Education 2040
Public School Students’ Vision for Education Recent high school graduates stress importance of curriculum, technology, diversity, and doing things differently Editor’s Note: As MSBA continues to celebrate its centennial this year, we’ve asked education leaders to share their vision of education in 2040. This issue features two public high school student graduates — Meghan Chouanard (Orono High School) and Bethany Tamrat (Park High School from South Washington County Schools). Our two previous issues highlighted essays from MSBA Executive Director Kirk Schneidawind, BurnsvilleEagan-Savage School Board Member Abigail Alt, and MSBA staff members Paula O’Loughlin and Greg Abbott. In our next two issues, we will showcase essays from a superintendent and the Minnesota Teacher of the Year. If YOU have something to say about education in 2040, feel free to email YOUR essay to Greg Abbott at gabbott@mnmsba.org by August 1.
Meghan Chouanard Meghan Chouanard graduated from Orono High School in June. Outside of class, Meghan enjoyed serving on Orono’s Student Senate and the MAHS/MASC Executive Board as Minnesota Association of Honor Societies Vice President. Additionally, Meghan loved volunteering as a mentor for elementary school students, visiting residents at a local nursing home, and chairing the Youth Advisory Board at MoveFwd. She also enjoys travelling with her family.
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JULY–AUGUST 2020
Embrace technology, flexibility, and diversity — because it’s coming! By Meghan Chouanard, Orono High School graduate In “Thank You for Being Late,” Thomas L. Friedman introduces a concept proposed by Eric “Astro” Teller (the CEO of Google’s X Research and Development Lab) that technology is increasing exponentially, whereas the human ability to adapt is increasing on a practically straight curve. These patterns of growth leave a gap between where technology is currently and where human adaptability is currently. Basically, humans do not have the capacity, at this point, to keep up with the everchanging world around them. Teller’s solution is the use of constantly changing education to adapt to the new technology and the structure of the world. I kept this solution in the back of my mind as I began to consider what schools will look like in 2040. As I believe the curriculum is the most essential, and most frequently changed, aspect of schools, I started there. At this point, globalization is inevitable. Trade, travel, and technology have made the world more interconnected than ever — and it’s only increasing. I believe that by 2040, schools will have made significant changes to their curriculum to accommodate globalization and will embrace instilling a worldly perspective in students. Though taking a language class is relatively typical for students throughout the state, I believe that by 2040 students will likely be immersed in multiple languages at once. For example, students who once took only Spanish will likely be encouraged to study Chinese, French, or German as well. The ability to speak multiple languages would facilitate the use of travel as an educational tool. Not only does international travel serve as practice for students in language classes, but it also provides students with the ability to experience history, culture, politics, and the fine arts firsthand. Students can learn a lot from textbooks,
MINNESOTA SCHOOL BOARDS ASSOCIATION | JOURNAL
