Hybrid Skills Are the Future?

These articles and others were actually written in response to a study developed by Burning Glass Technologies called "Hybrid Jobs - The Hybrid Job Economy: How New Skills are Rewriting the DNA of the Job Market."

What do studies and news features like this say to parents and educators? They remind us that we are to form students for their future not for ours. These reports explain that the future work places call for "renaissance people" -- people who are versatile and well-rounded, people who are knowledgeable, and educated, people who demonstrate proficiency in a wide range of fields people who might excel as did Leonardo da Vinci. 

This position sounds reasonable. For those of us involved in Sacred Heart education we know that Leonardo’s genius is rooted in his profound sense of Mystery. His search for truth fused both his faith and his intellect, his creativity and his desire to understand. The notion of hybrid skills reinforces our conviction that intellectual training must be a means of developing virtues and habits that support one’s desire and capacity have much to do with the ability to live a fully human life. We parents and educators form a partnership on behalf of young people. Together we need to consider constantly what the future might hold and how best to prepare the young to be effective decision makers, and even more important human beings who act with compassion from the perspective of integrity. We know that the decisions made by these young people will inform the quality of the future.