I hope everyone had a chance to rest, relax and sharpen the saw a bit over the holiday. We’re back for the final stretch of the year, it’s going to fly by!
During the holiday Amy and I traveled to Shanghai to visit friends and see how the city has changed since we left there almost three years ago. Shanghai has been a land of opportunity for a long time now, especially over the last 15-20 years. As such, new restaurants, stores and other entrepreneurial opportunities have popped up quickly. While we were visiting I had the chance to talk to a few of my friends who’ve been able to take advantage of this hotbed of opportunity and it got me thinking about our school mission and how we’re preparing our students for a booming world economy.
I don’t know the secret combination of all the ingredients but I think I’ve figured out the recipe for success that so many of these young entrepreneurs have followed. It starts with an idea, or many ideas, targeted on an identified problem or void in a community. From there it takes time, effort (lots of effort), planning, organization, and what many of the people I‘ve spoken with called ‘good luck’. I, however, believe that the ‘good luck’ factor isn’t truly named at all, we should be calling this last bit ‘preparedness’. And here is where I believe that we, as a school, come into the equation.
See, we’re the ones preparing these students. We’re preparing them for the unknown, for the future that is still (at best) a foggy and murky idea of what their lives could possibly hold. So how do we do that? Are good lesson plans, homework and final exams the answer? What about service learning, interdisciplinary units and Education Outside The Classroom? What happens if we integrate ATLs, technology and TOK links into all of these things? Do any of the combinations from above prepare our students for the future?
Therein lies the biggest question – what future are we trying to prepare our students to meet successfully? Are we content with preparing them for university? Should we be preparing them for life beyond university? What if our students don’t attend university, will they be successful?
My nudge to you this week, as we prepare for the final quarter of the year, is to start considering some of these questions. As part of the three year Strategic Plan currently under development we are thinking about a lot of these questions and what the implications of their answers could mean for how we prepare students. Take some time to contemplate these questions and debate them with your colleagues. I’d love to hear from you or be a part of any of these conversations, it’s fascinating stuff and there are certainly no ‘right’ answers!
Pushing Forward 