Is K-12 education preparing kids for the workforce? (with The Fabulous Learning Nerds)

The whole point of school is to prepare kids for adult life, but many people worry we aren’t giving kids what they need.

Whether kids go right into the workforce after high school or plan to attend college or trade school, they need certain skills to succeed at work. 

That’s why I wanted to have a discussion about the ins and outs of employee training and onboarding with experts in the learning and development field. 

In episode 133, I invited Scott Schuette, Zeta Gardner, and Daniel Coonrod from the Fabulous Learning Nerds podcast for a panel discussion on adult learning and employee training. 

Zeta Gardner is an illustrator and instructional designer. With over a decade of experience bringing client's ideas to life, her focus on design gives her an ability to create engaging and visually pleasing learning experiences.  She believes learning is a lifelong journey and aspires to be part of creating those journeys for others. 

Daniel Coonrod is a training strategist and instructional design manager who focuses on building great teams and creating effective training materials that drive business success. Daniel excels at using technology to solve traditionally difficult problems, and has a track record of great results.

Scott Schuette is a learning and development executive with years of experience creating education programs for major corporate enterprise companies. He’s focused on building and empowering diverse cross-functional teams, creating comprehensive training strategies, and improving operations to increase revenue growth, productivity, and employee success.

In this conversation, we discuss:

✅What is adult learning theory? Is it different from the way we approach learning in K-12 education?

✅How do good employee training programs look, and how do companies teach their employees on-the-job skills?

✅What skill gaps may be present in new employees, and what are some skills K-12 staff can teach kids to prepare them for their first job?

✅Defining terms like “competency” vs “mastery” and why this distinction is important to continuous adult learning.

You can listen to the Fabulous Learning Nerds Podcast here: https://www.thelearningnerds.com/ where you can learn more about where to connect with Zeta, Daniel, and Scott. You can connect with them on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/LearningNerds/

You can listen to my guest appearance on the Fabulous Learning Nerds podcast, where we talk about professional development in K-12 education here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-75-professional-development-in-k12-featuring/id1555562692?i=1000619621947

Be sure to check out the BE podcast network for educators and aspiring leaders. If you’re looking for shows to inspire you to level up in your career or more effectively serve students, we’ve got you covered. Learn more about the BE podcast network at http://bepodcastnetwork.com/

In this episode, I mentioned the School of Clinical Leadership, my program that helps pediatric therapists and educators learn strategies for supporting executive functioning and deliver them in a model that supports generalization. Learn more about the program here: https://drkarendudekbrannan.com/clinicalleadership 

We’re thrilled to be sponsored by IXL. 

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