LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Some Thoughts on Highline Schools’ Strategic Plan

This Letter to the Editor was submitted by Dr. David Gould, verified Burien Resident.[NOTE FROM EDITOR: Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Burien-News or Daniel Media. If you wish to submit a story, photo, article or letter, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.]

Dear Burien-News,

We have been, currently are, and will be for the foreseeable future, living in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, driven by advances in technology, geopolitics, economic, and environmental changes. Artificial intelligence is going to accelerate what we know today. Education, training, and continual learning are and will be required to make sense of the world and to achieve personal and professional success.

SMART goals or specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time bounded are difficult to write, but provide a solid target to focus on. Additionally, when goals are rationalized and implications included, so much the better. Sharp and clear goals make it easier for students, parents, and faculty to understand and to work towards.

Some key categories of skills to acquire in the 21^st Century as noted by Panorama Education (2024) and various other sources include:

1. Teamwork: collaboration, diversity, inclusion, and social skills.
2. Communications: oral and written communications and public speaking.
3. Thinking: creative and innovative thinking, critical thinking, scientific thinking, systems thinking, and abstract thinking.
4. Research: Data collection, analysis, problem solving, and life-long learning.
5. Subject matter: art, civics, climate change, digital literacy, financial literacy, geography, history, science, math, sustainability, technology including artificial intelligence

Three questions I always ask my students as they graduate and begin their careers.

1. What do you really, really want in life?
2. What are you prepared to give up for it? You can’t have everything.
3. If there were one thing you could do to make a difference in the world – what would it be?

Education today is more critical than ever before. To conclude with a Chinese Proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”

See https://www.panoramaed.com/blog/comprehensive-guide-21st-century-skills for additional information.

[NOTE FROM EDITOR: If you wish to submit a story, photo, article or letter, please contact us. Even if you wish to remain anonymous, please include your name and phone number so we may contact you privately. We look forward to hearing from you.]