I recently returned home from a wonderful trip to visit my son and daughter-in-law in L.A. We golfed, rollerbladed along the ocean, played Scrabble, and went to a couple of parties where I met many of their friends. Whenever I meet bright, young people (in their 20s and 30s), I am fascinated to learn about the jobs they have or are planning to have. Many of the job opportunities today are vastly different from the jobs that were available to my generation. For gifted students, this may also involve much higher levels of education. I question whether we are properly preparing our children for this changing world.

 

The greatest change I see is the application of technology and the jobs this is creating. For instance, I met several people on my trip who are working on their doctoral degrees at the University of Southern California in a combination of artificial intelligence and psychology. I found it interesting that they each had the same combinations of focus. They are trying to figure out how to apply the thought process of the brain to technology. So far, they are applying this knowledge to training simulations for the military and private companies, but they also predicted that the field will eventually infiltrate our basic education system. Of course, no one knows what this will look like yet, but it has the potential to truly individualize education according to each student’s strengths, needs, and interests. (A philosophy we have always encouraged in gifted education.)

 

Another graduate student I know at Georgia Tech is combining his interests of technology and psychology to find applications that will aid people with health problems.

 

The second major change I see is the globalization of jobs. When I asked these young people (two who were from South Korea) where they planned to live and work, they saw the world as their platter. In my parents’ generation, one usually got a job close to home and kept that job for the duration of his career. (I specifically said “his career,” because it was primarily men who worked at that time.) In my generation, job opportunities began to open up for women and people often considered moving away from their hometowns. In fact, some people moved numerous times. With the present generation, there are newly invented jobs, young people think globally about where they might live, and it is predicted that they will not only change positions numerous times, but actually change careers more than once.

 

So, my question is—Has our method for teaching kids kept up with our changing society—especially for our gifted students? Are we giving them the skills they will need to meet these challenges? Are we teaching them skills of flexibility and supplying them with a comfort for change so that they will be prepared for jobs of the future that haven’t yet been created?

 

The Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute has designed a curriculum for seventh- through-ninth grade gifted and talented students titled Science Fiction and the Future. The unit helps students look toward the future to think about the possibilities, as well as understand the concept of change.

 

You may want to consider instituting a Future Problem Solving Program at your school to help prepare students for the future. The goals of the FPSP program are to:

 

·         increase creative thinking abilities;

·         improve analytical thinking skills;

·         stimulate an interactive interest in the future;

·         extend perceptions of the real world;

·         explore complex societal issues;

·         refine communication skills – written, verbal and technical;

·         promote research;

·         integrate problem-solving into the curriculum;

·         encourage cooperative, responsible group membership; and

·         offer authentic assessment.