Empowering the future problem solvers
[Music]
i
want you to think about this
this year’s first graders will be
retiring in 2084.
what does the world look like then what
problems will they be facing along their
way
we don’t know that but what we do know
is that change is happening faster than
ever before
and the challenges we are facing are
mounting higher and higher
we already need to awaken and prepare
the problem solvers
of tomorrow and give them the right
tools to face the challenges
can we agree that our educational system
is meant to prepare the students for
their future working life
and can we agree that dealing with
change and
uncertainties will be as important in
the future
as it is today so
back to our first graders how can we
prepare them so that they when entering
working life
have confidence to deal with the
unforeseen challenges
try to think back to when you were 15
sitting in your room maybe
struggling over your homework do some of
you recall wondering
what you were meant to do with all that
stuff you learned in school
analyzing a poem integral equations
i remember thinking when on earth will i
be using this
what is the purpose of what our kids
learn at school
math science history art or coding for
that matter
a new curricula has been implemented in
the norwegian schools this august
our students will now learn more about
sustainability
public health and life skills democracy
and citizenship obviously
important topics but
how do we make sure our students
don’t just learn about life skills and
community involvement
but also get the tools that are needed
to actually manage life
and get involved i was privileged to
hear
a young student giving a lecture about
her thoughts about future education
and she said that school is just a
waiting station
before life really begins when you just
finish school
then you will enter the world then you
will influence
then you will get something done
but do they really have to wait for that
to happen
i’m afraid today’s kids do not get too
much experience
in making a difference to others i don’t
think we give them
either the opportunity nor the arenas to
do so
at school you are rated in the different
subjects
and your value is linked to how well you
do on tests and presentations
but maybe you have other important
skills that you may not always get to
show
maybe you have the gift of creating
something without a recipe
or maybe you are incredibly good at
being curious and always asking
questions
these are qualities that are super
important in working life
but as it seems it can be quite annoying
in the classroom
there was this boy i heard of
who always had been annoyed that it
hurts to lean against the seat
when traveling so when he was asked to
make something he needed
in arts and crafts he made a sleeping
helmet
i find it very clever even though it was
hard for him to make a good design
but he got a bad grade
because according to his teacher it
would have been much better to just make
a nice looking pencil case
the school system too often in my
opinion
raised their students by asking them to
repeat
what they have learned to show what they
can
the students put two lines below the
answer which corresponds to the
recipe we have given them but what then
what are students going to do with all
this knowledge that we ask them to
repeat for us
school projects are often arranged in
this way we ask
students to find information about the
topic for example
find facts about plastic in the ocean we
ask them to present it to us like an
article or a presentation or a movie
but what if we didn’t stop there what do
we
challenge the students to do the
following
now that you know about the problem of
plastic in the ocean
what are you going to do about it
and that’s when the magic begins to
happen
now the students must use their
knowledge their skills and their
strengths
to find good solutions
i think it’s important that we give
students real problems to solve not just
issues described in a book so
let me tell you about this crowd
they are ninth graders participating in
an innovation camp
organized by junior achievement together
with a local power company
the problem we gave the students was how
to add power to an overloaded
electricity grid
this took place just before the summer
holiday
the students worked with the task for a
few days
and we then selected the very best
solutions
and the winning teams were invited to
pitch their ideas
at the super final at a business
conference after summer
we didn’t tell them to work more on
their solutions we just told them to
show up
but when we met at the conference
several of them had used their summer
holidays
making prototypes this team
had connected a trampoline to a light
bulb so that
when jumping on the trampoline the bulb
was lit
their idea was that trampoline amusing
parks also could be power plants
in fact these students had been doing
homework during summer without anyone
telling them to
and probably without even reflecting on
working on school subjects at all
and check out these guys they look
amazing in their
suits and ties at the super final
because they knew they were going to
present their solution to top executives
in the energy industry
it’s not often you see kids dress up
like this having a presentation in the
classroom
and of course that’s not important
either
but in this case the students wanted so
much to leave a good impression
that they did
i’m convinced that discovering that you
can come up with
solutions which create value for others
is very inspiring for young people to
experience
it’s about discovering that you have
skills that can be used to
solve big challenges or smaller problems
and that you can create value for others
outside of school
who benefits from your solution
and during the process you relate to the
unknown and unforeseen that tend to show
up when dealing with problems
that builds confidence and that’s about
building life skills
in a world where we constantly are
dealing with new information and new
ways of doing things
just think about the pandemic then we
owe it to our kids to exercise on this
next time it’s something else that
strikes us
that makes us change courses
change habits must make a new plan
and by the way we need people
who take initiative and responsibility
both in their own life but also in their
communities
experiences that give students
confidence to take initiative to make
something happen
is very much about citizenship
it’s not about pointing to a pro
pointing to a problem hoping that
someone else will be solving it
it’s about taking responsibility
yourself
this can be the very first part to
community engagement
with all which also gives them tools to
do something with what they are
passionate about
we need that i would say we are totally
dependent on it to solve the challenges
of tomorrow
for me school was perfectly normal
i didn’t quite know what career i wanted
so i chose to study economics and
management because it kept doors open
for different opportunities
my first job after graduation happened
to be in banking and finance
it was not planned more by accident to
be honest
but also very interesting and inspiring
so i was perfectly fine i had my degree
i had a good job and in 2016 i looked
back at 15 years of experience and had a
manager role
ahead of customer service which i loved
but still something was missing
one day i was asked to be
at a jury at the startup expo at least
that’s how i
understood it but by entering the expo
i was blown away
this was no ordinary expo this was
young students telling their world about
their ideas through their youth
companies
there were products like a waterproof
backpack made of paper
a dress that could be tied and designed
in 10 different ways
a gaming glove to prevent inflammation
several of them had made very good
profits
but what impressed me was their
enthusiasm
their young courage remember this was
young students age 17 running companies
as a part of their education
i envied them for the pride they had in
their
business and products they were somehow
empowered
today my job is to support
teachers to train students in problem
solving
but it’s also about building important
competence for the future of work and
business
we need the next generation to have
skills to create new jobs for the future
we need to empower them with skills like
creativity
confidence the ability to cooperate
and taking initiative and responsibility
to make something happen
but since i started my journey in this
job
i’ve discovered that it’s first and
foremost about this
empowering young people to make
a change
let them solve real problems and give
them arenas where they can bring their
ideas to the table
let them see that their solutions are
good enough
sometimes even quite brilliant
let them experience that what they learn
at school
math science history art or coding for
that matter
is important and relevant and can be
used to create value for others
let them see that they can make a
difference today
just now they don’t have to wait till
after finishing 13 years
at school and by
empowering young people today we are at
the same time building
competence for the future working
business so that you
and your business will be more prepared
for the uncertainties you are facing in
the future
so let’s together make sure as many
students as possible gets this
opportunity we need to work together
school and working life to make sure
our children this year’s first graders
are empowered to meet the challenges of
the future
my opinion is that the next generation
is
exceptionally good they have
important dreams for their future
this crowd will be taking care of us
when we are old and tired
this crowd will be in the front line
facing future challenges
this crowd is the future problem solvers
let’s help them get the tools they need
to put their ideas
into action let’s empower them
we owe it to them thank you
you