With the rapid pace of change in technology and our environment, what will the future look like in the next five years? Do we have the essential skills and mindset to tackle the fundamentals and remain relevant? H360 offers viewpoints from an educator, student, parent and working professional to four possible scenarios of the future.

Halogen360: Parents and educators alike often ask: “How can education change with the times, how do students cope with the increasing workload and what knowledge is key for the years ahead?” S. Manogaran, executive director of the Academy of Singapore Teachers shares why it is important to lay the foundation of a strong character, as education changes with the times.

S.Manogaran: “The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.” This was the prophesy of Sir Winston Churchill in a speech at Harvard University in 1943. And how right he was!

From time immemorial, education has always been about developing the character, much less the mind. Witness the early schools started by the various religious organisations around the world throughout history. However, the Industrial Revolution in the mid-nineteenth century spawned the growth of schools as we know them today, dictated by the engineering philosophy of Frederick Taylor. Taylor’s principles of scientific management may still ring a bell or gongs of approval by some people.

The modern school system, founded on the principles of efficiency and mass customisation, aimed to produce workers who could function efficiently, not necessarily effectively, on the factory floor. A good worker was one who complied with instructions and produced the necessary output to serve the profit motive of the company.  You need not be a ‘thinking’ worker. Thinking was the preserve and privilege of the few leaders at the top who were known mysteriously as ‘management’.

Fast forward to 2012. The political, economic, social and technological shifts over the last 50 years have created havoc to how society was organised, led and educated. The twin drivers of globalisation and technology have had far greater impact on human society than at any time in history. Most fundamentally for education, the Taylorian principles now appear like the ruins in Greece and Rome—relics of the past to be studied by historians and to be preserved and admired in heritage centres!

To navigate the challenges of the present and future work place, our students will require several qualities, chief among which include a strong sense of self confidence, self-directedness and a penchant to learn, relearn and upgrade their knowledge and skills. Above all, our students must be anchored in the ethos and values of integrity, trust and respect for others.

It is interesting that in 2008, Howard Gardner published “5 Minds for the Future” where he focussed on three intellectual qualities: The Disciplinary, Synthesising and Creative Minds and two Character Minds: The Respectful and Ethical Minds. All that is expected of our students will apply to our teachers as well!

Churchill and Gardner may have lived at different times but they definitely agree on the importance of the power of knowledge, built on the foundation of strong character.

Halogen360: Many questions confront the youth of today, chief among them are: “What do I want to be when I grow up? and “how do I get there?” A Halogen Foundation volunteer, 17-year-old Jamie Seah from Hwa Chong Institution, shares her aspirations and philosophy for the future.

Jamie Seah: Many a time I have ruminated upon the future — my university and career prospects, places that I have yet to visit with my family, and above all, whether I will possess the capability in a year’s time to conquer the ‘A’ level examinations. To be entirely honest, I have no idea where I am headed in a few years’ time. The future is a behemoth, no doubt, and I am certainly apprehensive.

I have found myself wishing for time to speed up and propel me into college-hood, lamenting the vast differences between life now and the relatively more enjoyable days of before. But upon further deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that it is pointless to dwell on the past, but it is also equally unproductive to spend too much time thinking of the future. The danger of the latter lies in the fact that one can become too preoccupied with indulging in aimless thought or over-stressing oneself with regards to future predicaments. I have decided that I will cross the bridge when I get to it.

A friend once commented that I should not burn myself out while trying to get things done. According to her, I have my entire life to do what I love. The future will, in due time, descend upon us. Mankind has much to be exhilarated about. As we move further into the 21st century, the rapid growth of scientific discoveries and sporting achievements will continue, with technological advancement promising medical cures, greater international cooperation leading to potential solutions for our collective problems, and a plethora of other possibilities.

In order to embrace and be part of our collective future, we should be rooted in and live in the present, focussing on the now, which inevitably serves as priming for the future.

I am excited.

Halogen360: What are the essential skills-set for the future and how do we handle the challenges of a fast-paced digital world that has made convergence the buzzword for most of us? Nick Pan, a tech-savvy father of three children aged two to 10, believes that starting web literacy from young has its advantages.

Nick Pan: I used to learn about new songs from the radio, television or from the cool friends I have in school, but nowadays I am learning about them from my kids. “Prince Tag” from Jessie J, “Super Bass” from Nicki Minaj and “1000 Years” from Christina Perri just to name a few. The best part is that my 10-year-old daughter Clié learnt about these popular songs from kids just like her doing covers on YouTube from another part of the world.

The future is arriving faster than we know it and the world is getting smaller, much smaller. This hyper-connected world is the only world our kids know about. To my 2-year-old Clara, Elmo lives in every smartphone, tablet, desktop, laptop and even our television at home.

Sometimes I ask: Are our kids ready for it? How do we go about teaching them web literacy? I still have friends believing online scams like the one where Starbucks was supposedly giving out $100 vouchers on Facebook.  How will our kids be able to discern what is real and what is not? More importantly, how do we get them to stay away from the bad online neighbourhood?

We cannot wait for mainstream web literacy classes for children to happen. It will be too late. As a parent, I feel that other than teaching the basics like spelling on a weekly basis, we should also spend time teaching our children how to access the rich source of information that is available online. It is as integral as learning how to use a pen, how to read and how to count money.

My 8-year-old daughter Cleo loves watching kids on YouTube play with their toys and making stories with them. It is just like how we used to play when we were young, but with the addition of undersea internet cables, videography skills, and post-production know how, etc. So in the very near future, the skill-sets our kids should have might not be the ones we currently think they need.

Right now for my kids, I think knowing how to use the Internet is important and eventually I would want to teach them how to start creating digital content and sharing them online.

Halogen360: Young professionals in the workplace are learning to manoeuvre themselves in a workforce that is fluid and many consider changing their jobs within two to three years. How can one cope with workforce mobility coupled with knowledge transfer that moves as quickly? Soon Sze-Meng, regional director of Cross Border Business, APCEMEA, Visa Worldwide Pte Ltd shares some key lessons.

Soon Sze-Meng: Change in the corporate world has accelerated with increased interactions across markets and industries. To adapt to changes of work scope and responsibilities working in small, large, local or global companies, you have to learn constantly, build relationships and lead adeptly.

First, learn constantly. An updated industry or functional knowledge is critical to contribute effectively. The pace of learning continues after school, and for some, accelerates. Someone who made the effort to learn faster and then apply the knowledge in the workplace is always valued.

Learn because you are curious and want to do a better job. For example, a successful senior marketing leader must now be an expert in social media even though the Internet did not exist when she first started work!

Second, build relationships. Build respectful professional relationships with your team members and peers, but also outside your team and with more junior and senior colleagues. Some will become life-long friends. Take the first step and reach out.

Lunch is too precious to just eat on your own or with your team all the time. I learnt that people do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. If you want to go far, you have to bring others along. But to bring others along, you must first know what excites them.

Third, lead adeptly. Lead by doing well in current tasks, but also actively find areas where there are gaps in leadership. For example, if there is a new need to coordinate well with another department and no one else is doing so, then step up and develop the process to do so. Why wait? Practise situational leadership by adapting your leadership and management approach for different personalities and situations. Everyone is different. Therefore, be adaptable.

If you want to take up more responsibilities, do learn constantly, build relationships and lead adeptly, because you can be sure that there will always be changes in the corporate world.