Is the traditional school system enough for your child to excel after graduation? It doesn’t look like it. While companies and universities are changing their priorities in who they hire, schools should also change how they teach.
When I was a kid growing up, I remember being in class (usually math, which I loathed) and always asking the teacher what relevance the topic had to real life. They always seemed to be a bit stumped by the question and couldn’t place the applicability of basic trigonometry to my future life – in which I had no interest in becoming a scientist or mathematician. The answer was usually something like, “Lots of things, but it’s required material and will be on the exam,” as they moved on to another topic quickly.
It always frustrated me – learning something that I didn’t care about and for what seemed to be no reason at all, except for the teacher to get a good review or for the state to get better education funding if test scores were positive (being from the US). However, the world of education is adapting and kids today hopefully are not receiving the same ‘blah’ answer that I was given 15 years ago, particularly in the international school system where kids are being taught skills that directly relate to life after school. Now don’t get me wrong, students are still learning math, but they are doing it in a different way.
“There are kids who get anxious from not being connected [electronically] and it is certainly a problem”
While these basic skills are still necessary in education, they alone are not enough. The ability to apply knowledge and go past the core curriculum isn’t a new topic and was actually introduced back in the 1960s. However, it really didn’t start to catch on until the 90s and has now become a hot topic among educators and parents all over the world. This skill set is commonly known as ‘21st Century Skills.’
What are they?
Twenty-first Century Skills are higher-order competencies that prepare students for success in the changing employment market and the transition into a whole new digital age.
Globalization has changed our reality, and with technological innovation, a different set of skills are necessary than those of the baby boomer generation and Generation X. Gone are the days where trades and vocations were highly sought after or where companies hire employees in their 20s and expect them to still be with the company in their 50s. Millennials are utilizing different proficiencies and are rearranging their priorities.
A recent article in Forbes explains that Millennials will stop at nothing to pursue their career aspirations; they want to move up and do it quickly, even if that means switching companies often. They possess a strong entrepreneurial mindset, which allows them to be more creative and stronger problem solvers. This new era and way of working embraces more diverse and cultural interactions. Millennials also demand more from their companies in terms of a work-life balance, which is often misperceived as laziness. In actuality, this generation believes more in the quality of output rather than counting the hours spent doing a project.
So how does this equate to what is learned in the classroom? The 21st Century Skills philosophy is meant to set up students to excel in this new type of work environment beyond graduation. This new competitive environment requires students to not only be technologically savvy, but also creative, flexible, culturally sensitive and critical thinkers.
“Globalization has changed our reality, and with technological innovation, a different set of skills are necessary than those of the baby boomer generation and Generation X”
The purpose is to step outside of the box of the standard core curriculum that is based in most countries and challenge teachers to employ tactics to teach skills that are associated with deeper learning and applicable in real-life. These students need to be more than just leaders to excel in this new work age; they need to be trailblazers.
The Digital Age
As you’ve probably already noticed, your 5-year-old might be much more skilled at using an iPad than you are, and could probably teach you a thing or two on your phone as well. I’m still amazed every time I watch my 8-year-old nephew seamlessly flick through applications, transitioning from one to another like a total pro. The ease at which kids are using technology today is ultimately different than generations past. It is a telltale sign of how critical it will be in their daily lives in the decades to come.
While technology in general is certainly part of the 21st Century Skills learning, it is specifically information and media literacy, as well as information and communications technology literacy that are the key elements. Christopher Kalff is the primary ICT coordinator at Nord Anglia International School Pudong – it’s his job to assess what technology works and doesn’t work in the classroom, essentially aiding teachers to make the best use of technology.
In his opinion, media literacy is a crucial aspect of technology that students must learn. He explains, “When we were in school we were expected to learn a certain amount of background information, but it is almost impossible now because there is so much to learn. I remember when I did a research report growing up I used an encyclopedia – one book – and now there is just so much out there. I think accessing information is an incredibly important skill. It’s not [a skill] that comes quickly, it takes a while [to find and identify credible sources]. Helping students sift through this mass amount of [virtual] knowledge is a big task.”
While technology is essential to the learning process, he believes that it shouldn’t take priority over the content of the course. “What it should be doing is enhancing the experience in the classroom. I teach English literacy and math, and what I do is to bring technology in and collaborate with them. I believe in a paperless classroom, so my students use apps on their iPad instead of printing out worksheets,” Kalff says.
But he doesn’t seem to be concerned that kids who aren’t technology driven will fall behind, given that kids are so immersed in it naturally these days. Most kids have some form of application tool that they are able to use. Even if you don’t directly study how to make or use technology you can still be up-to-date and they can learn it intuitively.
However, for those who do pursue technological studies at a young age, their futures are looking pretty bright as schools and employers seek out young minds who already have an advantage this field. Those who develop basic software in high school are targeted by companies that create apps or even video games. Kids who are coding drones are sought out by the military. “In our time if you didn’t have a degree, it was hard to get a job. But these children, with what they’re graduating with, could literally walk into some jobs and be on a level playing field with the rest. I know a kid who graduated high school and wasn’t really too sure what he wanted to do, but was very good with social networking apps and was snatched by an event organizer because of his skills.”
While technology is certainly critical to this way of learning, it can also be seen as a hindrance to other areas of growth, such as face-to-face communication. Kalff expresses his concern: “Where this really comes into play is outside of school, when kids are on their own. Families and parents have busy lifestyles, so a lot of times kids are at home with their phones. In the long run, it will stop them from communicating organically. They need to be pulled away from that and have normal conversations. There are kids who get anxious from not being connected [electronically] and it is certainly a problem.”
Technology is a key component of 21st Century Skills, not just knowing the how to create technology, but to understand and utilize it properly, but there must be a balance between a child’s virtual world and real life. Teaching kids when and where to use technology is also an important lesson to learn in order to assist them in having better interpersonal communication skills.
Measuring the Immeasurable
While technology plays an essential role in 21st Century Skills, it is not the only area that students these days need to master. Often overlooked, learning and innovation skills and career and life skills are absolutely critical to the new learning process in today’s society.
This is the area of learning where teachers are forced to go past the core curriculum of schools and adapt the knowledge and learning techniques to apply to real world scenarios. Critical thinking, problem solving, adaptability and initiative are just some of the abilities that will help students prepare for life after school. These skills will help equip them for making judgments in situations that may have social, economic or even environmental implications.
While these are indispensable elements of learning, they aren’t necessarily easy to teach. Jonathan Evans, year 10-11 coordinator at YCIS, gives some insight: “These real-life skills are developed through the nature of the projects and tasks that kids are given. When it comes to notions of flexibility and accountability, for example, that’s where their problem solving techniques and skills surrounding the importance of meeting deadlines get developed. It’s not something that you write down in the curriculum; it doesn’t work like that. It is inherent in the day-to-day work that students have to do. Providing students with the opportunity to engage with things that are relevant and real is very important.”
While international schools in Shanghai and private schools elsewhere have an extreme advantage in funding and quality of staff, the challenge for other schools comes with finding teachers who are experienced and willing to engage with students beyond the core curriculum. Twenty-first Century Skills proponents advocate for student-centered methods of teaching, including problem- and project-based learning, which allows students to collaborate on coming up with plans and solutions in creative ways. Teachers just have to be creative and determined to teach these skills that can’t be found in a textbook.
“These students need to be more than just leaders to excel in this new work age; they need to be trailblazers”
Furthermore is the problem of testing these skills once schools have made it a priority to incorporate them into the classroom. Evans explains, “I don’t know if testing will reveal the outcomes of these skills. Oftentimes, the outcomes are observable, but they aren’t necessarily something that can be put down on paper. In terms of awareness of how students are developing these skills, that’s something that has to be seen and urged over time. It’s not something that can be seen in one short testing event. Perhaps, in terms of tests like PISA and others, they are good at getting a snapshot of the core competencies, but when it comes to the notion of 21st Century Skills, I don’t know if you can get a sense of how a kid is collaborating through an online test.”
And Kalff agrees with him, even on the technological front: “I don’t think this is testable. Understanding technology comes through learning. You can show a student to a certain point how to use a device, but the most important part comes from the student trying it out for themselves… I think testing this ability is quite difficult.”
If one thing is for certain, it’s that these new age skills are difficult, if not impossible to measure. While schools strive to teach these convoluted techniques, it is difficult to know for sure if these students are ready for their future.
Getting Career Ready
Nonetheless, universities and companies are on the hunt for young individuals who are ticking all the unconventional boxes.
A recent article in Forbes investigated the mystery of what employers are now looking for. After interviewing more than 100 of the world’s top CEOs, HR managers and recruiters, it was obvious that employees with soft skills are extremely valuable. While technical skills are important, it’s collaboration, leadership and communication skills that ranked as the top. Emőke Starr, Head of HR at Prezi (a visual storytelling software) explained, “We look for candidates with a solid foundation of soft skills and trust so that the rest can be built upon it.”
Companies like EY (formerly Ernst & Young) are undergoing a new hiring stream in which their goal is to hire 9,000 millennials in 2017 alone (out of 15,000 new recruits). Why? Not only because of their skills, but because they are an investment in the company’s future. The baby boomer generation is starting to retire and soon there will be a large gap in employment. The hope is to invest in young workers, making it even more competitive for the millennial generation. Dan Black, leading recruiter for EY Americas, explained that they strategically target millenials from 200 universities that place an emphasis on diversity, progressive thinking and worldly programs.
Even traditional companies that your parents’ generation grew up knowing so well are adapting their strategies of hiring. GE is no longer comprised of the hierarchical structure it once had, and instead, its organizational chart is now much more flat. They are no longer searching for the traditional ‘qualified’ talent, but are now seeking individuals who collaborate well with others, are risk takers and are comfortable working digitally. GE is spending USD1billion per year on training new and fresh talent, always prioritizing a candidate’s ability to be creative, efficient and motivated over textbook skills.
So where do we go from here? It’s evident that kids today are going to have an even more competitive experience in the workplace compared to previous generations. The best thing we can do for them is to give them a head start in the way they think, analyze problems and interact with technology. It’s certainly worth questioning the traditional route of education –attending school and spending these years regurgitating information, followed by stressing over examinations and attending university. While there’s no way of telling for sure that they will succeed, the least we can do is give them a stepping stone and plenty of room to grow.
