Thomas Friedman’s article, “How to Get a Job at Google” was a bit discouraging. I completely agree with what he, and Google Executive Laszlo Bock, discussed. I agree that high schools and colleges are not preparing students and teaching them the skills needed to be successful in their future careers. There is a huge lack in the teaching of practical, life skills. Sure, students exit school with some sort of knowledge base, but so much of what they do is test driven, and so often, their skills include using that knowledge to pass a test. As Laszlo stated, GPAs are not predictive of what kind of employee an applicant will turn out to be. While a graduate may have excellent scores in math subjects, it is not clear how well they can apply that knowledge, as Laszlo states “so if your good grades truly reflect skills in those areas that you can apply, it would be an advantage.” But Google, and most other companies, also look for more, and that more is not just simple “leadership skills”. They are looking for things such as emergent leadership, humility, ownership.
While I wholeheartedly agree with their philosophy, I have to ask, how? How can we, as high school teachers, effectively teach humility? How can it be taught within the content, as to not get behind. How can it be measured? How much of an importance should it hold in the classroom? Should content be sacrificed? While I know that it totally possible to incorporate these life skills, I suppose I just struggle to understand how we can ensure these are being taught correctly, and if not, how do we readjust? I have believed for awhile now that school should lighten up the content load, and incorporate more practical life skills, and this article reinforces this. Unfortunately though, this is not the reality, and to add an additional need on top of the already heavy load of teachers, scares me quite a bit.
Friedman, Thomas L. (2014, February 22). How to Get a Job at Google. The New York Times.
Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?_r=2
While I wholeheartedly agree with their philosophy, I have to ask, how? How can we, as high school teachers, effectively teach humility? How can it be taught within the content, as to not get behind. How can it be measured? How much of an importance should it hold in the classroom? Should content be sacrificed? While I know that it totally possible to incorporate these life skills, I suppose I just struggle to understand how we can ensure these are being taught correctly, and if not, how do we readjust? I have believed for awhile now that school should lighten up the content load, and incorporate more practical life skills, and this article reinforces this. Unfortunately though, this is not the reality, and to add an additional need on top of the already heavy load of teachers, scares me quite a bit.
Friedman, Thomas L. (2014, February 22). How to Get a Job at Google. The New York Times.
Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/23/opinion/sunday/friedman-how-to-get-a-job-at-google.html?_r=2