Students studying subjects their parents don’t quite understand often find themselves quizzed about their future.
But, Jenny, can a degree in digital signal processing actually lead to a real job – like your sister’s in the shoe factory?
And, Torquil, after four years at university studying fourteenth-century French poetry, are you not going to end up making skinny macchiatos?
Well, concerned mums and dads everywhere, technology is moving so fast the truth is many of the jobs Jenny and Torquil may end up doing haven’t even been invented yet.
So how can our education system prepare young people for a future where robots are an integral part of life and space rockets commute to Mars?
Well, while educators can’t predict everything the next decade will bring, it’s the role of teachers to equip young people with the skillset necessary to thrive in any future environment.
Let’s take a closer look at those skills.
Top of the list is critical thinking.
Classrooms are already well ahead with this. They no longer ask children simply to memorise facts and figures but to question the answers and consider the outcomes for themselves.
Even young children are being taught to think and through peer-to-peer learning they’re gaining early experience of working in teams, preparing projects around a table or practising their reading with a buddy instead of a teacher.
This ability to collaborate is essential. The days of the solo genius are long gone. Anything that’s achieved in the future will be the result of close collaboration with contributors from a variety of academic and social backgrounds.
To do this well, strong communication skills must be part of the educational mix and for the smartphone generation these might be the toughest to achieve.
This is about being able to speak up clearly, respond to other people and have the vocabulary to express emotions and ideas. And very little of this can be achieved with an emoji.
Textbook learning, meanwhile, may be on its way out as technology takes over but some of the basics, such as an ability to write with clarity, will become more important than ever.
So while the future will bring immense change, challenges and opportunities, some of the cornerstones of education will become more important than they’ve ever been.
If you’d like to help prepare the next generation for the future, check out the career opportunities in education with s1jobs.