This week, Vince had the honor to present at the annual SXSWedu Festival and Conference in Austin, TX. The conference was a tremendous success, bringing together thousands of educators, post-secondary leaders, policymakers, business and community leaders, technologists, and journalists to discuss current and future issues and ideas in education.
On Tuesday, March 4, Vince co-presented with Caroline Hendrie, Executive Director of the Education Writers Association, on a panel titled: “Teaching American Values: Innovation and Creativity.” In an interview-style format, Ms. Hendrie asked Vince questions about the skills gap, why students are unengaged in American classrooms, and what we can do to solve critical issues.
One of Vince’s most powerful moments came when asked how schools can implement programs like PLTW that show students the relevancy of their work and teach them creative thinking, problem solving, and collaboration skills that will set them up to be successful in the global economy.
“We make a lot of excuses in this country,” Vince replied. “It’s too easy to say, ‘We don’t have funding.’ We have funding for whatever we believe is important. We will pay for what we value. I don’t know a superintendent who has dropped the district’s football program. I’m not suggesting they should. What I’m saying is that if we believe these [STEM] experiences are important for our children, we will find a way to get it done. It’s critical for our students today, it’s critical for our students’ future, and it’s critical for our country.”
View other highlights from Vince’s panel by checking out the #PLTWatSXSW hashtag on Twitter and our SXSWedu photo album on Facebook. And as always, stay up to date with Vince’s travels by following him on Twitter at @vincebertram.