Disruption
Mr Geoff Lancaster | Principal | Grammar News | 10 June 2022
Disruption is a term used to describe the changes taking place in many businesses, often caused by new technology. We are all familiar with companies like AirBNB, Facebook, Netflix, Amazon, Alibaba, Uber and Instagram. These companies have quickly become leaders in their respective industries due to new and innovative ways to meet the needs of our global population. They have caused major disruption to traditional business models and changed the way that people work. Other disruptions include the impact of artificial intelligence and augmented reality (for example in driverless cars and drones) and the changes taking place in agriculture, mining, energy production and the list goes on.
As a school, we recognise the need to provide students with opportunities to challenge their perceptions of the future workplace and to develop the skills that will help to prepare them well for an uncertain future. Over the last 7 years, the Foundation for Young Australians has published a number of reports showing how the world of work is changing for our students leaving school. The synopsis of the New Work Order reads: “The New Work Order shows that young people are facing the most significant disruption in the world of work since the industrial revolution. Economic changes are transforming work through automation, globalisation and more flexible work.” More recently, FYA has published a report, The New Work Smarts, which highlights the skills that lead to success in the changing world of work, identifying Foundational skills, Technical skills and Enterprise skills. Enterprise skills are transferable skills such as problem solving, communication, teamwork, and creativity.
As we continue our Strategic Planning process we are digging into some of the actions we need to take as a school to ensure we are meeting this need for our graduates. Over the next two weeks there will be several opportunities for parents to participate in focus groups to assist in our Strategic Planning.
Today in our Senior School, Mr Liddell (Head of Learning & Innovation) kicked off a new club called “Side Hustle” with a focus on supporting our young entrepreneurs, some of whom are already running businesses outside of school. The first session was led by one of our students in Year 11 who runs a micro-bakery! This is one new initiative we hope opens our students’ eyes to a changing workplace and less traditional, but now quite commonplace, career pathways.