DisruptED

For years now, a lot of discussion surrounding the STEM field has mostly focused on the lack of students pursuing the academic fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Although the shortage remains true, there’s also been a lot of work done to improve the numbers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In an episode of DisruptED, hosts Ron J Stefanski and Dr. Caesar Mickenstalked to two Croatian nationals dedicated to changing the current landscape of what education looks like, the gaps that exist, and how they are emphasizing STEM. Guests Marin Troselj, the CEO of STEMI, and Slobodan Velikic, a Chief Business Officer and Partner with STEMI, talked about their platform’s mission and their thoughts and solutions to what needs reorganizing.

Mickens stated that STEM numbers are concerning and there needs to be some kind of reinvigoration of the field to get the youth more readily interested and involved. While the U.S. once was No. 1 in STEM graduates, they are seeing lower numbers, and they are not alone. Globally, there’s been a drop in STEM graduates and professionals, said Mickens. But getting students to seek out STEM isn’t the only issue; it starts with going up against an increasingly outdated structure and teaching methods.

“In my opinion education around the world is going in the wrong direction,” said Troselj. “We are teaching kids to be experts in tests and not how to build meaningful stuff. We teach kids that the right answer is always in textbooks and don’t prepare them for the real world.”

Troselj stated that much of education was built to support the educational needs to produce a workforce for factories. Despite it evolving since, it still maintained its industrial roots.

With STEMI, Troselj and Slobodan Velikic are reshaping that landscape by making the testing and textbooks schools take a backseat. But more so, by turning education into something students can use outside of schools to solve real-life issues in their communities.

Ron Stefanski and Caesar Mickens Jr talk with David Richards on this episode of DisruptED. The episode focuses on optimizing technology in education requires professional development for teachers. The educators consider the lack of technology infrastructure to factor into 2020’s learning loss. Richards and Michens share insight into how technology and education are vital cycle breakers of social inequality.

Richards started as a tech director in the early nineties. He was motivated by his educators, who showed him that he could break the cycle of poverty. Initially, his school experience was for sports and socialization, but Richards learned that education was a path of opportunity. He believes that every child deserves more. To this day, Richards believes that education is the “most dramatic game-changer” in fighting the growing wealth disparity.

As the tech director, Richard’s principal and mentor focused much of the school development budget on Richards. He traveled all over learning computers and leveraged technology for education in the school curriculum. Richards recognized the opportunity to leverage a resource that would level the playing field.

A huge hurdle is the inequality of resources, especially when computers were first released. That technology was primarily accessible to upper-middle-class families and schools. Richards likens introducing technology to in-person teachers to the process of grief. There’s anger, denial, sometimes bartering, and acceptance. In training, Richard recommends approaching it from a place of empathy - understanding that these teachers have found success in the traditional model and shifting to the digital model is an entirely different science. Start with the reasoning for technology to relieve resistance. Traditional teachers need to understand that technology will provide a lot of ways to enhance the teaching process. The return on investment comes down to improving student achievement. The education system can move the needle significantly by using voice, video, or data. Listen to the entire episode for more recommendations.

Ron Stefanski and Caesar Mickens Jr talk with David Richards on this episode of DisruptED. The episode focuses on optimizing technology in education requires professional development for teachers. The educators consider the lack of technology infrastructure to factor into 2020’s learning loss. Richards and Michens share insight into how technology and education are vital cycle breakers of social inequality.

Taking on a new and relevant topic in the education space, DisruptED, hosted by Dr. Caesar Mickens and Ron J Stefanski, is centered on the disruption seen in the confluence of education today and the agents of change. In this premier episode, Co-hosts Dr. Mickens and Stefanski sit down with Karin Norington-Reaves, CEO of the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership to talk about their game-changing work in education development.

Norington-Reaves emphasized the fact that there will be jobs in the future that do not exist today, “60% of 8-year olds are going to work in jobs that did not exist at the time.” Finding a way to build skills to perform those jobs starts with education.

Public schools must start emphasizing career engagement and exposure early, Norington-Reaves highlighted. Education must begin early to identify talents, aptitude, and interests in order to build, “competent, knowledgeable, capable” adults to help beat down the racial wealth gap that exists.

The Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership has helped bridge the gap in public-private partnership. When talking about workforce development, Norington-Reaves said that flexibility is key, “Removing all of those responsibilities from government and putting them into non-profit which would create nimbleness.” Which then helps to provide, “a central space for policy creation” for people to make informed decisions about the industries they want to pursue.

Norington-Reaves work within education, really in disrupting it in a positive, impactful way, has helped place more than 100k people since inception, “It’s not just about getting people hired, it’s getting them connected to career pathway opportunities that lead to economic self-sufficiency…and really advance in those careers.”

Co-host Stefanski shared in this answer, “Agility is the answer to disruption.” Being adaptive in this space allows flexibility in the long-run.

Norington-Reaves agreed and emphasized that bringing in partners and co-creators helps to create nimbleness and to have shared ownership in the outcomes of the progress, which is how to continue evolving with the times.