School Business Partnerships - The Solution for our Future

With school systems struggling to provide quality education to students, the availability of jobs for America's next generation of the workforce will begin to dwindle. The best jobs go to those who have the best education, training, and experience. Unfortunately, that doesn't describe most of America's public education students.

According to Leatherwood, workers who are receiving better training and education in other countries will replace the American worker. Countries like India and China are receiving the training they need to compete in the global economy. And while they have a greater ability, it costs businesses less to move their jobs to those countries. As a result, the American worker is facing a marketplace with fewer and fewer jobs.

And foreign workers are moving to the United States to take the few jobs that are left. The last time you went to the hospital, you no doubt saw many physicians and other medical professionals from India and Asia.

Because those countries are doing a better job of educating their citizens, they're better able to fill the needs of corporate America. The answer, then, is Facing the Future Together: Forming Successful School-Business Partnerships.

The business world must step in and make sure that the American workforce has the opportunity to receive the basic knowledge and skills that are necessary for climbing the corporate ladder.

When American businesses partner with American schools, magic can happen.

Schools can have the resources they need and businesses can reap the benefits of a trained, prepared workforce. Employees who have the skills they need to perform effectively will then translate into higher profits.

Teachers are leaving the education profession at a rate higher than ever before. And while many people talk about retaining teachers by improving their salaries, it turns out that the salaries aren't the problem after all.

In Facing the Future, Leatherwood points out that the problem for teachers isn't monetary - it has to do with the working conditions in schools.

Teachers are expected to perform on standardized testing, but aren't supported and given the resources they need to do their jobs. For example, the average teacher spends about a thousand dollars on supplies for his or her classroom - and that's still not enough. Teachers are expected to provide everything from pencils for student use to paper for copying handouts.

Jim Leatherwood also explains that teachers have little control and input on the curriculum they're expected to teach.

Instead of teachers helping to create a dynamic curriculum that meets the needs of their students, they're expected to follow guidelines set by legislators who have had no experience in the classroom and don't truly understand the needs of the students.

When businesses and schools face the future together, teachers can have the resources and support they need to teach their class. No longer will they have to worry about whether or not they have the basic things they need to do their job.

Corporations can have influence over the state legislators that govern educational policy by letting them know what's needed for a strong workforce. When businesses and schools partner together, the effect can be to increase teacher retention and give students and teachers the environment they deserve.

We use the word "commencement" to refer to graduation from high school or college. Most graduation speeches express a theme similar to the following:

"Today we are turning a page of the book of life and entering a new chapter."

Commencement is defined in the dictionary as the beginning of something new but it is also a continuation. Rather than leading to a new chapter every graduate must realize that the learning experience, formal and informal, will continue throughout life. Lifetime learning has become a reality of the 21st Century.

It is estimated today that more information will be generated in one year than in the previous 5,000 years. The amount of new technical information is doubling every two years. By the year 2010 it is predicted that it will double every 72 hours. Perhaps the most important lesson today's students can learn is that they will always be training and learning. For those who are starting a 4-year technical or college degree program in 2008, one-half of the information they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year.

Graduation at every level (high school, technical school or college) is a great achievement but is only the beginning. Facing the reality of lifelong learning requires educators to cultivate positive attitudes toward learning. Taking mandatory classes and passing tests can result in superficial or negative motivation. Rather than the desire to learn the subject matter, the student is motivated by the fear of negative results. The likely consequence to this negative orientation is a lack of motivation to engage with course material. This experience may reinforce a feeling of incompetence and lead to poor performance in the classroom. It is probable that students in this category will shy away from lifelong learning. As educators it is our mission to turn negative motivation into a positive desire to learn.

D. Stipek in his book Motivation to Learn states the obvious -"Individuals always do best when learning is enjoyable." Learning becomes enjoyable when students engage in learning for their own intrinsic reasons (i.e. because they want to rather than have to). Positive motivation will result when a student develops a positive feeling from mastering subject mater with challenging material. Then by internalizing achievement values the student will also engage in academic activities (mandatory courses) that may be of low interest.

How does an educator motivate his or her students to become ready for lifelong learning? There is no answer that applies to every student but it has been well established that we learn better when the subject matter relates to a real-life situation as in the following example.

The geometry teacher invited a construction engineer to speak to his class. The engineer took the class to an outdoor area. Using string and state-of-the-art surveying equipment he helped the students lay out the foundation lines for a house. This exercise reinforced the importance of calculating accurate angles i.e. geometry.

Such a real-life application of subject matter makes learning enjoyable, practical and long-lasting. The student is also introduced to a career that actually applies the subject matter to a real-life experience. The human resources available in every community are an asset to the educator and help to reinforce the relevance of subject matter.

"Commencement" is definitely a step forward but the path of learning continues. Knowing that there is always more to learn creates a positive energy and excitement as we face the challenges of the future.