A world of change

Students are begging for relevance in what they learn at school, according to Charles Fadel who delivered our second Australian Learning Lecture.

As they prepare to enter a fast-paced world of work, young people are facing increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in an ever-changing world.

The reality is that young people do not feel prepared for work, a fact highlighted in a McKinsey report which showed that 35% of employers surveyed agreed young people were prepared, 38% of young people and a massive 74% of education providers.

Over 450 people attended the lecture at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, with others gathering to hear the lecture on line followed by panel conversations at State Library of Western Australia, as well as from homes across Australia.

Charles Fadel took the audience through the world of change facing young people before unveiling The New Success: what skills and qualities our kids need to succeed in the 21st Century.

For him, versatility is a key strategy, and to ensure that success we need to flip the curriculum from its current focus on information and data to valuing wisdom and expertise. Knowledge and understanding remain relevant in the new world order.

The New Success curriculum will embrace creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration as well as cross cutting themes, such as global literacy, digital literacy, design thinking, environment literacy which play alongside traditional and modern knowledge of mathematics and language.

What emerges is a ‘deliberate, systematic, comprehensive and demonstrable’ curriculum aimed at creating a 21st Century learner ready for work, said Fadel.

“They will combine knowledge (what they know and understand), skills (how they use what they know) and character (how they behave and engage in the world),” he said.

He cautioned the audience that while the road ahead is challenging, not changing is more dangerous.