Patch Chat: Education's Evolution

In this feature, Southeast-Brewster Patch will post a "Question of the Day," asking residents to offer their thoughts on anything and everything.

The questions will cover school news to government and police issues to entertainment and lifestyle topics. We would love to hear your take on all of it.

Today's topic: 

Children entering the school system as kindergarteners this fall won't be graduating from high school until 2023. If they choose to go on to college, they likely won't be entering the workforce until 2028.

What kind of businesses will be around then? What kind of technology will be used?

The question posed in an opinion piece in theNew York Times by Virginia Heffernan — Education Needs a Digital-Age Upgrade — is simple: How do we educate students for jobs of the future when we have no idea what those jobs will be?

She quoted Cathy N. Davidson, co-director of the MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competitions, who said that 65 percent of kids in grade school today may end up doing work that hasn’t been invented yet.

And according to Heffernan, the educational system really hasn't changed much over the years.

"The contemporary American classroom, with its grades and deference to the clock, is an inheritance from the late 19th century. During that period of titanic change, machines suddenly needed to run on time. Individual workers needed to willingly perform discrete operations as opposed to whole jobs. The industrial-era classroom, as a training ground for future factory workers, was retooled to teach tasks, obedience, hierarchy and schedules."

Today's question: 

• What should schools focus on to ensure that students are learning information that will benefit their future careers? 
• What changes to the form and structure of education need to take place? 
• Where do you think the Brewster Central School District stands in terms of preparing students for an unknown future? 

Please write your answer in the comments. Thanks for reading!