Educating for Livelihoods

Kendra recently wrote a good blog on the insufficiency of the modern educational-economic system. In brief: well educated, competent young people from developed countries are struggling to find sustained work. A lot of it is the economy. Regardless of the reason, it ain't pretty. Sustainable development needs good education, as I've written about before.

Even in 'good times', we've got a problem with our educational system. If you haven't noticed, its because you haven't been in it for a while. Our universities don't really train people for most of the workplace - and they certainly don't train people to be active, engaged citizens, how to meaningfully critique and engage with authorities, and how to consume with purpose and intention, regardless if it is TV, news or food. Our collective failure to deal with climate change has at least something to do with our education - which is where much of our conditioning happens. WHich is not to say I'm blaming schoolteachers - far from it. It's a larger systemic problem - and its not just in the West. As Kendra points out, aid agencies and others have been pushing education onto poor countries - with mixed results. While the benefits of literacy are undoubted and while science education has strongly contributed o the 'Asian Tiger' successes, there are many places where young people - especially in Africa - leave the school not well suited for the workforce, and without good enough grades for scholarships to expensive Universities. Hardly sustainable development for all.

So what works? First, recognising the skills that adults in any given society need must be suited to that given context. Much of Africa (at the risk of overgeneralising) really doesn't need more office workers, or more factory workers. They need people who can lead their communities. They need courage, political savvy, entrepeneurial skills, practice going between the modern world and the traditional world, skills in conflict resolution, ecological knowledge, renewable-energy knowledge, technical skills, agricultural/farming skills, etc.

Second, recognising the difference between jobs - something that pays the rent - and livelihoods - something that might not earn you money but will enable you to make ends meet, feed your family, and, importantly, have a sense of meaning and purpose in your life.

Third - wherever you are, education needs to be more embedded in the larger political-social community. Experiential education works - we know that. Not just internships, but chances for people to explore the needs - and the solutions - in their communities, and to become engaged in forging and shaping the solutions. That means less isolation of young people, more integration, more mentorships, more respect, more responsibility - and a lot of facing-the-consequences. It also means thinking about, in any given community, what that community needs - nurses? community policing? entrepeneurs? And helping to train for that - and provide those opportunities when people graduate.

Much of what makes this difficult is the transient nature of today's society. It is hard to educate for the needs of a given community of place when that keeps changing - and workers keep leaving. Of course, I'm hardly one to talk. I love moving, and traveling for work. But I know that real change for sustainable development takes time - and focusing on one place for an extended period of time, to send down real roots that can anchor you as you shake the wind.

Photo credit: Parikrma