Recently there was a public voting for Barbies next career. I didn’t grow up with that kind of toys, but obviously there are editions showing the Barbie doll in different professional roles. Today Mattel (the Barbie producer company) announced Barbies next two careers. There were four options: environmentalist, surgeon, news anchor and computer engineer. They did two surveys, one among girls and another public voting. While the girls have choosen news anchor as the preferred profession for their dolls, the public clearly voted for computer engineer. I must admit, I also did my best. Now we should be prepared for a new generation of girls, who know they can do it. I was impressed to read in the factsheet that they actually asked IT professionals what a computer engineer might wear. Although I personally disagree with the choosen colours and the pants, I think it’s a nice thing if girls around the world ask their teachers and parents about the meaning of that numbers on her shirt.
Last weekend I had the privilege of attending a 3 day conference in Bregenz on modern forms of education “Greenhouses of the future“. My two older daughters now attend school, my wife hast just started working as a teacher. The more I learn about education the more I am struck by paradox: All experts agree on how children should be taught: Each child individually according to his or her level of proficiency in a given subject. Yet what we see in schools all over the world is a far cry from that: 30 children of roughly the same age all being fed the same lesson at the same time by one teacher. >> more…