Education and the Evolving Job Market

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Recommended: John Deweys impact on Education

The lives of students today are changing. They are preparing for lives and jobs that have never before existed. If teachers hope to have a significant and worthwhile impact on these quickly changing lives, they must change the way they think, prepare, and instruct our future generations. Children cannot afford to have teachers who remain stagnant in their methods and ideals. Students crave instructors that are willing to allow them to tap into their potential in a manner that is interesting, fun, and important to them. Teachers must revolutionize the manner in which they educate in order to meet the high expectations that students have for them. This revolution can begin with teachers in classrooms everywhere who are willing to change their approach to education in order to fit the needs and wants of their students so that they are equipped for the future.

A transformation of education has been the ultimate goal of great teachers, administrators, and philosophers since the dawn of public education. Many have called for a change in the way we think about education and warned that if no change is made, the youth of today and tomorrow will ultimately suffer. For example, in his 1929 credo, John Dewey argues that the learning process begins the very moment one enters into the world and it should continue for the purpose of “shaping the individual’s powers…forming his habits… and arousing his feelings and emotions.” Furthermore, he states in order to properly prepare a student for the future, one must “give him command of himself.” Years later, in her 1983 rejection of the claims of the Paideia Proposal, Nel Noddings expands upon the thoughts of Dewey saying in order to provide the best education for all children, teache...

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...nstructional Strategies: One Size Doesn’t Fit All. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Hess, M. (2011). “Although Some Voice Doubts, Advocates Say Differentiated Instruction Can Raise the Bar for all Learners.” Distributed by NEA Communications.

Noddings, N. (1983). “The False Promise of the Paideia: A Critical Review of The Paideia Proposal”. In Flinders, D. and Thornton, S. The Curriculum Studies Reader (pg. 180 - 187). New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.

Voltz, D., Sims, M., and Nelson, B. (2010). Connecting Teachers, Students, and Standards: Strategies for Success in Diverse and Inclusive Classrooms. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Westphal, L. (2009). Differentiating Instruction with Menus: Science Middle School Edition. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press, Inc.

Wormeli, R. (2006). “Differentiating for Tweens.” Educational Leadership. 63(7), 14-19.

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