A Child's Worth

Mar 12, 20234 min read

Self-made. A hyphenated phenomenon that has reached the hearts and minds of many over the last few years.

Scroll endlessly on pretty much any social media platform and find the term, morphed lifestyle, and its meaning reeled and remixed on end. Add a backsplash of trendy music, and voila, we have change.

Or do we?

How Important is Children's Growth?

Very Important
Kinda of Important
Not Important at All

It’s no secret that machine learning and AI advancements have contributed to virtual educational experiences over the last few years. Nowadays, anyone can learn anything. As long as they have a pocket computer, with a few basic capabilities, and stable internet service, the world becomes an oyster. Or does it?

I ask these questions of parents, educators, and community leaders when engaging in conversation about the state of education and how literacy continues to play an intricate part. My case is that we’ve been throwing a bunch of “new developments” up against the wall for decades, trying to figure out what sticks. I outline the challenge that goes beyond experimentation, becoming a matter of exploitation for those presently being identified as “marginalized and disenfranchised”. Those who have been closed off from equitable opportunities and perhaps can’t afford a pocket computer with basic functionality and stable internet service. Those who are products of sticky stuff on the walls. How can we bridge the gap for them right now with what we have, empowering every member to dream bigger and brighter, giving them a true sense that they can design their future? These conversations are so relative these days. And there are so many multilayered reasons why. All of them return to one of the challenges of being self-made and the role confines, or exaggerations, media literacy plays.

Theory vs. Practice

I tend to add to the conversation the emergence of Change Management Theory in education. It’s one of the modern ways to “toss it all out and put it back together”. The theory pins the challenges alongside viable solutions and looks at what’s available versus what is needed to get there. Strategy, organization, and opportunities to gauge progress are built into the mission. Add a group of committed and passionate folks, each doing what they do well, practicing and chipping away at what is believed to be a new philosophy and way of looking at and doing things. The result is a change in how people, processes, and systems are designed and managed. Everyone learns something that drastically affects their cause and, thus, their lives, bringing them closer as a team. Now we are talking self-made. I ask each group I connect with if such could work for children and with children and wait for their answers. Most of the time, I’m met with zeal, and for others, I am met with slumped shoulders and disconcerting looks. No matter when and where I ask these questions, I learn something new about how the present future, and all who contribute, is the true contender and how our collective future is contingent upon the opportunities we provide, for every ability and competency, as a whole.

The Big Why

Asking the right questions helps all of us better understand how the need for futuristic education and how we should align for the sake of future workforce development. The future of work requires 21st Century Power Skills. These skills, balanced with hard and soft sets when meshed together, paint a picture of the key objective. The ability to relate, adapt, co-create, communicate and articulate outcomes are centralized and illustrated by today’s most innovative collaboration software solutions, not to mention some of the advanced technological learning tools. These tools and systems are mirrored and integrated into the classroom and follow our children home via apps. Parents can learn all about how well their kiddo is doing or not, and with that information, can make informed decisions about what the child should invest in next, according to the carefully curated life plans. The answers to these questions are very important, albeit different for every family. They help to connect the dots on a much larger scale challenge-poverty.

Poverty and illiteracy go hand-in-hand. When one considers the 3.7 million job vacancies at present, we are faced with having to look at all the sticky stuff on the walls again. What could we have done better with the resources available to us to ensure that our children are ready to fill such vacancies 15 years ago if we knew what we’d be up against? The questions keep coming, and the answers remain. Access to quality education is the tip of the iceberg, there’s so much more to do, and the only foreseeable way to accomplish it all, in my personal and professional opinion, is with and through community-based educational programs.

Considering the worth, building up the value

RDW Creations continues to champion accessible educational programming. I’ve witnessed firsthand how much their services and programs impact community members. Working alongside them to instill a lifelong love of learning has been a journey in and of itself. As we continue to ask ourselves critical questions about the state of education, the resources our communities need to be successful, and the causes we will advocate for in the near future, I invite you-the reader-to consider the many ways that you can build up the worth of your community and thus value starting with quality literacy programming. It’s the tried and true way to advance, one person at a time.

RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms