Bringing Education Back to the Future through SCANS

Throughout my 46 years in education, I've seen the system evolve and undergo several reforms. However, most of these changes have been programmatic rather than systematic and unadjusted to a fast-changing world. It is time for an education reset, but not without consideration of the true objective of education.  Its main task is to develop citizens with employability skills necessary for the future instead of being entirely focused only on the transfer and accumulation of knowledge.

An education reset must be based on shifting our approach to learning and defining an implementation plan. In 1991, the US Department of Labor released a report titled, What Work Requires of Schools, a core component of the Secretaries Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS). The report summarized employers' survey responses regarding the employability skills of high school graduates. It found that high school graduates had no essential work experience qualities like logical judgment, critical thinking, inventive approach to solving problems, technological ability, and soft skills. These skills are not systematically taught in classrooms but are inconsistently aligned to curriculum or textbook content.

One of the most critical aspects of mastering new skills is efficiency in thinking, actions, and communication, aimed at achieving the desired result. Based on the SCANS report, it's clear that a skill-based curriculum is needed to foster lesson designs that include discussion, collaboration, and technology, in the learning process. Moreover, enhancing a student’s ability to assess a situation adequately, identify several ways to address the problem, make predictions, and draw the correct conclusions, will teach them to prioritize, plan, and be organized, which will help them function globally. Presently, teaching is primarily based on lectures and direct instruction.  Regardless of how well constructed, these instructional modes can create passive learners and hinder the development of their collaboration and thinking skills. We live in exciting times, and students need to be able to use their acquired knowledge to understand their world.

Imagine the following scenario. Educators ask high school students to recall the tale Little Red Riding Hood and to write an essay about how child services address child endangerment or discuss preventative measures that could be taken to ensure children’s safety. This could be a group or individual assignment, but students will examine this content in their world while practicing research, thinking, and collaboration skills. Such an approach makes the content relevant to students and their world, allowing them to grapple with controversial social issues and practice some of the skills outlined in SCANS. Younger students could be asked to describe moments when they did not feel safe and what steps were taken to make them feel safe.

Ensuring that students experience the role skills play in their lives is critical. For example, students use Venn diagrams to compare or contrast two characters and then construct an essay based on their observations. I find that approach inadequate because you cannot just compare forever. According to one school of thought, all thinking leads to decision-making or problem-solving. Could the assignment begin by asking students to identify personality traits they admire in others? Then ask them to compare/contrast two characters and determine which of the two characters possesses the qualities they admire in other people. This subtle change could shape students’ interpersonal skills as they encounter various people's personalities with varying skill levels. Moreover, students can use this approach to pinpoint their "must haves" before comparing vehicles or housing communities when purchasing a car or home.

Therefore, instructional models that encourage problem-solving, collaboration, and decision-making while learning content must be integrated into lesson designs. Several models, such as Project-Based and Problem-Based Learning, the Flip Model, and the Inquiry Method, can help students achieve SCANS outcomes. These models encompass the SCANS skills as students collaborate to create or attempt to solve real-world problems. The notion of collaboration evokes the image of movement, spontaneous actions, people conversing, seeking, and clarifying information, checking facts, submitting ideas and suggestions, and asking for feedback without personalizing it – a stark contrast between straight rows and controlled discussions and interactions.

But then again, educators’ autonomy is limited by rigid pacing guides and scripted lessons, making it challenging to adapt Instruction and materials to their students' needs. The most efficient lesson designs are those that allow teachers to capture how students learn and how they teach. Knowing students' readiness levels, interests, and learning preferences results in more meaningful and engaging activities. Unable to make significant adjustments, educators operate in a compliance-driven environment, which according to Daniel Pink (2012), creates almost sterile, robotic learners. In a system that defines success as obtaining good grades and excelling on standardized tests, students seek the correct answer and opt out of interacting with the text more profoundly. Earning 85% does not mean mastering employability skills. It simply documents an understanding of 85% of the tested content. However, regarding employment, it doesn't matter what you know but what you can do.

Education is essential for getting a job, but it currently lags in providing necessary skills for high-demand professions in the future. Today there's not much use in delivering information to students because if they own a smartphone, the whole world is in their pocket. Besides, 21st-century students are tech-savvy, and several curriculum topics now fall under "Nice to Know." Adding courses on Financial Literacy, Socio-Emotional Skills, Stock Market, and many current events to the curriculum would benefit future generations. According to Prakash Nair (2020), students should have more comprehensive curriculums that cannot simply be accessed on computers at home or in classes. To equip children to excel in the future economy, we need to develop skills, such as creativity and communication, which will be crucial. Additionally, these skills are difficult to assess with a conventional exam and are often marginalized and insufficiently evaluated.

Educators should be freed from routine, time-consuming tasks and devote more time to creative and social aspects of the learner’s personal growth. Existing classroom management guidelines fail to instill a sense of corrective action. For example, an absence of more than five days may result in a failing grade for a course, and that student is still expected to complete the year. Two critical employability skills noted in SCANS are work ethic and time management.

Simply recording due dates and assignments in a notebook won't do. Students should be taught to prioritize activities to fulfill their tasks based on deadlines. 

Unlike SCANS, Nair (2020) considers the physical environment's impact on education. School buildings need to be upgraded, renovated, made internet and functionally ready to become student-centered places that encourage collaboration and creativity. SCANS did not address scheduling issues, start times for the school day, and teacher evaluation rubrics. These issues must be included in a systematic and comprehensive reset.

A reset that focuses on redesigning the instructional process and curriculum supported by revised legislative policies and operational guidelines. Education policies can reinforce the type of personal growth that SCANS emphasizes. It should also empower students and educators to ensure that education remains relevant for the 21st-century professions.

We need a system with policies that support student-centered SCANS-based lesson designs. To prepare children for the rapidly changing job market, we must equip them with skills that will make them more adaptable to change. SCANS may not have all the answers, but it facilitates a paradigm shift in education that requires a seismic change in lesson designs, instructional strategies, and operational guidelines. However, as we strive to achieve SCANS ideals, let us at least acknowledge those who have been creative with scheduling, groupings, and implemented programs to influence lesson designs. There may be many pockets of excellence, but not enough to contradict SCANS. Let’s take education back to the future through SCANS!

References
Nair, P. (2020). Transforming school design in a post coronavirus world. Prakash Nair Blog. https://prakashnair.com/transforming-school-design-in-a-post-coronavirus-world/

Pink, D. (2012). Drive: The surprising truth of what motivates us. New York: Riverhead Books.

SCANS Report (1991). What Work Requires of Schools.  https://ils.unc.edu/daniel/242/SCANSRept.html

Dr Rosalind LaRocque: Over the course of her 46-year career in education, Dr Rosalind LaRocque has served as department chair and one of the district's first five master educators. As assistant principal, she supported the professional development and school improvement teams and was involved in district-wide initiatives to help educators. The last few years were spent developing research-based professional modules for educators.

Image by Vanessa Loring