People may be born with intelligence, but that may not mean they keep it

Balmain Working Mens’ Institute
photo: J Bar

In the debate about what makes a country or a society competitive in the world, it would be interesting to know how much a decline in educational standards counts for. We tend to assume that children are usually better educated than their parents, since standards are rising constantly. What if this is not so in a country — say in the US?

Clive Crook, writing in the Financial Times reports this fact and is clearly of the opinion that it should be more widely reported and discussed than it has been so far:

A startling and profoundly important fact about the US economy has received surprisingly little attention. The educational quality of the country’s workers is starting to decline – not just relatively (because other countries are catching up and moving ahead) but also, for the first time, in absolute terms. Over the coming years, baby-boomers departing from the labour force will have better educational qualifications than the younger workers replacing them. If the ultimate source of an economy’s ability to grow and prosper is its human capital, the US is in trouble . . .

Between 1940 and 2000, the educational standard of people entering the US labor market rose markedly. While fewer than 5 per cent of the population had at least a four-year college education at the start of this period, more than 30 per cent did so by the end.

When the educated Baby Boomers retire

However, the children of the post-war Baby Boomers now have fewer post-graduate degrees than their parents’ generation. What happened? Have they lost interest? Does a good degree count for less in getting a job?

Whatever the immediate reason, there has been no such decline, it appears, in countries like South Korea, Japan, Canada and Russia. In fact, in many other countries, the proportion of people aged 25-34 with at least a college education is now as high as, or higher than, in the US — and still climbing. When the US Baby Boomers leave the labor force, as they are already starting to do, a good proportion of the educational attainments of the country will leave with them. Continued

According to The Globe and Mail (a Canadian newspaper), a growing number of parents are espousing a radical philosophy: deciding that it’s time their children got some life skills by actually living. As a result, they’re allowing far more unstructured time and more freedom for children to play, free from constant interference from adults (“The free-range child”).

Here’s how the writer expresses it:

As so-called hyperparenting continues to dominate modern childrearing with its flash cards, over-programming, hovering and handholding, a number of conscientious objectors are taking a big step back.

They are not slacker parents – they don’t celebrate 3 p.m. martinis and serve Happy Meals for dinner.

But they are returning to a parenting style in which kids’ time is filled with free play, unsupervised activities and plenty of downtime. Some call it free-range parenting.

Continued

Most businesses pride themselves on their innovation, but if schools neglect to teach young people to think creatively or critically, where will the next generation of creative people be found?

An article in Management Issues (“High school leavers can’t think, can’t communicate”) suggests that our schools are more focused on cramming their pupils for standardized tests than helping them develop critical skills they will need for employment. Continued