Schoolwide News

The future used to arrive gradually. Now, thanks to artificial intelligence, it’s crashing into classrooms and offices at full speed.  Just a few years ago, many of us hadn’t even heard of AI. Today it’s everywhere—used daily in classrooms and offices alike.  Although ubiquitous, AI is still new, and we don't know exactly how it will shape our world.  While we can’t predict the jobs of the future with any certainty, we can teach students to think critically, adapt quickly, and solve problems creatively – skills that will prepare them for any future.  

At the AMISA educators conference last week, AI was the star of the show. Workshop leaders offered practical tools and strategies, but left a bigger question unanswered: how do we prepare kids for a future we can’t predict?

So I turned to ChatGPT’s Monday – a version of AI that specializes in dry humor and brutal honesty – to answer this question. I asked her how we should prepare kids for an unknown future. She said, “Teach kids how to be adaptable humans with brains, hearts, and backbones. Not just test scores with limbs.” I smiled at my computer, because this is exactly what I've been trying to do!  

Monday went on to tell me that jobs won't disappear, they'll evolve, and humans need to adapt. Since we don't know what these changes will look like specifically, we need to teach our kids to be resilient and flexible. Adaptability will be the essential skill of the future.  

The curricula we teach students have changed a lot over the years, especially in response to the influx of technology. We no longer teach students how to use a slide rule or the tables of square roots and sine functions because they can use a calculator. No doubt, the curricula of the future will adapt to today’s rapidly evolving technology. 

Preparing kids for an unknown future isn’t guesswork, it’s about building the right skillset.  How do we know what's in this skillset? The World Economic Forum published a list of core skills for the workforce in their Future of Jobs Report 2025. Their top five aren’t testable on a multiple-choice exam, but they’re exactly what AI can’t do:

1. Analytical thinking – seeing patterns, solving complex problems.
2. Resilience and agility – adapting when the world shifts gears.
3. Leadership and social influence – rallying people, not just data.
4. Creative thinking – imagining what doesn’t exist yet.
5. Motivation and self-awareness – staying grounded and growing.

So, what does this mean for the classrooms of today and tomorrow? We need to shift from content-focused teaching to skill-driven learning. While the content will be there, it will be the base from which we teach students skills that help them respond thoughtfully, adapt quickly, and solve real-world problems. We don’t know what tomorrow’s jobs will be, but if we teach the right skills today, our kids won’t just be ready – they’ll be the ones reinventing what work looks like.