The best skills student can learn for their future may sound somewhat ambiguous and not necessarily particular, but I must tell you that the skills that shall be highlighted here are those that will help you achieve whatever dream or goal you have envisioned for tomorrow.
Skills that were once essential to jobs have become automatable, creating a space where people must develop new professional skills to stay valuable.
While you might think that your job isn’t at stake, automation has found its way into nearly every industry across businesses. Nearly 47% of jobs in the US could be replaced with smart machines and automation in the coming years.
There are two major trends in the world that pose a fundamental challenge – and many opportunities – to our educational system. One is the world is shifting from an industrial economy to a knowledge economy. The other is the rising generation – brought up on the Internet – is very differently motivated to learn.
It is pointed out that in today’s digital age, the Net Generation is, among other things, accustomed to instant gratification and use of the web for extending friendships, interest-driven, self-directed learning; and are constantly connected, creating, and multitasking in a multimedia world – everywhere except in school.
In order to motivate and teach this generation, the school system must be reinvented to be accountable for what matters most. That means to do the work – teaching, learning, and assessing – in new ways.
The most possible skills which students may utilize in the business of effectively insuring their present into the future are simply not more than the following skill-set:
- Critical thinking and problem-solving
- Collaboration across networks and leading by influence
- Agility and adaptability
- Initiative and entrepreneurialism
- Effective oral and written communication
- Accessing and analyzing information
- Curiosity and imagination
The Best Skills Student Can Learn for their Future
Although it is important for our students to learn a core set of knowledge, we are not helping them develop these skills by simply requiring them to regurgitate facts in an attempt to earn grades for a course but also to introduce them to the best skills student can learn for their future and thus make it beautiful as imagined:
Adaptive Thinking
In the digital age, things are changing at exponential rates. By the time employees learn the newest software or program, a better version is coming about. Future employers will need to continuously adapt to changing conditions as well as be able to learn new things quickly and efficiently. We need our students to learn how to learn.
Communication Skills
There continues to be an emphasis on the ability to communicate. In the digital age, however, we have access to a wide variety of new ways to communicate from video-conferencing to social media. Future employers need to be able to communicate with people within their team, as well as people outside of the team and organization.
Collaboration Skills
Most classrooms foster a culture of competition and independence rather than one of teamwork and collaboration. Future employers will need to quickly adapt to a culture of collaboration. They will need to collaborate with others within and outside of the organization, often using a number of new technologies.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills
There is a decreased emphasis on employers following directions and an increased emphasis on employers thinking critically and solving problems. In a rapidly changing world, employers need employees who can solve problems, provide ideas and help improve the organization.
Read Also: Top 7 Soft Skills to Learn for Advanced Career
Personal Management
This includes the ability for employers to independently plan, organize, create and execute, rather than wait for someone to do this for them.
Inquiry Skills
The large majority of academic assessments ask students for answers. Rarely do we assess students on how well they can ask questions. The ability to ask great questions, however, is a critical skill that is desperately needed in a culture which requires constant innovations.
Technology Skills
Almost every business that I talked to said that employers will need to be skilled at using technology. In the digital age, technology is everywhere. Schools, however, have been slow to adapt to this change. Rarely are students required or taught to learn technology efficiently. This needs to be emphasized.
Creativity and Innovation
This skill is mentioned often. I believe that it correlates with the ability to ask good questions and the ability to problem solve. Employers will be looking to employees more and more for creative and innovative solutions to issues that exist.
Soft Skills
Schools rarely spend time teaching students soft skills, including skills such as time management skills, organizational skills, the ability to look someone in the eyes when talking to them, or using a firm handshake. I have heard a number of times, by different business leaders, that these skills seem to be disappearing.
Empathy and Perspective
Although this skill has always been important, it seems to be another one that is slowly disappearing. The ability for our students to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, to understand their feelings, and to help solve their problems.
