Caribbean STEM Coaching Club 2022 Parents Share Perspectives on Thriving in Our New World of Work
Our world of work is fast and constantly changing. – where we work, how we work, and the work we do. In military parlance, ours is a world of ” VUCA”: Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity. Sophisticated technologies, geopolitics, climate change, and changing demographics all play a part. It can feel overwhelming. Yet the research is clear: those equipped with the right mindset and skills are benefiting from tremendous opportunities – see World Economic Forum’s forecasts.
Do classrooms, lecture halls, mountains of homework and online courses prepare us for a VUCA world? Do GCSEs, A levels, bachelors, masters, and PHDs prepare us?
Not necessarily.
Many of us are learning to learn in ways that are creative, flexible, and agile to keep pace with the fast and constant changes. And we are teaching our kids to do the same. We are using more micro-credentials, boot camps, and bite-sized learning which are all designed for fast and effective learning in a “VUCA” world.
Importantly we are learning to ‘learn on-demand” in the workplace – the right learning at the right time for the right reason – “just in time” learning.
Where fast and effective learning for a “VUCA” world is concerned, we recognize that there is no “one size fits all”. Different brains are wired differently. So different people will learn differently. Nonetheless, we feel that the research on how most people learn fast and effectively, as represented in the learning pyramid below, has considerable merit;
That is why we take study groups, study buddies, peer learning, and any form of “people helping people” meet-ups seriously – and teach our kids to do the same. These are ways to both discuss (a suggested learning retention rate of 50%) and teach others (a suggested learning retention rate of 90%).
And whilst we may not always understand what our kids are being taught in school, we recognise that simply making the time to listen to our kids explain what they are learning – perhaps at the dinner table or during car journeys – may well promote learning retention at a very high rate – a suggested 90%.
Coursera’s free Learning How To Learn courses for adults and young people are valuable and we always encourage Caribbean families in our network to take them seriously.
© Penny Carballo-Smith, 28 February 2022.
Since 2015, the Caribbean STEM Coaching Club has been equipping UK families of African and Caribbean heritage to thrive in our new, fast-changing world of work. The Club is a joint venture between three Caribbean-led Not-For-Profits: Future Think, The Caribbean Diaspora for Science, Technology & Innovation (UK), and The British Foundation for the University of the West Indies.