Zenex presented at the 2018 EMASA conference on preparing learners for the new world of work, and how teachers, schools and districts can help.

1. Preparing for the new generation
and the new world of work
How to plan as school leaders,
teachers and provincial managers?
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2. We’re living in uncertain times
• Volatile
• Uncertain
• Complex
• Ambiguous
• Fourth Industrial
Revolution
• Working world 4.0
• Future jobs aren’t
invented
• Technological
advances
• Generation Z
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3. The World at Work

4. Industrial Revolution

6. Generation Z
Technology natives
– the iGeneration High level of
connectedness –
e.g. social media
Gather and
consume information
differently
Read less, prefer
soundbites
Fast-paced, quick
decision makers
Relationship to
authority and
expert knowledge
is differentCan hold a conversation
and simultaneously scroll
through their phones!

7. By 2025, smart machines will replace 1 in 3 jobs
Jobs that pay less than R200/hour carry the
highest risk of being replaced by automation
… and more than half of all projected jobs lost
to automation will be in five sectors:
• Banking and Financial Services
• Travel, Hospitality and Leisure
• Technology
• Insurance
• Manufacturing

8. Jobs under threat in the future world
of work:
Accountants
Architects
Insurance Brokers and Bankers
Traditional marketers
HR
Travel agents
Lawyers
Taxi drivers
Truck drivers
Factory workers
Machine operators
Secretaries
Jobs for the future:
Technical and Computational thinking
• Data scientists
• Software developers
• Computer systems analysts
Caregiving
• Geriatric caregivers, physios, vets
Social Intelligence and new media
literacy
• Digital marketers
Any industry needs:
• Business acumen and adaptability
• Entrepreneurship
• Independent contractors

9. 9
CHARACTERISTICS AND
TRAITS
• Resilience
• Respect for diversity
• Flexible/adaptable to constant
change
• Operate in various contexts
• Self driven
• Ethical
• Empathy
• Social responsibility
THINKING
• Creative/innovative
• Critical
• Systemic
• Problem-solving
• Meta cognitive
• Analytical
BASIC KNOWLEDGE
• Numeracy
• Literacy
• IT
• Financial literacy
• Scientific
ADVANCED KNOWLEDGE
• Appropriate balance of Scientific
and technological
• Artisan
• Professional
• Social scientist
SKILLS
• Higher order cognitive skills
• Collaboration
Education in the 21st Century

10. South Africa at Work

11. ▪ 25% of the labour force cannot find a job
▪ 65% of unemployed people have been unemployed for more
than a year
▪ 71% of unemployed people are youth aged 15 – 34
▪ 44% of unemployed people have never worked before
▪ 33% of South Africans between the ages of 15 – 24 are not
employed and are not in education or training
▪ 51% of our labour supply have not completed matric

12. South Africa at
School

13. ▪ The Progress in International Reading
Literacy Study assessing children’s reading
comprehension has placed South African
children last in 50 countries
▪ 78% of Grade 4 pupils in SA cannot read for
basic meaning in any national language
▪ Eight out of ten 9-year-olds in South Africa
are functionally illiterate
▪ 27% of pupils in SA who have attended
school for six years cannot read, compared
with 4% in Tanzania and 19% in Zimbabwe
(The Economist)
▪ Learner retention is very poor in the system
and there are high numbers of drop outs

14. Teachers’ ages in SA (2013)

15. o Master the foundations
o Shift from focus on recall
and memory to higher
level thinking and
reasoning
o Incorporate technology
o Incorporate visual
learning
o Encourage:
o Collaboration
o Respect for
diversity
o Empathy
o Socio-emotional learning
given equal weight
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o Promote Critical
Thinking and Problem
Solving
o Teach learners to
access and analyse
information, not to
memorise
o Teach collaboration
and teamwork
o Help learners be agile
and adaptable
o Promote initiative and
entrepreneurship
o Support effective oral
and written
communication
o Ensure the basics are
covered well
o Support principals and
teachers
o Allocate scarce
resources to support
and not to compliance
procedures
o Support collaboration
o Ensure technology is
integrated into schools
o Take away obstacles to
access to technology
o Socio-emotional
support of schools
What can schools and
principals do?
What can teachers do? What can provincial
managers do?
What can we do right now?

16. It is possible…
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21. If the new generation is given adequate
thinking skills and an approach that is
collaborative and able to deal with
complexity, they will be better
prepared for the dynamic and
constantly changing society in which
we find ourselves.
Conclusion