Teachers from the 20th Century, Kids for the 22nd Century. Are we fit for the job?

We are teachers shaped by the 20th century, educating children who may live well into the 22nd. Yet, much of what we teach, how we teach it and what we consider “good education” was designed for a past world that no longer fits our fast-changing future.

Jobs are changing just as quickly. Some will disappear, others will be transformed, and many of our students will eventually work in roles that do not yet exist. If we cannot predict exactly what their world will look like, what should we be preparing them for?

Are we teaching what they will really need, or simply what we are comfortable teaching? Which knowledge, skills and attitudes will matter most? What should we keep, what should we abandon, and what should we completely rethink?

And perhaps the most uncomfortable question of all: should we change?