What does it actually mean to prepare our kids for the future when we don't even know what that future will look like?
For years, parents have been given a familiar formula: get good grades, go to college, get an internship, build a résumé, and find a good job. But as technology, AI, and the world of work continue to change, are those still the best ways to think about preparing young people for adulthood?
In this episode of “The Parenting Pair | Teens & Tweens” podcast, Dr. Annalise Caron and Dr. Suzanne Allen welcome Jeanine Collins, Co-Founder and Chief Impact Officer of the Center for the Future of Learning, to explore what young people actually need to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Jeanine has worked in education as a teacher and systems leader and helped lead the development of the Portrait of a Nevada Learner, a statewide effort designed to identify the mindsets and skills young people need to build a meaningful life, contribute to their communities, and navigate an uncertain future.
Rather than focusing only on what kids need to know, this conversation asks a bigger question: What do young people need to be able to do, understand about themselves and the world, and practice so they can adapt to whatever comes next?
In this conversation, we explore:
- Why the traditional formula of good grades, college, internships, and a stable career feels less certain than it once did
- What the Portrait of a Nevada Learner is and how it was created with input from young people, families, educators, and community members
- The durable skills that can help young people navigate a changing world, including communication, collaboration, resilience, agency, critical thinking, and creative thinking
- Why these skills matter not only for employment, but for building a good life, meaningful relationships, and a strong sense of self
- The four questions at the heart of the Portrait of a Nevada Learner: How will I grow in my learning? How will I build and sustain relationships and community? How will I contribute to make an impact? And how will I thrive?
- How parents can help children recognize the skills they are already developing in everyday life
- How ordinary family experiences—from planning a meal to navigating disagreement—can become opportunities to practice problem-solving, collaboration, agency, and communication
- Why giving children and teenagers more voice, choice, and agency can change how they experience learning
- The difference between simply completing schoolwork and helping young people understand why their learning matters
- Why meaningful, real-world work can create greater motivation and engagement for young people
- What happens when young people begin to see themselves as someone who can face challenges, ask for help, persist, or recognize when something isn't right for them
- How academic subjects can become more meaningful when young people can connect what they are learning to bigger questions and real-world experiences
- What AI and other technologies mean for the future of education—and why technology makes uniquely human skills even more important
- Why AI should not replace the human processes of learning, feedback, collaboration, reflection, and developing ideas
- How educators can use AI while still giving students opportunities to think, create, struggle, revise, and develop their own abilities
- Why young people want to do work that feels real, meaningful, and connected to something beyond a grade
- How parents and educators can cultivate a more hopeful view of today's young people instead of focusing only on the challenges they face
- The importance of "seeing what you look for" when it comes to understanding children's and teenagers' capabilities
In this episode:
00:00 — Preparing Kids for an Uncertain Future
01:33 — Meet Jeanine Collins
03:42 — What Is a Portrait of a Learner?
06:31 — The Skills Kids and Teens Need for the Future
09:04 — What Does a “Good Life” Look Like?
11:45 — Four Questions Every Learner Can Ask
15:00 — Helping Kids, Tweens and Teens Recognize Their Strengths
17:30 — Teaching Collaboration as a Skill
20:02 — Learning to Learn, Unlearn & Relearn
22:06 — Rethinking the Purpose of School
27:01 — Why Agency and Relevance Matter
31:28 — What AI Changes About Learning
33:02 — Why Human Skills Matter More Than Ever
35:20 — Give Kids and Teenagers Work That Matters
39:17 — Suzanne’s Secret About Jeanine
41:15 — What Now: You See What You Look For
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Portrait of a Nevada Learner
The Portrait of a Nevada Learner is a statewide vision for the mindsets and skills that help young people apply academic knowledge in meaningful ways. It was developed through collaboration among Nevada educators, learners, families, businesses, & community members.
Portrait of a Nevada Learner
Nevada Future of Learning Network
The Nevada Future of Learning Network brings together educators, students, parents, & community partners to support learner-centered, competency-based education.
Nevada Future of Learning Network
Portrait Process & Community Research
The Portrait was shaped through statewide surveys, interviews, conversations & collaboration with Nevadans about the mindsets & skills young people need to navigate the future.
Portrait Process — Nevada Future of Learning
ABOUT JEANINE COLLINS
Jeanine Collins is Co-Founder and Chief Impact Officer of the Center for the Future of Learning, a Nevada-based organization focused on building the future of learning with young people, educators, and communities. A former educator, Jeanine has worked at the intersection of education, policy, and community engagement. She helped lead the community co-design process behind the Portrait of a Nevada Learner and has been involved in the development of the Nevada Future of Learning Network.
What do you think your child or teenager will need most to thrive in the future?
And what skills do you already see them developing that may not show up on a report card?
Share this episode with another parent, educator, teacher, or school community who is thinking about how we prepare young people for what's next.
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parenting teens and tweens, preparing kids for the future, AI and the future of education, life skills for teens, skills kids need for the future, preparing teenagers for future careers, raising resilient kids, helping teens become independent, motivating teenagers to learn, critical thinking and problem-solving, AI a...
