Thoughts From a Business Leader

Here are some of the thoughts shared by my business friend, listed in no particular order:

• Here are four skills I would like to see each new hire have:
  • The ability to write an introductory email and to understand that how the written word may be interpreted is much different than the spoken word.
  • The ability to take effective notes while listening.
  • The ability to take those notes and repackage them into an effective and accurate summary.
  • The ability to assemble real-time information in an agreed upon format. (NOTE: In other words, many college graduates today are adept at using the Internet for research, but they are weak in the ability to take that information and re-package it in a useful form for colleagues and clients.)
• Make sure that communication rules are available. For instance, when should email be used? Instant messaging? Phone conversations? What are the best practices for using all the different forms of communication?
• In almost any job, communication is at least 50% of the work. You must always stay vigilant in working with communication.
• Responsibility for communication is with the sender, not the receiver. (NOTE: Think about how many times we send out a note, an email, or a newsletter and think we have communicated. What have we done to research the best forms of communication for our audience? What steps do we take to maximize our communication efforts? It seems as it is far easier to complain about those who didn't read a note sent home than it is to take the time to truly engage in self-analysis of communication practices.)
• Breakdowns in life are all about poor communication.
• We don't spend enough time with students in identifying their strengths and then in helping them build on those strengths.
• Students may be able to pass a knowledge test, but that does me no good in the business world.
• Schools do a poor job of allowing people to make a lot of mistakes.

Whew......what a powerful list this is! There is so much here for educators to chew upon as we seek to best meet the needs of our students. Here are a couple conclusions of mine from this discussion:

• Schools and teachers need to do a much better job of taking responsibility for our communication -- the communication of curriculum, of activities, of events, and most importantly, communication of how Jesus Christ and His saving message is woven throughout all we do in a Lutheran school.
• The traditional test may still play a role, but it is not necessarily the best way to prepare students for future life experiences. The conundrum we face as educators, however, is that the traditional test is still very prominent in rating schools, rating educators, and it is frequently used in college admissions and other such tiered assessments.
• Schools expect students to be generalists (to know something and be fluent in a wide variety of subjects), which means that our students usually are spending most of their days enhancing their weaknesses rather than building their strengths.
• While this subject did not arise in our discussion, one thought which persisted for me is the idea of core knowledge. What is core knowledge for the 21st century learner? What sorts of ideas might have been expected as core knowledge in the past but would be unreasonable to expect as core knowledge today? For instance, is it still important that my students learn that a Representative serves a 2 year term in Congress and a Senator a 6 year term, or is it more important that they know how to find accurate information on this topic? Or is there factual knowledge remains important for good citizenship, despite the changes in our society? I'm really wrestling with those sorts of questions right now.

What are your thoughts as educators? As parents? As servants of the Word? I'd love for all of us who care about children and their future to engage more fully in the wrestling process with these questions. No one of us (certainly not me!) is smart enough to make sense of all of this on our own, but there is power in the wisdom of the groups. Start the process by sharing a comment to this post.