of students. Are universities and colleges doing their job in providing affordable education relevant to the needs of students and our society? Put another way, is higher education providing an adequate ROI (return on investment)? If not, what other models exist to reform higher education or do this another way?
Early childhood education efforts emphasize the need for math and science proficiency in children to prepare them to work with information technology in the knowledge economy. What continued relevance do the humanities and the liberal arts have in our society and in educating our children?
What
benefits and liabilities do distance learning (AKA e-learning) and for-profit
universities such as the
What role do (or can) technical schools and apprenticeship programs serve in preparing students for the knowledge economy and the workplace?
What is the main role that public and higher education should serve?
► Mainly vocational, to educate students well enough perform competently in the knowledge economy and know the rules of society
► Mainly self-actualizing; enabling people to reach their personal potential
► Depends (If so, on what?)
Do you think civility is declining in everyday life? (See Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss). Is this or is this not an issue? If so, what are the implications? How do you see civility practiced (or not) in online virtual communities, through media such as the Internet or e-mail, in public and the workplace
Please offer your definition of critical thinking. What’s the relationship between technical skills used to access to information and use information, communication and other technology and so-called soft-skills?
Does requiring students to master these sorts of proficiencies and literacy skills show a Western bias? Does such a bias (if it exists) make acquiring such skills irrelevant or invalidate their importance?
How do you define a literate and educated person in the early 21st century?
At a time of declining birth rates and fewer younger employees with adequate skills entering the job market, what role can experienced mature workers play in a knowledge economy?
Do the traditional concepts of a life path consisting of education leading to a career, followed by retirement still make sense? What alternatives exist?