21st Century Skills

The first shifthappens wiki I checked out was 21^st Century Skills.  Part of their Mission Statement really struck me, “The skill sets necessary in an industrial nation are not adequate in 21^st century America.” (Ablett, Bellizzi, Byers, Cove, Dobrusin, Frey & Hanke) This is completely 100% on the mark for the kids who will be working in what we think of as the professional and technological fields.  I was once one of those kids.  I had my technology career.  However, now I am the grandmother to two boys who are growing up on a farm.  If they turn out anything like their father, they will love the land, growing things, and raising animals.

American students definitely need 21^st century skills, but the industrial society that this technological society grew out could not do without the agrarian society upon which it was built.  Neither can the technological society.  Someone will always need to grow the food and raise the animals we eat.  It may not look like it did 100 years ago or like it does today.  GMO’s are not going to make it, we have real bodies that need real food not genetically-modified, chemically-enhanced, disease-feeding foods.

We need to prepare our future professionals, blue collar workers, and even farmers for the technological age, but let’s not make the mistake of thinking blue collar jobs and farming are going away.   

 

Works Cited

Ablett, E., Bellizzi, D., Byers, J., Cove, S., Dobrusin, M., Frey, A., & Hanke, J. (n.d.). 21st century skills. Retrieved from http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/21st Century Skills