Preschool Learning Crucial

"Machines are automating a whole bunch of these things, so having the softer skills, knowing the human touch and how to complement technology, is critical, and our education system is not set up for that," said Michael Horn, co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute in the New York Times article, "Why What You Learned in Preschool Is Crucial at Work.  The article continues...

"Preschool classrooms look a lot like the modern work world.  Children move from art projects to science experiments to the playground in small groups, and their most important skills are sharing and negotiating with others.  But that soon ends, replaced by lecture-style teaching of hard skills, with less peer interaction.

"Work, meanwhile, has become more like preschool.

"Jobs that require both socializing and thinking, especially mathematically, have fared best in employment and pay.  They include those held by doctors and engineers.  The jobs that require social skills, but not math skills, have also grown;  lawyers and child-care workers are an example.  The jobs that have been rapidly disappearing are those that require neither social nor math skills, like manual labor."

Contributed by Yasmina Vinci

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