Education plays a key role in shaping societal norms and we are in the middle of experiencing a cultural shift. No longer is it acceptable for a business to solely be profitable as is the standard neoliberal model, they firstly must be socially and environmentally conscious. In his article (Hoffman 2018) discusses this change in business mentality comparing “enterprise integration” to the newer movement of “market transformation” wherein businesses shape the future, rather than organizations responding to changes. Rhodes (2021) stated that “the price of economic growth has been rising social inequality” and I would argue this applies directly to the education of today’s students through outdated teaching and curriculums. Kudos to CMTN for being an experiential school, but they too fall victim to the “shareholder primacy model” discussed by Rhodes as he directly mentions education being redirected to an export market.

Education systems, run as a business whether privately or publicly funded, must be altered and cater to this movement by nurturing the development of the entrepreneurial and innovative mindset. Through targeted learning environments students could be provided the opportunity to capitalize on recent breakthroughs and trending markets, or at least be given the tools to recognize changes as they occur. It may be difficult for institutions to alter cirrocumulus, but that is the very of nature market transformation. If general educational systems can’t adapt to this day and age, what business do they have instructing students on these matters. Technology moves at an exponential pace and the standardized educational system simply hasn’t been able to keep up. Innovators will always innovate, there is no reason for them to be seen as the fringe of society, and if we as a species care to adapt to the world around us we’ll need all the help we can get, beginning with education.

In the article, Hoffman mentions two important factors, “Enterprise integration is geared toward present-day measures of success; market transformation will help companies create tomorrow’s measures. The first is focused on reducing unsustainability; the second is focused on creating sustainability.” (Hoffman 2018). Later it is discussed that “capitalism is malleable” and that “the responsible business world is running ahead of the politicians”. How can it be that education is seemingly falling behind politicians… it is most certainly time for institutions to step up their game if this is indeed the case. If educational institutions were able to capitalize on the idea of truly shaping the future, students and society at large would benefit at the exponential rate global trends are forcing us to acclimatize to.

My own daughter has begun learning basic computer coding prior to cursive writing, so a little credit must be given. While my nostalgic self reflects on the countless hours dedicated to penmanship, I can’t help but think that my 90’s millennial mind could have contributed much more to driving change through intimate knowledge of computerized and technological innovations than the fancy letters I wrote to my grandmother. To each their own adventure I suppose.

References

Hoffman, A. J. (2018). The Next Phase of Business Sustainability. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 16(2), 35–39. https://doi.org/10.48558/1C0C-0N15

Rhodes, Carl. (2021). Business schools must cast off their capitalist ethos. University of Technology Sydney. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/blog/business-schools-must-cast-their-capitalist-ethos