Part 1 of this series, “The state of K-12 education is miscommunication,” described how two recent conferences illustrate the divide in American K-12 education between education professionals and those outside the field. This post looks at the educator’s perspective and offers advice for all sides moving forward.
The educators I talk to speak mainly about their passion for helping young minds find a love of learning. They also talk of feeling stressed out, juggling too much responsibility, fearing layoffs, being required to practice methods they don’t support and having criticism heaped on them from every quarter — whether it be unsupportive parents, critical administrators and education vendors who fail to provide adequate product training.
Educators are developing a bunker mentality from feeling constantly under siege. We are in a new era of accountability in K-12 education, and many educators feel that the criteria for success are arbitrary, measure the wrong things, and — in the worst cases — are bad for kids. (read more…)
Last week, I had the privilege of attending the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. (If you missed my colleague James daSilva’s excellent coverage of the K-12 education and workforce track, you can read it.) It was fascinating, and a bit disorienting, to hear some of the wealthiest people in the country talking about issues I think about every day: namely, the state of K-12 education and the training and preparation of the next generations of the American workforce.
My next stop was the Software & Information Industry Association Ed Tech Industry Summit in San Francisco, where I joined professional peers in hearing product-development news from some of the smartest minds in education. The two events were alike in theme but strikingly different in tone. The big take-away from hearing about the state of American education from education professionals versus non-education professionals is that the two groups appear to be talking past each other. (read more…)
I attended the recent 2012 Milken Institute Global Conference, which included a session focused on workforce issues across demographics, industries and specific companies. One issue highlighted early was the concept of flexibility — in hours, days, roles and career arcs — and how, when done right, company policies can help employees without sacrificing productivity.
Flexibility in the workforce is not a new concept, but its definition and applications are widening and misconceptions are still being overcome, said Carol Evans of Working Mother Media during the “Managing Talent and Building a Unified Workforce” session.
This concept is about which hours and days people work, but it’s much more than that, Evans explained. It’s an employee-driven mindset, not something conceived, decided and executed from the C-suite. Two of her other points stood out: Many women value flexibility to the point that they would choose an increase in that work-life quality over a raise, and that men, especially in the younger generation, will be as much a beneficiary of this workplace evolution as women. (read more…)
I attended the 2012 Milken Institute Global Conference last week in Los Angeles, where a panel of company advisers and a Department of Energy official discussed financing and scale challenges facing advanced biofuels and also where there’s reason for optimism.
The U.S. is really good at producing biofuels, especially ethanol. More than half of world production in 2010 was here, and we even export to Brazil, home of the once-daunting sugarcane-based industry. Biofuels are helping the U.S., despite all of the money spent on foreign oil, inch closer to become a net exporter of energy for the first time since before the Korean War.
But there are problems facing advanced biofuels, including significant issues of infrastructure, scaling up at a competitive price and securing middle-stage financing. Panelists went into detail about obstacles before proposing ways the industry could make the “leap” to change the way America uses fuel.
There is no lack of technology for advanced biofuels, and no need for additional infrastructure, as natural gas or other oil alternatives might require. (read more…)
I attended last week’s Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles. In two sessions, Bombardier executives discussed the company’s leadership and workforce challenges, what it has done in recent years to counteract those problems and its path forward.
Bombardier has a long history of making aerospace and trains that evoke quality and panache, such as its Learjet division. It has been a profitable enterprise based on entrepreneurial attitude and a focus on customers and products. But at some point, the company became fragmented despite strong performance and excellent products. There were silos within the company, a view of of customers as a function rather than the core, and a sense of confusion among employees as to what the company’s mission truly was.
That was years ago. Today, though the company isn’t perfect, it has made great strides in returning its operational focus to customer satisfaction, setting a few clear and employee-driven goals and building the “soft” skills of its managers. (read more…)
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