Now What?

As we move towards the end of the year, we begin to look at the next.  This cyclical process plays out with great reliability every year and so does the age-old right of passage for our graduating students. For many students there is a fear of leaving the nest of high school.  For the past 13 years, they have been nurtured and supported by many adults.  The anxious fear our students feel is often the stress of change and an unknown future. What college will I go to? Will I get into university? Where will I live? Do I have to leave home? What will I do? These are just some of the questions that swirl through the minds of a graduating student.  Graduation is a milestone; a right of passage in our society.  Overcoming these feelings is part of the transition and part of growing up.

As educators, we are excited for our grads. It’s been our life’s work is to ensure our young people are prepared and ready to spread their wings. Our goal is to help guide them so they have a clear path and an understanding of where they are going.  The truth is, no matter how much we work to prepare them, we always seem to fall short when it comes to ensuring that everyone is in command of where they go next. It seemed to be easier years ago when young people had limited choice as to what they could do.  Work on the farm, take over the family business or get a job in the local industry was the order of the day not too long ago.  Today, many of our young media savvy generation really has no idea what comes next.

As our population grows and the world becomes more complex, the advent of social media has allowed us to focus through connectivity and have a united voice. In many ways, the world is actually smaller than it’s ever been. This shift in focus has changed the way we all think about our future. Today, the possibilities of what we can do seem endless. Undoubtedly this has contributed to the anxiety of the high school graduate.  Just as much as we recognize the endless possibilities and the excitement that goes with that, there is also the scary side in that with so many choices comes the quandary of “what do I do now?”, and “will I be good enough?”.

Have we inadvertently created a generation of youth that are so closely linked with one another that they cannot see themselves making the next move? A recent CBC news report mentioned that an increasingly larger number of young adults are remaining at home well into their twenties.  When asked about this, the answer is all to often “Whatever”.  (CBC News, 2012)

This creates a perplexing situation for us.  It’s our job to prepare students for the future, but how do we prepare them for such a complex future? We want to be sure that we prepare them with the skills to navigate the overwhelming choices. Our fear is that too many grads resort to “Whatever” when confronted with the complexities of tomorrow. We know that yesterday’s skills are not enough; today’s graduates need complex problem solving skills to navigate a very complex world.

Michael Wesch (2012) argues that the answer lies in seeking to foster a continued sense of wonder in our students. He argues that the sense of wonder is eroding from our young people because they are so dialed in with structure and organization. He argues that we must work against the current of structure and organization to ensure young people still have the epiphany that goes with the feeling of wonder in unstructured and free experiences. As educators, maybe the answer lies in keeping reciprocal pace with the corporate world.

Just as the corporate world works ever so hard to ensure we habitually replace last year’s model with this year’s new gadget, we as educators must work just as hard if not harder to ensure our students are armed with today’s relevant skills and knowledge to navigate the myriad of choices and complex options that confront our students every day.

Identify the stakeholders…      Trust the process…      Trust the people…