What specific gaps do you believe exist in education, based upon the skill sets of young employees/applicants you see?

Brandon Ferris
Director of Advancement at Saint George's School
What specific gaps do you believe exist in education, based upon the skill sets of young employees/applicants you see? To prepare students for the economy of the 21st century, what are the top three skills/core competencies they will need to succeed?
My name is Brandon Ferris, and I am Director of School Advancement at Saint George’s School, an independent K-12 school located in Spokane, WA. We would like two minutes of your time. We are starting an exciting project in which we are evaluating our curriculum and its readiness to meet the realities of the 21st century. In other words, we are asking ourselves "How do we prepare our students for a world we can barely envision ourselves?" We know that to prepare the leaders of the 21st century, we have to think in radical new ways about our curriculum. We have to ask questions such as "Are technology-based communication skills more important than face-to-face communication skills in this new world?" We have been speaking with leaders and influencers from different sectors to learn what they believe are the key skills and competencies students need to be successful in the 21st century economy. We would very much like to hear from leaders in highly innovative, forward-thinking, agile, technology-oriented organizations like yours. I am writing to ask if you or another leader of your organization best suited to the topic would be so kind as to respond via e-mail to just two questions: • What, if any, specific gaps do you believe exist in education, based upon the skill sets of new young employees and applicants you see? • To prepare students for the economy of the 21st century, what do you think are the top three skills or core competencies they will need to succeed and thrive? All responses will be kept in strict confidence and will not be attributed to individual participants. At the completion of this research project, we will publish a report to share our findings with all interested participants. Thank you very much for your consideration.


Steve Durkee
Market Strategist/Analyst/Executive Director
Best Answers in: Education and Schools (2)... see more, Occupational Training (1) see less
The biggest gap I see is that we have focused so intently on standards we have lost sight of the original purpose: to encourage the development of young minds. 1) Critical thinking (the ability to see value/take away something in any situation) 2) Relational Skills (fair and ethical treatment of everyone, and treating others as you would like to be treated) 3) Honesty (high standard for ethical choices) If I could add a fourth, it would be to be a lifetime learner, who is always looking to improve.