Educational Implications of Workplace Change

An interview with author and professor, Dr. Rich Feller

by LeeAnn Bernier-Clarke, MEd, NCC, NCCC

Are our educational institutions adequately addressing the needs of tomorrow’s workforce? When our kids leave school, will they have the skills to sustain a career, find and keep a job? These are questions that concern parents and employers in our current test-driven educational climate, where workforce trends and career development are sometimes given lip service for curriculum planning but rarely addressed in the classroom.

To examine what emerging workplace trends will most profoundly impact tomorrow’s workforce and how teachers, guidance counselors and school administrators can adequately prepare students to meet these challenges, we spoke with Dr. Rich Feller, Colorado State University professor of counseling and career development and University Distinguished Teaching Scholar. He is a prolific writer and popular conference speaker on career and workforce development topics, and recently completed a new book, Knowledge Nomads and the Nervously Employed: Workplace Change and Courageous Career Choices, with co-author Judy Whichard.

LeeAnn Bernier-Clarke: What a great title for your new book, Rich! We’ve known one another in career development circles for a long time and we share similar backgrounds. I think it would be interesting for our readers to know how you got started in this field.

Rich Feller: I was a blue-collar kid who was lucky enough to be able to go to school, and I’ve always had a great respect for people like my parents who worked awfully hard to get me more than what they had. That motivated me to care about all people finding a way to survive in the workplace, whether they go to college or not, and I became concerned about the kind of career development people get early on, in school as well as on the job. Also, I’m a father, which is as important a role as anything I do. It humbles me every day and makes me more caring, trusting and encouraging.

LeeAnn Bernier-Clarke: What emerging trends would you predict to have the most profound impact on tomorrow’s workforce?

Rich Feller: There are three of them. The first is globalization. As our economy becomes integrated worldwide, job availability and the impact of one’s labor changes. Second, our rapidly advancing technology makes it possible for anything discovered today to be put to use tomorrow anyplace in the world. The third is our changing demographics. Parent involvement with their children’s education is decreasing as dual income couples work longer and harder. And immigration accompanied by different language and learning styles imposes economic strains on our educational systems and workplaces.

LeeAnn Bernier-Clarke: We could do a column on each of these trends, but with our space limitations we’ll need to address them collectively. What challenges do they pose for our educational institutions?

Rich Feller: Basically, our schools are set up so that time is fixed and learning is the variable, so we’re looking at how much can be learned within the confines of a timeframe set up around bus, lunch and sport schedules. For optimum learning to take place for all children, we need to change the equation so that learning is fixed and time is the variable. This can be driven by technology, which makes learning available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 12 months a year, but requires increased parent involvement as well as other role model supervision, mentoring programs and more flexible school scheduling. It can facilitate more individualized instruction.

LeeAnn Bernier-Clarke: So, it sounds like parents need to step up and take as much responsibility for their children’s education as the school system. That’s a variable over which schools have little control.

Rich Feller: Research shows that what happens to kids during off-school hours has a tremendous impact on their education, but that doesn’t mean we can’t change our schools to enhance learning while kids are there. Teachers are frustrated because change is being imposed on them through external sources like politicians, public opinion, the press and various special interest groups. True educational change happens in the school and focuses on children’s needs.

LeeAnn Bernier-Clarke: What advice would you give classroom teachers who want to make learning more relevant for their students?

Rich Feller: Teachers can cover less content in greater depth. Research in high performance workplaces shows that 70 percent of what employees learn is through stretch assignments or being placed in a role and learning by doing, while 20 percent takes place through observing both positive and negative role models, and only 10 percent is learned through traditional classroom lecture (see Lominger United for more information). Students, likewise, need to know that what they are learning has relevance and a concrete application in their lives, now and in the future.

Teachers can provide opportunities for kids to use and practice what they learn. They can help students stay on task and encourage character development through helping others on a classroom scale and through projects geared toward serving mankind on a community or global scale. That way they can see that their actions can have a positive impact.

LeeAnn Bernier-Clarke: What can school counselors and administrators do?

Rich Feller: Help the school to feel smaller by creating a learning community where kids and their parents feel safe, take ownership and have a stake in their school. Get kids active, engaged and making connections in the community through internships and mentor programs where kids are exposed to positive role models and see high performance workplaces in action, where they can explore who they are and how they might fit in. Get all teachers involved in internal curriculum development and setting performance standards to support these initiatives. And always have high expectations.

Of course we are bound to standardized testing for accountability but, in a perfect world, I would advocate a very small number of students -- say seven -- per class, no grades, no tests and totally individualized instruction.

LeeAnn Bernier-Clarke: That would be revolutionary! But since what we have is far from perfect, could you recommend any resources or programs that teachers can access to bring more contextual learning into their own classrooms and make a difference in kids’ lives on a level where they are able to exercise some control?

Rich Feller: The Real Game Series is available to teachers in grade-appropriate, boxed-set curriculums and is great for reinforcing skills through problem solving real-life scenarios. The SuperCamps are phenomenal for career development, learning academic and life skills. I sent my son last summer and it changed his life.

LeeAnn Bernier-Clarke: I looked into that for my kids. Their website describes some of their training techniques and has resources teachers can order. Thanks so much, Rich! It’s always a pleasure to learn from you.

Rich Feller's latest book, Knowledge Nomads and the Nervously Employed: Workplace Change and Courageous Career Choices, co-authored with Judy Whichard, will be available soon through Counseling Outfitters.

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