The term “real world” is often thrown around in classrooms. Many teachers will say the course they are teaching will apply in the real world, or that once students graduate they will be let loose in the real world. Yet, how can one prepare for the real world?
The pandemic has made this question far more complicated. An article in EdSurge addresses this question, referring to the book “Making It: What Today’s Kids Need for Tomorrow’s World”, by Stephanie Krauss for answers. Krauss discusses four attributes that people should learn from their jobs to live happy lives: community, competencies, connections, and credentials.
Krauss says that she does not focus on the academics that students need to succeed in the real world. Rather, she focuses on the skills they need to do and learn in order to succeed, including focusing, organizing, critical thinking, and creativity. She says that students, and young people in general, need help from adults since the part of the brain responsible for focusing and retaining information does not mature until the mid-twenties.
She further discusses how financial aid should be changed into direct cash assistance, to reflect the real life circumstances that many students are living in. She says that throughout the pandemic there was more light being shone on this topic due to the struggle that businesses went through. Young students need to be given guidance as they transition into the real world. While academics can prepare them for this, it is ultimately the various attributes that define a person which determine how they succeed in the real world.
Tags: attention, brain, emotion, engagement, learning, memory, motivation, myths, post-secondary, privacy, psychology, self-discipline, time management, wellnessCategorised in: Uncategorized
This post was written by Bhavya Lamba