Hey, if you’re rich, you’ll probably get even richer. But if you’re broke…
I have started to follow NPRs stories on the the growing economic disparity between the rich and poor in the United States. Now I’m no economist, but I have studied a little bit of history and there is a pattern that emerges when a state’s income inequality begins to spiral out of control: Things start to fall apart. Check out this telling chart:
That’s right, the top 1/5 of Americans are soaring financially. But, uh, what about the rest of us?
It was reported yesterday that the Fed Chief has sent out a warning: Do something about the income gap or else we’ll be headed into some tough economic times. And according to the chief that “doing something” means broadening worker’s skills.
Gone are the days of going to school, and then finding a career that you’ll stick with for the rest of your working life. There is much more that is required from people now who hope to find success in their work. The ‘workers’ of the future (and even today!) need to be pliable and willing to buckle down and learn new technologies and skills. This leads me to something else that I am familiar with… education.
Where is education going?
I have recently completed my degree at Arizona State in both history and in secondary education. The ed program was terrific in training us in good pedagogical methods. The skill of teaching really means understanding how people learn, understanding their circumstances, and then altering your methods to meet the learning styles and needs of the students. However, I was SHOCKED so many times at the perspective of my fellow students and many professors when it came to incorporating new technologies into the classroom. I guess my perspective was different because I had been in the workplace (in “technology”-driven environments) for several years prior to completing my degree. I was at least 10 years older than most of my colleagues. Yet, they were the ones sounding like ‘baby-boomers’ – students included. (My apologies to any baby-boomers reading this. Obviously if you are blogging, than you break the sterotypical ‘mold’ of 50+ something years olds.) And many professors, though recognizing the need for more relevant technological information being taught to students, had no idea where to start. Even one professor attempted to discuss how we should try to incorporate text-messaging into our classroom exercises, because ‘all the kids are doing it these days.’ …As if that was the apex of utilizing technology in the classroom. Do they know that students will be on myspace via their phone during such an “innovative” lesson? Hmmm.
I had one forward-looking professor give us a 60+-something page article (New Technology Literacies) about technology literacies and how students should be prepared for these literacies in such a past-paced work environment that we have in the US. We need people to leave school literate – not just in reading, but in communicating using 21st century technologies. Blogging, e-marketing, podcasting – just a few things students need to come into contact with. So back to my colleagues – After reading this article, our professor asked how many would do what is suggested in the reading. Maybe 2 of us raised our hands out of 55 students. Yikes.
How will be remedy this as a country? It will take some strong students and teachers to ‘tough it out’ and make some serious changes.