The future of your education and your job — part 1

Professions are changing. I know you’ve heard it, but if you have questions about it, know Daniel Susskind’s work (The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts. Oxford University Press, 2015). Why is there so much talk about artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, and blockchain? What is Learning analytics and adaptive learning? What are active teaching and learning methods? Why is there such prominence in these respective areas of knowledge?

Some important skills for this century

It is likely that what you will read in the next few lines does not seem of immediate value. Think so. But consider analyzing these topics from an open point of view, thinking of preparing for a time of change that can overwhelm for some professions.

• Other languages: Only 20% of Americans learn a second language, while 100% of Norwegians and Scandinavians do. If you have ever been to Europe, you know how serious the Nordic countries are about English. Multilingualism is a competence of value, regardless of the effective use of language. Learning another language exercises a unique logic and reasoning for a learner of any age. It is like learning Latin — one learns Latin for the pedagogical resources of the learning practice. Same for the programming languages ​​(see below).
• Computing and coding (algorithms and programming): I am not talking about learning digital technologies as an end in themselves but as mean to other types of learning. I’m not talking about multimedia projectors and PowerPoint, or electronic whiteboards (I prefer a good old chalkboard). I speak of logic and algorithms, the understanding of heuristics as learning transfer, as resources for thinking about thinking (metacognition).
• Modeling and simulation: One must understand the world and its problems through its modeling, its representation. From this we can simulate variables in search of optimal solutions and optimized decision making.
• Verbal and written communication: there is a difference between informal language and the professional English (or any other language) — please, forget this small talk of “linguistic prejudice” — this is true for basic education, but not for training people for the market. Professional communication is of extreme value — argumentation, rhetoric, critical thinking. It is necessary to know how to defend points of view, in a solid and professional way.

The ancients knew a lot about this kind of education, which prepares for life and not for school (Seneca). The Liberal Arts, the medieval Trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic) and even the Greek Paideia have long contributed to the formation of citizens of the world, regardless of their field of activity. The future of education has arrived. We just don’t realize it.

Moment of crisis. In all. Including justifications for studying. We often choose a field of study, often investing financially, without even a hint of what will be in the job market at the end of the course (the “real world” if you wish). Someone will always tell you what to do, with little openness for you to take part in that decision too (the good old traditional ‘curriculum’ to be fulfilled). Also, the infamous educational process based on traditional lessons and assessments most often with no pedagogical basis (remember that many of their teachers have not had minimal pedagogical training!). Memorization is worth more than troubleshooting. Sad.

Some tips for you who care about the subject

Some of them originate from Bryan Caplan’s excellent book (“The Case Against Education”):

• 80% of the value of a degree comes from what it signals to the employer, not the skills developed during the course by the student. Therefore, you need to show yourself, especially if you did not study at an elite school that controls the application process, such as in the country I live, Brazil (where I can say something, because I had the privilege of being sponsored by the society when I studied at the best public universities, in my higher education. But I also know that it is possible to stand out even without one of these diplomas, as long as you can prove the skills required for the position to which one is applying).
• But we have a problem here: even having a degree doesn’t help much when most of your competitors have it (Caplan calls it the “zero-sum game”).
• We must remember there are many training possibilities based on digital technologies today. You can study academic components at Harvard or MIT, provided you have an interest and discipline. Enjoy.
• Old paradigm, new paradigm: Before I chose an area of ​​knowledge and formed in it. For me, it was like that initially. But I have found that it is possible to combine skills from multiple disciplines and thus create a powerful professional profile ready for an increasingly demanding job market.

You need to prepare for a demanding work-competition environment, but you can access resources for it. It just depends on you.

I will talk more about this in the next articles. And a little more of the work of Susskind (future of the professions), which motivated this text.

01.03.2020