Skills of the independently employed

Thanks to a blog post by Will Richardson, I read Time Magazine's mid-May online articles in The Way We'll Work - the Future of Work. As Will observed, one of the startling numbers is:

(by 2019) 40% of the U.S. workforce ... will rent out its skills. ...

As a part-time "rent-a-speaker/consultant" myself, I started thinking about the special skill sets these independently employed workers need - and how schools might help develop them. Here are some that come to mind:

• Time management
• Bookkeeping skills/money management/financial planning
• Continuous self-reeducation
• Marketing/knowing one's skill values
• Self-evaluation
• Forming peer groups/support systems/personal learning networks
• Balancing work/life pursuits

These skills may not come naturally to many of us educators who are accustomed to having a supervisor, working set hours/days, receiving a regular paycheck and bennies, working with peers in real time, and getting regular evaluations. And it is why, as difficult as may be to get our heads around them, the "dispositions" section of the current AASL Standard for the 21st Century Learner may be its most important part.

As the article warns,

No one is going to pay you just to show up.

And I would add, or do what a machine can do or another person more cheaply, effectively or efficiently.

Think about it. It's my grandsons you're educating out there!

Image from <http://www.coolfunnyshirts.com/Work.html>