Free Essay Looking at the American Educational System and What It Means for Future Job Readiness

The conventional American Education System notwithstanding its success in the past is not viable for supporting students' job readiness in the future. Notably, the Fourth Industrial Revolution has caused a paradigm shift in the labour market by integrating demographic and socio-economic factors to create an actionable business model (Schwab, 2018). The phenomenon will introduce, replace, and redefine various jobs. Therefore, the skillset required in distinct industries will change in such a way that they will define how and where people will work. Nevertheless, the current education system is not capable of producing ideal professionals who can fit in the industrial transformation. The system focuses on academic excellence with little regard to quality of education and skills required in the dawn of the new economic era. The traditional American Educational System neither prepares children for the future job market adequately nor helps them develop into functional citizens, who will contribute to the world's future socio-economic development.

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Currently, the American curriculum does not prepare children for the job market adequately. It solemnly depends on academic achievement, which creates a dysfunctional climate that hinders student's abilities to grasp ideas that prepare them for future opportunities. Notably, the challenges are caused by various ineffective practices in schools, which instead of developing student's capabilities, they have created a pool of problems.

Firstly, overreliance on standardized testing and grading has created an environment where students only study to pass their exams, not for the intrinsic joy and benefits of learning. In this case, students give little regard to what they learn compared, instead, they memorize ideas and concepts, which will enable them to score better grades. For example, a student will learn how to solve a mathematics problem by memorizing the formulas and reworking examples, but will not take any initiative to comprehend the background concept. Additionally, the condition causes the emergence of poor learning methods, where students are unable to apply their classroom knowledge to real-life situations. Therefore, an individual passes through elementary school, high school, and college without identifying how they can utilize their knowledge Goldin & Katz (2018) note that the situation leads to the generation of half-baked individuals who are incompatible with the labor force. Notably, when varsity students graduate with good grades but little knowledge of their professional niche, they are easily frustrated in their occupations. On the other hand, employers may feel the impact of the knowledge gap when they realize production inefficiency due to unqualified professionals. Reay (2018) notes that the situation may also shift America's economy from its innovative structure to a consumption structure.Secondly, schools overemphasize on the need to study sciences at the expense of other subjects, which leads to the emergence of students who are unable to solve problems in their social environments. Notably, the fourth industrial revolution is dependent on socio-economic factors; therefore, people who are not equipped with adequate knowledge regarding social and economic elements in the society are unfit for the future job market (World Economic Forum, 2018; World Economic Forum, 2016). Currently, the American educational system prefers the study of sciences and mathematics with little regard to life skills and social studies. On the other hand, globalization requires individuals to be able to network with others in order o identify opportunities in the job market and socialize effectively. For example, cultural diversity is one of the major transformations that the job market has undergone in the recent past. As a result, only those individuals who are culturally sensitive will be able to fit in the globalization setting (Goldin & Katz, 2018). A business manager cannot coordinate his or her activities effectively if he or she is not able to cultivate a harmonious business culture within their business. Unlike in the past where companies operated in their local regions, today, due to internationalization, enterprises can venture into their markets of choice swiftly. The situation is possible if an organization has employees who are equipped with social skills to adapt to harsh environments without any hiccups. Additionally, the present education system puts little regard to physical education and vocational studies. According to Reay (2018), proper physical health eradicates the risks to contract lifestyle disorder such as obesity and diabetes. Nevertheless, schools do not teach children how to main good physical strengths, which has led to an increased number of cancer cases in the country. If the nation introduces an all-around curriculum, one that is not only capable of promoting advancements in scientific studies but also nurturing children's social awareness, it will be able to produce excellent professionals to suit its future job market demand.

Thirdly, instead of helping students develop desirable cognitive and social skills, the present American curriculum imposes much pressure on students to perform better in their academic tests and courses. As a result, the students result in exam cheating and drug abuse to ease the burden created by the dysfunctional system. Today, the American society is based on the notion that education solemnly shapes an individual's future; therefore, students who feel left out in the endeavor due to their cognitive abilities end up depressed or traumatized. Notably, schools increase the pressures by concealing alternative avenues that underperforming students can utilize to make a living (Goldin & Katz, 2018). For example, in the fourth industrial revolution, sports and entertainment create a lucrative opportunity for individuals to expose their talents. However, the present educational system bars students from utilizing their abilities by using academic performance to determine those who will join sports in schools (Reay, 2018). In this case, the situation limits children from disadvantaged families from pushing their limits due to their low grades. Consequently, most of these individuals end up in street gangs and drug trafficking to cater for their family's needs. Moreover, such students may divert their anger and frustrations to other students by bullying and harassing them. Therefore, the nation fails to recognize that increasing pressure on students adversely affects their motivation and attitude towards life and their careers.

Fourthly, the capitalist nature of the present educational system creates challenges in the preparation of children for the future job market. Notably, most schools in the US flourish when students fail in their academic endeavors. They use the opportunity to lobby the government to increase their grant funds to improve the system, while they thrive on the poor performance. Additionally, children from minority backgrounds such as the Hispanics and blacks are over-represented in below average schools (Reay, 2018). Most of the institutions are not capable of producing all-round students since they lack adequate funding to cater for the student's needs.

Overall, considering the above factors, American students are not adequately prepared for the future job market. The present system is only concerned with academic performance at the expense of life skills and social networking. The fourth industrial revolution in the world requires individuals who are aware of the social and economic dynamics in society. Schools should adopt the Common Core State Standards, which allows companies, educators, and curriculum manufactures to equip students with the skills required to help them adapt in the workforce. If the nation adopts a new improved educational curriculum, it will not only be able to produce knowledgeable students but also innovative and creative individuals necessary to realize the nation's dream.

References

Goldin, C., & Katz, L. F. (2018). The race between education and technology. In Inequality in the 21st Century (pp. 49-54). Routledge.

Reay, D. (2018). Working-class educational failure: theoretical perspectives, discursive concerns, and methodological approaches. In Educational Choices, Transitions and Aspirations in Europe (pp. 27-43). Routledge.

Schwab, K. (5 November 2018). Globalization 4.0 - what it means and how it could benefit us all. World Economic Forum. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/11/globalization-4-what-does-it-mean-how-it-will-benefit-everyone/

World Economic Forum. (2016). The future of jobs: Employment, skills and workforce strategy for the fourth industrial revolution. In World Economic Forum.

World Economic Forum. (2018). The future of jobs report 2018. Retrieved from https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-future-of-jobs-report-2018