How Education is Changing for the Better and the Job Market for the Worst

Today I was reading an article about the educational system in Finland. Most schools have changed from the typical traditional module, where you have different subjects every day to a topic-based, innovative and more liberal approach.

It looks like it has been so successful that other countries in the EU are observing to see whether this pilot would work for their countries. I have experienced a similar approach when I was a Comenius Assistant in a primary school in Germany. Lectures were great, a lot of games, different learning methods, combination of skills and critical thinking.

Very different from the approach I had at school in Portugal 20 years ago. I still remember it very well... Long hours of dictation and writing, math skills, reading skills, copying texts... Perhaps the educational system at that time was made for children to be good at particular skills and competencies. However when it to being critical and thinking-outside-the-box, qualities that companies really appreciate nowadays, it was not a good preparation for the future at all.

Nowadays, people have realized that the 'let's have fun learning' method generates much better results than the traditional educational model and a big-step has been given towards these objectives at a EU level.

Then, how is it possible that recruitment processes have become even more rudimentary, traditional and 'general-skills' oriented? If you wish to hire a communications officer, why would you need this person to have perfect results on a numeracy skills test? Does this mean that this person is not good at writing articles? Do you want this person to be an accountant or a communications officer?

Do recruiters really think that the way forward is just to have people competing against each other on a basic level? What about the individuality and development that the educational system is making an emphasis on? So is it going to be abandon when these children will have to find a job and have to fit in some kind of category?

Pink Floyd warned us, as early as 1979 about the problems of individuality in education, I guess this lack of consistency is just 'Another brick in the wall'.

#education #youngprofessionals #jobmarket #EU #recruitment