(ThyBlackMan.com) Parents sometimes have no clue as to the changes that are ongoing in education. When asking parents what does STEM mean you may get a combination of stares, questioned looks, a few honest inquires or just self-admitted ignorance. The parents that do know what STEM/STEAM is they are happy to tell you that their children are being prepared for careers that are not even developed yet. Their children will be problem solvers, content creators, thought leaders, e-learning leaders and a host of other excited labels that parents are proud to throw out about their children.
The value and importance of education is seen more in the employment of those with key skill sets that employers are looking for after graduating either from high school or higher education. This opens doors to seeing the wonderful future an education can bring. The realization sometimes comes too late for students that mistakes can have dire consequences, missed opportunities for careers and even under employment or unemployment. High school students in Duval County Public Schools can no longer play around and killing time thinking that they will catch up later on tests, projects and educational opportunities.
Learning is continuous and purposeful and staying on task is important. The future of college, military service, vocational schools, medical careers and even aspirations of being a gaming wizard require good academic foundation, not being lazy, complacent and ignorant to the wisdom of parents and teachers to get busy and do what needs to be done to secure a future.
The opportunities that students have today are light years past the
educational opportunities and resources of schools just 5 to 10 years ago. Education is focusing on critical thinking, complex understanding of how and why things work, the connections between technological, biomedical and engineering issues that make life easier. The other connection is solving complex issues that can be local in nature and global in complexity.
Even at Cecil Airfield corporations are global and sometimes even local students do not qualify to clean the restrooms of these buildings. Look at the academic qualifications alone and the degrees, certifications and experiences needed just for entry level positions and how STEAM and STEM is vital.
The availability of manual labor jobs is disappearing, even if manual jobs are found their value in pay is extremely limited because the work involved sometimes does not equal to the work required. The lack of education creates too many situations of families living in poverty and further erodes the self-confidence of parents taking care of children who are caught in generational situations of poverty, low educational value and relying on governmental help. When looking at the growth of STEM, STEAM and STREAM global commerce influences career availability and choices for growth and success.
Recognizing the critical need for students to be prepared, Superintendent of Duval County Public Schools, sees the important of a quality education and being “career ready.”
Parents may protest and complain, but they are not seeing the big picture. If or when their children leave Jacksonville or the South they will be competing with global students that have far greater exposure and skills, they will witness the integration of technologies that I blog about and STEM/STEAM teachers even in elementary school are working hard to prepare students to have the necessary skills to be employed and not have to come back home to live with their parents.
Before parents complain think about if or when your child leaves Jacksonville, Florida what have you as a parent done to prepare your child for success?
Have you taken them to the libraries to encourage reading, have you taken them to the museums for increased educational exposure, have you as a parent visited their school to make sure from elementary to high school your child understands the value of education not just because parents say they “have to” go to school, students must take ownership, accountability and responsibility for “their” learning not because their parents threaten them or even reward them.
The importance of STEM careers is dependent on the exposure to educational resources, placing the value that is deserved in learning critical thinking skills, exposure to higher order thinking in problem
solving, working together in teams on collaborative projects and even hands on projects that take students out of their comfort zones requiring them to think outside the boxes of their environments.
My elementary school will be a STEM2 (squared) a Medical Magnet because even at the elementary level students are thinking about careers and heading in the right directions for success. If parents
want to complain about this is too early for students look at the students they will be competing against coming from Japan, China, India, Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, the Middle East and the refugees that are begging to get to this nation to have their children educated in a system too many complain about, but is still one of the best in the world. Parents cannot complain when a Syrian refugee obtains a high school diploma then gains entrance to college, their child was born and raised here but struggling still with reading.
The curriculum is the same for everyone.
In order for our schools to educate students to be leaders, the schools must be transformative and change the paradigm of teaching, educating, and preparing students. If there is no change then students will be unprepared, under-employed, or unemployable and be a burden to the economy of this and other communities. Parents need to understand that there is not a “perfect” educational system, involved and active parents make education a priority in their homes, in their communities, and in their cities.
Parents Do You Have a STEM To Stand On: means for parents is your kid ready to be a global learner, a thought leader, an influencer, a content creator in a world of global commerce and competition? Can they read with comprehension, write with meaning and accomplish basic mathematic skills?
Do they know what the value of:
Computers Science Technology Reading Engineering Arts Mathematics Medicine really means? CSTREAM2 (squared)
Staff Writer; William D. Jackson
Find out more about this talented writer over at; OCS For Education.