"Our Time to Lead"

 

For most of us, university years were some of the most memorable. They are the years where we wrestled with new-found independence, plotted our courses for our lives, and grew into adulthood.

Last week, The Globe & Mail ran an interesting series on post-secondary education in Canada entitled Our Time to Lead.

I spent the first half of my career in the university sector and have an ongoing interest and loyalty to Canadian universities.  And the college system is becoming an increasingly important entrepreneurial and adaptable answer to economic needs.  Education at all levels – primary, secondary, and post-secondary; both private and public – is the most important lever for improving our quality of life in terms of the economy, culture, heath, and human interaction. It is something we should all take an active interest in.

The Cerberic threats of austere public financing for the foreseeable future, intense international competition, and pace of societal change/expectations pose massive challenges to these institutions that have served our nation well for a fraction of the cost of universities in other parts of the world

Many of the Globe’s pieces are superb, many are thought-provoking, and many raise questions that apply to those of us in the secondary sector.

Here are a few that raise some excellent questions:

·         Why University Students Need a well Rounded Education or the case against specialization too early

·         Transforming the Ivory Tower: The case for a new post-secondary education system. Take a look halfway down this interaction section to the articles on The Innovators

·         What is the one thing every graduating student should know? Advice from a variety of university leaders

·         Can Canada’s schools pass the next great intelligence test? This long article provides the overlay for the entire series – probing into a variety of issues facing universities, faculty and students.

PS Earlier this week, there was also an interesting piece on TVO about the classroom of 2030. While the focus was once again on post-secondary, there were many concepts that applied equally well to schools. Here TVO’s special website on the subject, which includes the show.