The Foreign Service Journal, June 2018

82 JUNE 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL EDUCATION SUPPLEMENT tidal waves of globalization and technol- ogy. Students need to be well positioned for how these powerful trends will play out in our economy and society. In the past, conventional thinking sep- arated education and career into either blue-collar or white-collar tracks. This model may be increasingly obsolete. In the future, the more appropriate model may be a trichotomy: jobs that can exist solely on the internet, those that require a physical presence and those blending both. (To quote Princeton economist Alan Blinder: One “can’t hammer a nail through the internet.”) At any rate, students need instruction beyond what the curriculum of either academic or vocational education offers. Solid character, interpersonal skills, spiri- tual wisdom and community involvement complete the package in the young adult on the road to personal and professional fulfillment. Versatile communication skills com- binedwith app savvymake for the ability to engage comfortably with others face-to- face, as well as online. Perhaps it is a healthy combination of both thinking and doing that constitutes amore complete education. Why not merge together a keen understanding of the significance and context of work and valued technical skills? Such a blend can build confidence in the student so that he or she feels well prepared to contribute meaningfully in the modern world. Consider the following words by John WilliamGardner, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Lyndon Johnson: “The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.” n