Accommodation and Adaptation

Tim Burke in his chapter Teaching English Language Arts in a "Flat" World gives a list of eight roles that student will need to acquire to be successful in their futures. Burke relies heavily on the ideas of Tim Friedman as he proposes the changing way of the work field and the necessary needs that students will need to adapt to. Burke focuses in on the ever changing work field that as it changes and adapts, students will need to be able to evolve along with the process. Although I found this chapter to speak very truthfully, it seemed to be obvious information. With technological advances occurring within the blink of an eye it seems apparent that students will have to be prepared for these changes. I found that Burke's suggestions and examples for how students can develop these skills in the classroom to be flat and uninformative. Perhaps it is because of my generation, but I found many of his examples to be things that I feel like things I have been doing since high school, none of which I ever found particularly enjoyable in the classroom setting. However, as I was reading I realized that many of the skills that were trying to be cultivated in the classroom I gained through working at my summer job at a Ford dealership. Personally I think these lessons are more difficult to teach in the classroom and better taught through experience. I'm not sure how I would go about teaching this in an academic setting because it is one thing to tell your students they will one day needs these skills and tools versus actual experience.