Convention speaker Zhao sees need to develop 'entrepreneurial' students

On Board Online • May 29, 2017

By Eric D. Randall
Editor-in-Chief

In an age of globalization, smart robots and rapid change, schools need to prepare students for jobs that don't yet exist, or jobs they create themselves, according to an acclaimed professor who will be the keynote speaker at NYSSBA's 98th's Annual Convention, which will be held Oct. 12-14 in Lake Placid.

"We are in the age of smart machines," said Yong Zhao, a professor of education at the University of Kansas. "That is going to render obsolete a lot of traditional jobs. It's a big shift."

But people can do things that machines can't. That needs to be recognized in public education, Zhao told On Board in a telephone interview. "We need to look hard at every child to see each student's passion and creativity, and help them develop an entrepreneurial mindset," he said.

The world needs many kinds of entrepreneurs, he added. Sure, the world needs free-thinkers who create innovative products or delivery systems, he said. But we also need social entrepreneurs who apply their creativity and passions to environmental issues or other social problems, public entrepreneurs who transform government and "intrapreneurs" who find better ways of doing things within organizations, he explained.

Skills that need to be nurtured include collaboration, creativity and "the ability to identify a problem worth solving."

To prepare students for such a world, education must change, he said.

"The new education has to be much more personalized and help each student discover his or her natural strengths, not focus on their deficits according to some standard or assessment. We need to help them discover their passion and use it to create value for other people."

The existing system is on the wrong path, Zhao added. "Curriculum should follow the child, not external standards. A lot of students have talents in areas outside the Common Core."

A noted critic of standards, high-stakes testing and prescribed curriculums, Zhao said he is perceived by other scholars as "on the edge" if not "an anarchist."

But people are listening to him; he was recently ranked by Education Week as among the top 10 most influential university-based education scholars.

"We always try to provide our Convention attendees with speakers who challenge them to think differently and see a new way forward," said Barry Entwistle, NYSSBA's director of member relations. "Dr. Zhao will be no exception. Everyone should be prepared for big ideas and practical advice."