Who will be tomorrows misfits?

The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." Alvin Toffler

Recently I read this article regarding education and meeting the needs of our rangatahi, (Frances Valentine speaks to the Herald about bravery, business and education.) It got me thinking...

By neglecting to truly value competencies for learning over content in schools are we turning todays conformists into tomorrows misfits?

Lidia Yuknavitch gave a great Tedtalk on misfits. In it she defines a misfit as a person that missed fitting in or a person that is poorly adapted to new situations.

Ive always enjoyed the stories of yesterdays rebel (misfit) becoming an innovative problem solver and leader because of their ability to challenge the status quo found in society. But what does that say about a society that is expected to increasingly need innovative leaders and problem solvers? 

• Will the Ss that are great at conforming to expectations and rules be ill prepared for tomorrows challenges? Will they be innovative enough?
• Will conformists be the most vulnerable towards new technology entering the work place? 

This reframing of Toffler's insight gives me the shivers. These conformists are often the Ss that teachers see as good people, deserving of a life that rewards their self-control and amicability. I think of the line in the educational documentary "Most likely to Succeed," that says..

"In the past these people were likely to live a perfectly average life all the way to the perfectly average funeral...These assurances no longer exist."

This idea really affects me. I feel an urgency...This urgency needs to be expressed. Perhaps in doing so we will see how failing to explicitly raise the value of effective lifelong learning skills as of more importance than subject based content we will not place todays good Ss into such a vulnerable place in the near future. As I read this I so grateful of the NZ curriculum and its vision, principles and values and especially of the statement that emphasises prioritising depth of understanding over content coverage. (see providing sufficient opportunities to learn) I feel that teachers are not to date truly grasping the importance of these wonderful future focused features yet.

This sense of urgency is significant... it is what I will use to ensure that I am prioritising research based effective learning practices into my daily pedagogies. Its funny how sometimes it just a rephrasing of a statement to attain that "oh shit" sense of urgency.