Synthesis #2

The responsibility of schooling in 2025 will be that teachers will need to get students ready for the jobs that are not created yet.  Schools will need to be equipped for the future that is not yet created.  Skills, tactics and study habits will be modified and school in 2025 will be needed to adapt to a changing world.  The book Nine Shift talks a lot about how the world and technology constantly change.  From the horse and wagon to the automobile; the education community has seen that as well with the chalkboard to the smart board.  Adaptation and change will be a key role/responsibility for schools and teachers in 2025.  This could be a downfall for many teachers unwilling to adapt to a changing climate in education, but those that do will certainly be able to understand see how important the changes can be.  Also the emphasis on standardized testing will also be changed in 2025.  I hope that schooling applies more emphasis on real-life situations in the SOL.  Hopefully the standards will bring about more on how a student betters their community and not about the essential knowledge of A, B, C, and D.

The rigorous authentic learning experiences teachers can place in learning is that they need to adapt to what is important to real life situations.  In my field of social studies adaptation to a child’s life is extremely important.  Applying what they know to their surroundings allows the student to better understand the subject matter.  In the case of duty and responsibility, I allow my students to create non-profit organizations.  These projects then take the student to creating a poster, commercial, and finally a presentation to helping the community and their surroundings.  Adapting other subjects can also be successful.  Mathematics can teach the student about financial planning, while science can help the student better use resources.  Finally English can help the student communicate better their ideas and social skills.

I believe that these two separate components complement each other tremendously.  Adaptation and allowing the students to use the skills in the real world help students better use the knowledge they get in the classroom.  Thus in 2025, schooling and rigorous authentic learning will hopefully set our students down a successful path to adulthood.