洞见未来

　　The scholars differ about the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution on the future of work and the future shape of the labor market, but all agree that changes are happening and that the pace of change will only increase.Some scholars estimate that as many as 40 percent of current jobs will be replaced by computers in 10 to 15 years. No one doubts that the students currently at Fudan University and the University of Sydney will need to be ready for several career changes during their lives. These changes will require changes of whole careers, not just ofjobs or roles. Much attention has been focused on the role of university research. I think it's also important not only to think about research and the Fourth Industrial Revolution, but also the role of the university as the center of education.It's in that area of the role of the university as the center of education,as the places in which these future leaders that will help us navigate the uncertainties of the current time are produced, that we need to think.The technological revolutions of the past have mostly left the roles for which university education is required untouched, but not so of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The work of lawyers, of accountants, of doctors,of many professionals will be radically changed. As a recent report by the Reuters put it, today being educated increasingly means having attitudes and behaviors that enable one to a'dapt quickly to changed circumstances.China'a President Xi made a similar point earlier this week when he spoke of the need for resilience. The question facing all universities is how we produce graduates who are going to be the people telling the machines what to do, and not just people whose jobs are replaced by the machines.And I think for every university, it requires essentially two areas of self examination and reform, areas that we've been giving considerable attention to at the University of Sydney. I'Il use my own university as a case study. In addition, the changing face of technology poses important questions for education policy-makers, one of which I'd like to touch on briefiy at the conclusion of my remarks.　　First, there's no doubt that universities have to closely examine both our undergraduate curricular and the extracurricular experience that we offer, to determine how future-proof they may be. The University of Sydney has just massively reformed our undergraduate curriculum, with the Fourth Industrial Revolution in mind, a process that involved extensive international consultation with experts, with employers throughout the region, with students and with our community more generally. We began with a blank sheet of paper, by asking exactly what personal and intellectual qualities a student will need in order to have the adaptability to respond to the rapidly changing world of work. We have designed a new undergraduate curriculum intended to live up to these core attributes.As a result, all our undergraduate degrees are now marked by three key features. The first is a balance between deep disciplinary expertise and interdisciplinary effectiveness. In English-speaking world, models of undergraduate education are being spread on the spectrum between the poles of the English model with its single area of focus and the very broad American undergraduate liberal arts education. Having taught in those systems, I can say with some confidence that a traditional English undergraduate education teaches you everything about almost nothing,and a traditional American undergraduate education teaches you nothing about almost everything. But it's generally agreed that the education that can survive the Fourth Industrial Revolution must be T-shaped. It must both be broad and genuinely deep in a particular disciplinary area. Depth is required because it's been repeatedly demonstrated to be the most effective way of teaching critical thinking skills that will be essential to the adaption to change, and also effective skills in written and oral communication. Still students need to acquire a habit of mind that pushes beyond the superficial, into the complexities of a given issue or given area oflearning. But the questions of the modern world, questions such as how to deal with climate change, with global shifts in the political balance of power, in inequality and alike, are essentially multi-disciplinary in their formation. The key to an effective graduate career is the ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams, and to learn quickly the language and intellectual framing of disciplines that are not one's own.