Award-winning teacher eyeing the future
The need to prepare students for a future massively disrupted by technology is an issue close to Nelson College teacher Jarrod Aberhart’s heart.
Aberhart, who coaches students as part of the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES), was recently awarded the Lion Foundation Sir James Fletcher Award for Outstanding Contribution to Enterprise for his work as a mentor in business, IT and computing studies.
Aberhart coached the YES’s national winners, from Nelson College, who worked on the children’s book project Where’s Woolly.
In his acceptance speech for his award he highlighted the changes students faced in the job market and said education system needed to change to make students resilient.
‘‘It is the exponential growth and disruption from technology which is driving this change.’’
‘‘We have been teaching the same way for over 100 years.
‘‘We teach and test things most students have no interest in and will never need.
‘‘The time for examinations is over,’’ he said.
‘‘Forty-six per cent, or 885,000 New Zealand jobs could be lost in the next 20 years.
‘‘This doesn’t mean that new jobs won’t be created. But it does mean that teens will need a whole new set of skills.’’
He said people no longer held a single job in a lifetime.
He said in a ‘‘world of exponential change’’ the future of education needed to accommodate new skills and ideas.
He said the result meant the need for 21st century skills and programmes students gained on programmes like the Young Enterprise Scheme was expanding.
Aberhart was dedicated to the Young Enterprise Scheme because of the skills students gained from the experience, he said.
‘‘YES business students not only gain confidence but disci- pline, motivation, problemsolving, critical thinking and creativity skills.
‘‘It is the development of these skills which makes it so powerful and the reason why I choose to follow ... a true leader in business and education.’’
Aberhart will teach five senior business classes next year at Nelson College.