Stop training kids for a one-job career

Education was built for a world of specialists, lifelong jobs, and four-year degrees. This world no longer exists.

“To career” means “to move at a fast, reckless, or uncontrolled speed, similar to the original meaning of a horse’s gallop.” That’s about right. It should be clear by now that for many (if not most) people, the idea of a single, lifelong career is a relic of the past—something you’d expect to learn about on a tasteful Ken Burns PBS miniseries filled with black-and-white photographs of men in bowler hats. The question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” assumes that life can be neatly preordained. The audacity. So let’s bury that idea with a stake through its heart and move on, shall we?