Book Club — Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing our Kids for the Innovation Era
Discussion Guide for Week 3- Chapter 5 through Millennial Interview: Rebecca
Here is our third discussion guide for this month’s Teachers Guild Book Club read: Most Likely to Succeed by Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith. This week’s questions focus on chapter 5 through Millennial Interview: Rebecca (pages 145–190).
THIS WEEK’S QUESTIONS
(Q1) — Ask your students, what do they believe is the purpose of school?
Some follow up questions and suggestions to get the conversation started:
- What do you want to get out of being a student?
- What does it mean to be taught something (as opposed to learning something)? Are they different? If so, how are they different?
Report back or have your students answer directly on Twitter by using the #SparkCuriosity #MLTS hashtags.
(Q2) As the old blueprint for success shifts in response to global and economic forces, is the current model for higher education still relevant? Is it preparing students to thrive in the “Innovation Era”? Tony and Ted highlight some fairly worrisome research that suggest it is not. What do you think?
John Pryor, a Gallup senior research scientist, summarizes the problem succinctly: “[M]any graduates don’t have the job they thought they would get, and many employers have openings for skilled employees they cannot fill. Both are bad for the individuals affected and for the American economy. Changing this needs to be a priority of every college president in the United States.” But unfortunately, this mismatch is widely misunderstood; it’s a mismatch of the skills colleges develop in their students, not the content they offer. (pg. 170)
(Q3) How do we begin to make the education model of the future truly inclusive? What are key areas that need to be reimagined and redesigned to make this inclusive vision of education a reality?
Our focus shouldn’t be to give all kids equal access to the same bad education experience. We need to reinvent education and give all kids a fighting chance. (pg. 58)
PARTICIPATE
Join in the conversation by sharing your insights, favorite quotes, and responses to the discussion questions directly in the comments section below and on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtags #SparkCuriosity and #MLTS
- If you don’t already have one, create a Medium account.
- Post a response to this discussion guide with your reflections; answers to the questions; your own questions or links to relevant articles videos and resources that relate to this week’s reading.
- To make it easier for other members to respond to your insights, if you’re answering a specific question from the discussion guide, please mark which one(s) (i.e. Q1) in the heading of your response.
- Browse other community member’s answers to these questions and respond to the ones that inspire you.
- Host a book club meet up in your area — download our facilitator’s guide for tips on how to organize and promote your event.
Still not sure how to join the conversation? Check out this short tutorial video by our moderator Mark Carlucci, which leads you through the process.
NEXT WEEK
For next week, we’ll be reading Chapters 6 and 7 (pages 191 to 266). Check in next Thursday for our next set of questions.
NEED HELP?
If you have questions or want help getting started reach out to us on Twitter at @lyokana59, @markcarlucci and @ecf29.
Happy reading!
