Problem-solving, creative solutions necessary skills
Published on: Sunday, January 03, 2021
By: Heath Kondro
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Credit: elearningindustry.com
However, certain aspects of a good edu-cation hold true in spite of the pandemic, such as high-quality educators, a modern and evolving curriculum, and preparing students with 21st-century skills that go far beyond content. As an educator, I still have a significant number of parents who ask, “What do you mean by 21st-century skills?”
And once they understand that these include communication skills, creativity and perseverance, they generally agree on the importance of these elements as part of a high-quality education.
Canadian education reform has included communication, inquiry and other criteria, in addition to subject knowledge and content, as the pillars of assessment for well over a decade now.
As an educator, I have always told par-ents and students that an individual’s effectiveness and success is not only about them being knowledgeable in their field but also being able to effectively communicate that knowledge with others.
If a student is to learn how to communicate with peers or with a large group, where other than school can this be done? Likely not at home or during tuition. And it is not enough for a student to present and communicate content within a classroom, but he should be assessed, graded and provided feedback for such presentations and elements of communication; without these factors, communication skills are not truly meaningful and students have little incentive to focus and improve.
This emphasis of communication is not limited to in-class presentations,but is equally,if not more important, for collaboration and teamwork.
Students need to be in a system or school that requires multiple forms of communication as part of their assessment.
Employers no longer need only dutiful, dedicated and knowledgeable employees, but they are increasingly looking for problem-solvers and those who will look for creative solutions to issues.
We have computers and other machines that can do the monotonous and repetitive tasks, but the value of human thought and creativity is where the background of one’s education (in the broader sense and not simply content) can truly serve as an advantage.
An education should not teach students to only look for the exact same steps to arrive at the same conclusion or answer. Instead, an education should genuinely inspire and encourage creative solutions to issues and problems.
In the 21st century, employers want cre-ative solutions to problems from those who will “think outside the box”.
A third trait of a progressive 21st-century education is that of perseverance. Too often, we see students entering international schools and are scared to ask questions or make mistakes. No one enjoys finding out that they are
wrong, but there is a bigger issue here and it is one where not only should students be encouraged to be creative but they should be in a school where they learn that being resilient is a positive trait that will take them far in life.
We all know the cliché that “we learn from our mistakes” and that is completely true, but the unspoken follow up to this is that students should not stop at the mistake, but should persevere past the mistake and continue to work towards resolution.
This is where outdated education systems fail to support students, with exams that only look for content; in spite of a student’s hard work, there is no incentive for trying over and over until arriving at a resolution or answer.
Those educational systems that reward different approaches and multiple efforts teach students something much greater than simple content and I would venture to say that prospective employers are looking for the individual who is creative and resilient and does not give up.
While we cannot overlook the importance of students learning content in their education, we now find ourselves at a time where schools should be responsible for educating students in various areas that are outside the traditional content perspective.
There must be a balance and combination between content and skills for any student wishing to be successful in the world today and the choice of school and its curricular expectations are an incredibly important decision for any family.
- Heath is the Principal of Sunway International School. This appeared in the Edge.
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