Why do we teach for my past and not our childrens future.

That is my big question today. Why am I still teaching the same courses I took as a child. Has the world not changed... Have we not changed our job outlooks... Are we not the new generation of learners... if so why are we in education stagnate state.

Yes we change and update curriculum. Yes we have cutting edge grading and assessing and tech but have we really changed. 30 years ago I had a choice of 3 levels of math and english, socials and 3 sciences. Now today I teach the next generation the same courses.. Great but the job world changed. I am not producing the same employment force.

The jobs I started out with dont exist. Gone are the days of many restaurant workers, now we have ordering kiosks instead. So I asked my grade 12 calculus class this question..what job will your children get as they go through school..We all thought long about this one. Really the part time jobs of today wont exist do they all seemed to agree that technology would work. Great. but again we dont teach that unless it is as an elective.

When I started teaching 26 years ago, my first class was an experimental class run completely off computers. Wow it was fun and energetic and cuting edge. I was so excited as a new teacher to see how fun our future will be. But here I am today working in a school where teachers still say lets ban cellphones and tech gadgets from the class. So again I ask why is education not changing with the times.....

I fight the fight for technology and teaching to the future but the comfort of the past keeps pulling us back.. So stop looking for a change just to change lets look to the future and teach our students the tools they need to succeed and not just the content. Lets look at STEAM as a course that encompasses all content and leaves room for other areas of study that interest our children.