How do we help students get ready?

[ProfessorBeyrer]

When Instructure released its State of Learning and Readiness report, I read it with great interest. Its focus on readiness feels apt given the continuous change that has been our lot at my college and throughout higher education. The whirlwind also touches the work world that our students will enter (some already have), and our responsibilities as educators include helping them get ready so they can thrive whatever the weather.

I’ve been teaching at the higher education level for more than three decades, and the report made me realize that “readiness” is something I’ve been assisting students with all along. Each department, each class, and sometimes each activity is a chance for students to imagine their future and how to prepare for it. I also work as the distance education coordinator at a community college in California, which means I help teachers use technology to make their students’ learning experiences meaningful. They too incorporate “readiness” in what they teach. I see evidence of the readiness pillars throughout my career and the work my colleagues do, and the report inspires me to ask questions about what else we can do for our students’ futures.

The first college class I taught was called Social, Ethical, and Political Issues in Health and Medicine. We had weekly guest speakers and discussions. Our students were mostly premed and thinking of their future careers and exploring the issues they would likely confront as healthcare professionals. Of the four pillars mentioned in the report, a growth mindset and future-ready thinking were common characteristics. They definitely trusted the credentials they were en route to learning, and their active participation showed their interest in aligning their values with their career goals.

For me, teaching history most closely aligns with my career goals. My history students have seldom been history majors, and they often enter the classroom focused on degree requirements and not how rewarding the study of the past can be. While I teach them how to think like a historian, they practice using evidence, comparing interpretations, and sharing what they have learned. These are skills that will support their career advancement. They also benefit from using technology, another useful skill. In my final exam, they reflect on how our class helps them in other parts of their lives. With this they practice adaptability and imagine how the skills they gain in one area can be used in others.

As our distance education coordinator, I work to create an environment that enables successful online learning and teaching. For students this includes teaching a class called Online Student Success and providing readiness tutorials for online learning. Here the connection is straightforward: students practice technological agility and digital literacy. Their success in completing a class or progressing through tutorials encourages the growth mindset that leads to success in their online classes.

Advancing effective online teaching is the main part of my job, and through that my peers practice continuous skills development. Before we had a learning management system we were creating PowerPoint presentations, and we moved on to webpage creation for web-enhanced classes and now course design for online teaching. Since I work at a community college, my colleagues teach in disciplines where readiness for work is immediate (like our programs in fire technology, sonography, and cybersecurity) and where it is either abstract or in the future (examples include history, engineering, and humanities). I hope my colleagues will forgive me for not mentioning our other 65 disciplines! Of course our students are often already employees and can therefore benefit right now from the agility and adaptability they practice in our classes, even if they are not yet what they want to be when they grow up.

While the report helps me recognize that we already teach “readiness” in many ways, it also leads me to ask questions: 

• For students enrolled in our career education programs, are we preparing them for the job after the one they’re learning right now? 
• For our transfer students, are we teaching them how what they’re learning (both in major prep and general education classes) aids them in completing their degrees and thriving in an ever-changing workplace? 
• For my faculty and classified professional colleagues, do we provide enough professional development so that they can maintain and improve their own adaptability? 
• For all of us, do we encourage the growth mindset that will help us and our students persevere through the challenges that will confront us?

How does your institution answer these questions and support your students’ readiness for a world where “economic uncertainty and rapid advances in technology are reshaping entire industries”? I look forward to our discussion here in the Community and learning how you help students prepare for the turmoil of their work world.