This is exactly what the World Economic Forum revealed that business executives were looking for
in future employees. Their number one response? Complex problem solving. Other skills on their
top ten list included critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and emotional intelligence. Literacy,
numeracy and scientific knowledge will always be essential. Policymakers and stakeholders alike need
to understand that arts and music are vital in promoting, educating and developing our youth to excel
and reach their dreams. President John F. Kennedy reminded us: “I am certain that after the dust of
centuries has passed over our cities, we too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle
or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit.”
In her book, Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities, Martha Nussbaum argues that
arts education, under threat all over the world, must be embraced because it supplies the skills needed
to nurture true democratic citizens. Education must nurture the whole child, and arts are vital in this
endeavor. Nussbaum contends that it is vital for our children to have critical and hands-on engagement
with art, music, and literature, all of which help foster our basic humanity — creativity, critical thinking,
and empathy for others. Cultivating these values, she argues, are the deeper purposes of education.
Seth Godin takes it a step further in Stop Stealing Dreams when he writes: “Have we created a trillion-
dollar, multimillion-student, sixteen-year schooling cycle to take our best and our brightest and snuff
out their dreams—sometimes when they’re so nascent that they haven’t even been articulated? Is
the product of our massive schooling industry an endless legion of assistants? The century of dream-
snuffing has to end. The real shortage we face is dreams, and the wherewithal and the will to make
them come true. We’re facing a significant emergency, one that’s not just economic but cultural as
well. The time to act is right now, and the person to do it is you.”
This generation of educators have to be the ones to restore the dream of our students. It isn’t just
about education reform or public education reimagined. There is a coming education revolution. We
must ensure each child, in every school, in all communities are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and
challenged. This will require the kind of teaching to prepare students to become creative problem
solvers who can take initiative and responsibility. To paraphrase Steven Tyler: When we look in the
mirror. The lines are getting clearer. The past is gone. Dream On.
REAM ON