BACKGROUND OF EDUCATION LEADING TO CURRENT STATE
In academia there is a trend of trying to teach everything of a subject to a student or grade on mastery of a subject. Within academia there are 4 main thoughts:
1st: Teach Mastery of everything in said subject.
2nd: Teach Students what they need to know to get by in life.
3rd: Teach for the joy of teaching and love of learning.
4th: Teach for progress no matter how small or how big the advancement becomes.
Unfortunately most teachers and professors teach the first philosophy for Mastery of Everything in said subject. Most employers want the second method so people are job ready to follow directions and not overthinking things. A great teacher/professor (I've had many) teaches and grades on the progress shown in the subject of the class. When it comes to the student perspective they usually fall into the camp of love of learning or don't care depending upon the subject being taught in the particular class. In addition the existing academic curriculum today for most students has been piecemealed together overtime.
It started with the 3R's (Reading, Writing & Arithmetic) so people could write letters to family, read the directions of their factory job and do basic math. Then a wave of patriotism swept thru and History/Civics was added followed by Religion. Then the Space Race and the Cold War came when Math offerings were expanded along with Science offerings in the classroom. Then a movement came taking religion out of the classroom. As the school day became more standardized and College was pushed as the way to the future. Home economics classes, government classes, shop and wood working classes were cut back while music and art was expanded. Recently music/arts is up for cuts, while government is expanded. Due to child care concerns and many adults working 8-5 the current model of school still exist while failing more students and the current credit model of one size fits all with bells from the industrial model is no longer adequate or suitable for the learning of the 21st Century.
WHAT CAN BE DONE TO PUT PEOPLE INTO WORK?
It is has been said many times before and by many different people over the ages, however it is worth repeating again. "There is Dignity in Work and when combined with a living wage can allow people to live with honor, respect and move up the social ladder of mobility." In order to achieve this America needs to five (5) things.
1st: Place a Job Prep Attainment Counselor in every High School that provides resume techniques/critiques, teaches student how to make a cover letter, search jobs listings and works with entry level employment and retail outlets to help students obtain part time work. Regardless if a student wants a summer job, a part time job while in school or is looking to start work straight out of High School, this is key to helping and ensuring people get put into work.
2nd: VO Tech Promotion: Inform students about the VO Tech option, allow excused absences to visit these places and allow their reps to talk to students in classes.
3rd: Modernize America's High School. To learn more about the comprehensive plan visit https://www.davidmonlux.com/modernhigh
4th: Decentralization of Job Applications: You see countless job platform sites and many agencies with a central hiring process. Once submitted (or at least the case of Monlux) one never hears anything other than the automated email response of thanks for the submission. Generally jobs come by knowing people.
5th: Let more young people know about the military option. Enlisting straight out of high school your college can be paid for and the background check is really quick. In addition the military offers large amounts of job training/certifications and has resources available to help people gain employment upon completion of service.