Thanks to the Skillman Foundation we asked Richard Czuba of the Glengariff Group to ask 600 Michigan voters about what skills and capacities they want Michigan schools to develop in all students.
Strong majorities of Michigan voters, across partisan, demographic and geographic divides, want schools, first an foremost, to develop student to be critical thinkers and lifelong leaners.Their emphasis is on learning general skills like critical thinking, communicating and reading that allow them to have different career options as opposed to students graduating from high school having learned a specific skill that allows them to have a career with that skill.
What follow is Richard’s summary of the poll findings:
Schools Do Not Prepare Students for Economic Change
By a margin of 12.5%-70.3%, Michigan voters overwhelmingly say that our schools are not
preparing students for changes coming to our economy. There is wide and deep agreement on
this question with a range of just 4.8% to 17.7% across all demographic groups that think
schools are preparing students for coming economic changes.
General Skills, Lifelong Learning More Important; Parents Most Focused on Workforce
Voters were asked if it was more important for students graduating from high school to learn a
specific skill that allows them to have a career with that skill or whether it was more important
that they learn general skills like critical thinking, communicating and reading that allow them to
have different career options. By a margin of 76.1%-17.3%, voters chose general skills over a specific skill. 6.6% said they did not or it would depend.
Critical Thinking, Lifelong Learning, General Skills Most Important
Voters were read two competing statements on three different issues. In each case, voters overwhelmingly sided with statements that focus on critical thinking skills versus specific skills, critical thinking versus ‘getting back to the basics’ and being prepared to adapt to constant shifts in the economy.
- 71.0% To prepare students for the future, we need to teach them how to think critically and be able to solve problems and that means learning more than the basics, it means we need to teach our children to think.
- 76.7% We need to teach students to continue learning throughout their lives with flexible skills centered on thinking critically and solving problems. To be successful in the workforce, students will need broad knowledge and flexible skills that allow them to adapt to an economy that will be constantly changing throughout their lives.
- 64.0% Over the next forty years, the nature or work is going to change in unpredictable ways. If students emerge today ready for only one career, they may get left in the economic dust. Students need to be prepared to change and shift their careers as the economy around them changes, and have more general skills that prepare them to change and shift into new occupations.
Two Messages Extremely Strong; Another Two Messages Have Weaker Appeal
Voters were presented with four different messages and asked if they agreed or disagreed with the message. Strong majorities of voters agreed with all four messages. But the strength of their support varied significantly. Two messages had majorities of voters that strongly agree, but two other messages had weaker strongly agree percentages below 50%.
- 90.7%-8.1% Our economy is going to change dramatically over the next forty years and that will impact nearly every occupation and even change what it means to work. We need to rethink education in Michigan in order to prepare our children for the changes coming to our economy. (Strongly Agree 56.4%)
- 90.6% 8.6% The best way to deal with a future problem is to prevent it from happening to begin with. We can prevent our children from facing unemployment and low-wage jobs by acting now to update the skills they will need in the future economy. By updating education and preparing students to think critically, have broad knowledge and flexible skills, we can prevent economic hardship for future generations. (Strongly Agree 55.3%)
- 75.4% 20.8% What worked for us growing up will not work for students entering a workforce that will constantly be changing. The skills they need will be very different from the skills we needed. We should act now to prepare children for a world that is different than the one in which we were educated. (46.9% Strongly Agree)
- 65.0% 30.5% For generations, Michigan has focused on preparing students for manufacturing jobs. Over the next forty years, many of those jobs will be automated and decimate the number of existing manufacturing jobs in Michigan. If we keep preparing our students with the same skills required for a manufacturing economy, we are preparing them for a future in Michigan of unemployment and low-wage jobs. (Strongly Agree 33.3%)
Critical Thinking, Clear Communicators, Self-Motivated Lifelong Learners are Key Skills
Richard explained that scores of 8 was quite good, scoresof nine or above were outstanding.
Voters were read six different skills and asked how important that skill was on a ten-point scale over the next forty years. While all six skills ranked high – two skills ranked above 9.0 in importance with voters.
- 9.1 Students who are clear communicators and critical thinkers that can question ideas, write with clarity and back up claims with evidence.
- 9.0 Students who are self-motivated to keep learning throughout their lives and remain driven by curiosity.
- 8.8 Students who are prepared to work with and lead people who do not look like them or think like them.
- 8.5 Students who have knowledge in a broad range of areas ranging from math, science, history and art, rather than just one areas of expertise. This knowledge will help them solve a broad range of problems by having a critical base of knowledge across multiple disciplines.
- 8.5 Students who are original thinkers that can solved complex problems with no rules or guidebooks to help them and are skeptical of normal thinking.
- 8.1 Students who are fluent math thinkers that can consume and interpret data.
General Skills More Important Than Specific Skills
By a margin of 75.4%-15.2%, voters believe it is more important for students to learn broad general skills as compared to a specific set of skills for one job if they want to be successful in the workplace. Republican voters were slightly more likely to say that specific skills made a student successful in the workplace.
Top Take Aways
- Voters already overwhelmingly believe that it is more important for students to learn generalized skills and critical thinking skills as compared to learning a specific skill. Tying the need for these skills to a rapidly changing economy drives home the point to voters.
- Voters already believe that training students to be lifelong learners is more important than training students for the workforce. But among voters with children, they are split on this question. It is important to flip the question with parents by reminding them that ‘your child is not prepared for the workforce if they are not prepared to be a lifelong learner.’
- There is no need to educate voters about the importance of critical thinking or the need for broad flexible skills. Voters are already there. These arguments are strengthened by coupling the need for critical thinking skills with voters’ current understanding that the economy will be changing dramatically and children need to be prepared to adapt to those changes regardless of what career they choose.
- Voters do not respond as well to arguments that talk about the decline of manufacturing jobs or say ‘the skills they need will be different than the skills we needed’. Focus on children’s futures without tying the conversation to an adult voter’s past. In the current political environment adults are too willing to assume a conversation is meant to be an attack on them – so keep the conversation to what children need for the future.
- Critical thinking skills and being self-motivated are the highest rated skill voters think are important for students today. Being prepared to work with and lead people that do not look or think like them is important to Democrats and independents – but Republican voters rank this skill much lower.
- Voters understand that students will move through multiple jobs in their career. Instead of climbing a ladder it will be more like climbing a wall moving in different directions as they move up. Voters understand that students’ careers will not move in just one linear direction which is why they understand the idea that a student needs broad general skills that allow them to use them in different jobs compared to just one set of skills that they use in only one job.
- Do not fall into the trap about discussing career choices or job types. Accept all career choices and job types by underscoring that no matter what a students’ choice of career the future will require them to be critical thinkers and lifelong learners
