Education in the Knowledge Economy Mike Schmidt Director, Education and Community Development Ford Motor Company Fund

How Can Business Engage The Education Pipeline More Effectively? Talk About the “Flat World” and How it Will Impact Education Help To Re-assess Longstanding Notions: –Standards –Curriculum

Three Ways to Talk About “The Flat World”

I. Talk About What Is Happening The Knowledge Economy is Here to Stay and Moving at a Faster Pace Than Ever Imagined In This New Economy, It is Not Enough to Focus Only on Core Academic Subjects High Schools Must Prepare Students With 21 st Century Knowledge and Skills Somehow, We Need to Foster Innovation and Creativity – That is Our Economic Edge

Three Trends That are Shaping and are Shaped by The Flat World

THE SINGULAR IMPORTANCE OF INNOVATION “Innovation is now recognized as the single most important ingredient in any modern economy” The Economist

SEEING WHAT CUSTOMERS HAVE NOT YET IMAGINED BUT WILL INSTANTLY DESIRE “If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.” Henry Ford

FLATTENING THE INNOVATION HIRARCHY “Companies that want to succeed in today’s competitive environment need innovation at every point of the compass, in all aspects of the business, and among every team member.” Tom Kelley, IDEO

Moving From: Riding the Innovation Wave to Continuous Improvement to Continuous Innovation

II. Talk About Fostering Innovation & Creativity Relies on the Connection Between –WHAT We Teach –HOW We Teach It –WHAT High School Looks Like Increasing Academic Requirements for All Students is Critical HOWEVER... Focusing Only On Core Academics Side of Equation Is Sure to Drive Innovation and Creativity Out.

III. Talk About “The Quiet Consensus” When Business People Talk About Needs: Need to focus on teaching students to apply academic leaning to real world problems. Applied Learning. Relevance in the Gates world. - HUGE GAP (Surveys) Without this ability to apply learning in new ways, to real world issues and problems, creativity, innovation, reaction cannot occur

This Is Becoming a Global Consensus In Asia, our competitors are ahead of us on the Academic Rigor side Now focused on the higher order thinking and learning skills, innovation, creativity, applied learning, etc. Doing so because this is where the economic competition is won in a knowledge economy. (NY Times – Friedman)

HELP RE-ASSESS SOME LONGSTANDING BELIEFS AND ASSUMPTIONS

Standards: What Should Students Know and Be Able to Do? Content and Pedagogy: What Should Teaching and Learning Look Like?

Standards : Moving From Traditional Academic Content to 21 st Century Skills

 Agilent Technologies  American Association of School Libraries  American Federation of Teachers  Apple  Bell South Foundation  Cable in the Classroom  Cisco Systems, Inc.  Corporation for Public Broadcasting  Dell Inc.  ETS Partnership for 21 st Century Skills  Ford Motor Company Fund  Intel  JA Worldwide  Microsoft Corporation  National Education Association  Oracle Corporation  SAP  Texas Instruments Incorporated  Time Warner, Inc.  Verizon

21 st Century Skills – P-21 Definition Emphasis on Academically Rigorous Core Subjects for All Students Higher-Order Thinking and Learning Skills –Critical Thinking, Communications, Problem Solving, Self-Direction, Teamwork, Personal Management, Systems Thinking 21 st Century Tools –ICT Literacy 21 st Century Context and Content (Relevance) –Global Literacy, Civic Literacy, Financial, Economic, &Entrepreneurial Literacy

Content and Pedagogy: Transforming Teaching and Learning

The Ford PAS Curriculum

Academic Challenge –Rigorous Content –Addresses National Standards –Connects Important Ideas Within and Across Disciplines –Develops Reasoning Processes and Ways of Thinking Particular to Disciplines

The Ford PAS Curriculum Skills for Success –Critical Thinking –Problem-Solving –Communication –Teamwork

The Ford PAS Curriculum Real-World Learning –Introduction to business concepts –Experiences that show how studies lead to college and rewarding careers –Use of powerful technology tools –Interactions with business, higher education, and community organizations –Access to information about college

The Ford PAS Curriculum Consists of: –2 ½ year series of electives beginning in 9th or 10th grade –5 semester-long courses, 3 modules each –15 modules, each 6 weeks long Flexible—school, after-school, or summer program using full curriculum or individual courses or modules

The Ford PAS Curriculum Teaching/Learning Philosophy Inquiry-Based –Pose issues and problems. –Enable students to acquire information and develop skills in the context of investigating issues and problems, often through hands-on experiences. Performance-Driven –Assesses students’ learning in multiple ways

Ford PAS Course 1: Building Foundations –From Concept to Consumer: Building a Foundation in Problem-Solving –Media and Messages: Building a Foundation of Communication Skills –People at Work: Building a Foundation of Research Skills

Ford PAS Courses 2–5 Course 2: Adapting to Change –Careers, Companies, and Communities –Closing the Environmental Loop –Planning for Efficiency Course 3: Managing and Marketing with Data –Planning for Business Success –Ensuring Quality –From Data to Knowledge Course 4: Designing for Tomorrow –Reverse Engineering –Different by Design –Energy for the Future Course 5: Understanding a Global Economy –The Wealth of Nations –Markets Without Borders –Global Citizens