So, about 2 weeks ago at the first Critical Thinking meeting of the year, the discussion morphed into a hybrid of CT and 21st century, since nearly half of the people who regularly come to CT meetings are also doing 21st century learners. The discussion kind of meandered a bit and settled on the problems with teenagers' work ethic which seems to be the bane of many teachers' lives. Friedman mentions his concerns that trends in education won't encourage our young adults to go into the study of science or, in general, be able to contribute to keeping our country competitive with China and India.
That morning, I'd read an editorial in the Post called "White-collar security unraveling, " which discussed - well, actually STATED - that "Americans are better off old and retired than young and working," since, according to the author, Marie Cocco. She asked, " What does it mean to have an economy in which it pays more to retire than to work?"
The concern that this inspired in me was that people about to go to college or about to graduate from college have little incentive to be competitive with other countries. I don't mean to imply that young adults are motivated only by money, but my opinion is that with stagnant wages, competition alone certainly will not be an effective motivator. I worry that this may keep us from keeping ahead of our competition.