In a new interview with CMRubinWorld, global thought leader Charles Fadel challenges assumptions about what kinds of things should be taught so kids thrive in the 21st century.
Employers want to hire people with 21st-century skills but they can’t find enough qualified candidates. The problem, says Charles Fadel, Founder of the Center for Curriculum Redesign, is that the education system “is biased for college entrance requirements via tests such as the SAT which are partially obsolete, and never reflected particularly well the needs of employability.”
The founder of CMRubinWorld, C. M. Rubin, asks Fadel in an in-depth interview what he would say to a recent graduate who did well at an expensive institution and has not been able to find full-time work with good benefits. Fadel’s response would be, “You have all my sympathy, I am sorry the system did not offer you better guidance, particularly given the price you paid. Brands matter, of course, but so do real skills, and the present system is focused on passing college, not really on employability.”
Given the dramatic transformations in the global workplace, Rubin discusses with Fadel the most effective ways to close the increasingly widening education-to-employment gap. Fadel contends that “Employers have to remain involved in making their needs heard, and education institutions have to accept that we educate for life and work, not only life – this is a false dichotomy. Life is difficult for most people without work, which brings not only income, but also self-esteem and satisfaction in making contributions.”
The Global Search for Education (published by CMRubinWorld) interviews those at the forefront of global education reform and innovation.
Charles Fadel is a visiting practitioner at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, founder and chairman of the Center for Curriculum Redesign, and co-author of a best-selling book titled “Four-Dimensional Education: The Competencies Learners Need to Succeed.”
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CMRubinWorld launched in 2010 to explore what kind of education would prepare students to succeed in a rapidly changing globalized world. Its award winning series, The Global Search for Education, is a celebrated trailblazer in the renaissance of the 21st century, and occupies a special place in the pulse of key issues facing every nation and the collective future of all children. It connects today’s top thought leaders with a diverse global audience of parents, students and educators. Its highly readable platform allows for discourse concerning our highest ideals and the sustainable solutions we must engineer to achieve them. C. M. Rubin has produced over 500 interviews and articles discussing an expansive array of topics under a singular vision: when it comes to the world of children, there is always more work to be done.
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