"Parenting" The Competitiveness of Environmental Changes by Lee Wai-Man

Over the years, countries all over the world have been reviewing and adjusting their respective education contents and systems, but it seems that no definite answer can be found. I think it is probably because we are now in a complex, high-speed, cross-border era of experimentation, with no regulations to follow and no precedents to guide us. The rapid changes in this environment are the main source of anxiety among parents.

Perhaps as the British historian Hobbes Bong said, "If mankind wants to have a clear vision of the future, it will not be achieved by the continuity of the past or the present". However, as everyone has been educated, we tend to unconsciously apply our own experiences to our children, using the concepts and teaching materials we used as students twenty years ago to educate our children now, expecting them to face the challenges twenty years later, but it is obviously unrealistic to expect them to be able to face the challenges twenty years from now when there is such a big time gap. Cairns, the great economist, once said, "It is not difficult to invent new ideas, but it is difficult to break away from the old ones". This is a great reminder to us.

The U.S. Secretary of Education once said, "The 10 most in-demand jobs in 2010 won't even exist in 2004." This shows that what we have learned in the past is not enough to cope with the future. So, what are the skills that children need to face the competition in the future?

In my opinion, the world in 20 or 30 years' time may have two completely different developments and outlooks.

Point 1: In the future, as in the present, the world will remain flat and globalization will intensify competition.

Second, under the influence of climate change and the post-oil era, the world economy will return to regional or tribal economies, with the rise of real estate and green collar jobs.

In the face of global competition at the present stage, school curricula have long been useless because they were designed to meet the needs of factories in the 19th and 20th centuries, and to train people with uniformity. Therefore, the main task of teachers is to teach, so that each graduate will have standardized knowledge suitable for use on the production line. However, the needs of society emphasize the diversity of talents, and the focus should shift from "teaching" to "teaching". The role of the teacher is not only to give correct answers, but also to let students become the main body of learning, to encourage the development of thinking and creativity, to explore the world through practical experience, including volunteering, participating in social activities, internships, and even international exchanges as an exchange student, etc., as well as to give more social care and public participation, and to gain the confidence and courage to face the setbacks.

I think that the ability to adjust oneself from practical experience and to adapt quickly to new environments is the real ability of globalized competition.

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Development Council (HKETDC) has proposed five major employability skills according to the changes of the times: cross-disciplinary skills, independent thinking and innovation, international communication skills, the ability to absorb new knowledge and technology, and humanistic and caring qualities. In a letter to his daughter, investment guru Rogers also mentioned that apart from recognizing the changes of the times and embracing them, it is also necessary to study philosophy and learn to think. The trend guru also reminded that the information age, which emphasizes knowledge, analysis, and logic, has taken a back seat; the conceptual age, which emphasizes creativity, integration, design, and empathy, will be coming. In other words, all industries will eventually become art and creativity industries, because products that are functional and expensive are no longer an advantage; instead, products that can tell a story and move others will win.

The above is viewpoint one.

Another scenario is the world in 20 or 30 years, as oil will soon be depleted, and in the face of the post-oil era, the high cost of transportation is bound to reverse dramatically the trade liberalization that has been supported by the globalized transportation system in the past 20 or 30 years, and the industry will return to the regionalization of the basic needs of our survival. In particular, high-weight, low-priced daily necessities such as food will return to the local level, with the goal of self-sufficiency. Therefore, the vast majority of jobs in the future, including food, clothing, housing, transportation, and recreation, will definitely be transformed into green-collar jobs.

In these changing times, there are no answers to many things, and no one knows what the world will be like in the future. Therefore, we must redefine the abilities that children must have, not only knowledge and skills, but more importantly values and attitudes.

We can't be with and teach our children all their lives, so it's important that they have self-discipline. If we allow our children to have control over their learning, they will be able to generate spontaneous learning, and then parents will not have to worry about how the world will change in the future.