Re-orientating education for the changing world of work: Implications for teachers and the education of teachers

The Asia-Pacific region is categorized by huge diversity in size many other aspects; it is also a region that is undergoing profound change due to the impacts of mega-trends such as globalisation, a move from the industrial age to the information age, and opportunities and challenges created by the new and innovative information and communication technologies. An area of special importance concerns the changing world of work, and the need to reconsider how to best prepare young people and adults to develop the essential knowledge, skills and understandings necessary to achieve fruitfullness in work. In the light of changes in the world of work, teachers need to be better equipped to educate learners to be able to accommodate changing employment requirements; at the same time it is also necessary for teacher educators to acquire updated skills so they are fit and capable to transfer knowledge, skills and values to teachers, which are necessary elements in coping with the challenging demands associated with changes in the workplace.