Several years ago I found myself behind a podium in a packed gymnasium. Hundreds of people stared up at me and yet the cavernous room was almost silent. Half the crowd were high school graduates; the others their proud parents and families. I was giving the commencement address. Next to me, on the floor, I had a bag of props; a vinyl record album, Michael Jackson. A compact disk, Pearl Jam. A cell phone.
The topic of my speech was how fast the world changes. And as examples I displayed my props and explained how that, in only the time the students had been going to school, changing technology dramatically affected our lives. The tie-in to the day, the commencement, was that their education needed make them ready for this changing technology, rather than the common notion of learning the current technology itself. Because, as they could already see, their world was evolving fast.
It's one of the most common mistakes made by people in general; the mistaken belief that the purpose of schooling is to provide job training. It's why graduates are rarely asked what they want to study, instead they are asked what they want to be (or do). It's why philosophy majors are asked "what are you going to do with that?"
While this may seem very subtle, instead it's a huge leap to understand the greater purpose of education is to prepare us to have careers; not train us in a career. Education, especially college degrees, demonstrate the abilities to apply oneself toward a goal that takes years to achieve; often without direct guidance or intervention from parents. Imagine you are hiring for an entry level marketing position in an established corporation. All things being equal, would you pick an English student who finished in four years, or a business student who took six years and changed majors? Obviously it's not the material studied, but the work habits formed that is the important learning.
The thing is, careers (and life in general) require a strong foundation of skills that everyone needs to learn. Basic math. Proper writing. Fundamentals of science. Even history and art. You can even make an argument that it's important to understand demand curves and probabilities and logic. Providing these kinds skills should be the goal of every educational system. Then freed of the stress of "what job will I find", students can apply themselves in areas of interest. Then those that have an interest in health can learn to be doctors; and those that like to build things can learn to be engineers.
So this summer, when you are making small talk with recent graduates, don't ask them what they intend to do; instead ask them what they want to study. Then remind them that the real learning is finding their way to the finish.
The topic of my speech was how fast the world changes. And as examples I displayed my props and explained how that, in only the time the students had been going to school, changing technology dramatically affected our lives. The tie-in to the day, the commencement, was that their education needed make them ready for this changing technology, rather than the common notion of learning the current technology itself. Because, as they could already see, their world was evolving fast.
It's one of the most common mistakes made by people in general; the mistaken belief that the purpose of schooling is to provide job training. It's why graduates are rarely asked what they want to study, instead they are asked what they want to be (or do). It's why philosophy majors are asked "what are you going to do with that?"
While this may seem very subtle, instead it's a huge leap to understand the greater purpose of education is to prepare us to have careers; not train us in a career. Education, especially college degrees, demonstrate the abilities to apply oneself toward a goal that takes years to achieve; often without direct guidance or intervention from parents. Imagine you are hiring for an entry level marketing position in an established corporation. All things being equal, would you pick an English student who finished in four years, or a business student who took six years and changed majors? Obviously it's not the material studied, but the work habits formed that is the important learning.
The thing is, careers (and life in general) require a strong foundation of skills that everyone needs to learn. Basic math. Proper writing. Fundamentals of science. Even history and art. You can even make an argument that it's important to understand demand curves and probabilities and logic. Providing these kinds skills should be the goal of every educational system. Then freed of the stress of "what job will I find", students can apply themselves in areas of interest. Then those that have an interest in health can learn to be doctors; and those that like to build things can learn to be engineers.
So this summer, when you are making small talk with recent graduates, don't ask them what they intend to do; instead ask them what they want to study. Then remind them that the real learning is finding their way to the finish.
