education*
F
or many children, their future job doesn’t exist yet. Living in a constantly changing world means that jobs are disappearing and emerging all the time. This often leaves parents feeling unsure about what they should be prioritising in their child’s development. And although there is no winning formula for childhood development and parenting, talking about
Essential life
SKILLS
PAUL BUSHELL DISCUSSES WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO TEACH YOUR CHILDREN IN ORDER TO PREPARE THEM FOR A CAREER IN A CONSTANTLY CHANGING WORLD
careers seems like a useful consideration to add to the list. Too many people leave their careers to chance. Here are five things to be doing with your child to prepare them for a career in a constantly changing world.
ABOVE: Paul Bushell is
a psychologist, author, and speaker. He is the founder of the #raisingkids series, and co-founder of the KindnessCan movement. He has a special interest in emotional intelligence, career development and meaningful living.
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Head
Cognitive skills, like critical and analytical thinking, problemsolving, curiosity and creative thinking allow people to solve problems with innovative solutions. We can anticipate that a constantly changing world will be filled with new
needs and problems, and many new careers will be in response to these. From young, encourage children to engage in games and activities which require problem-solving. In everyday life, this also means not hurrying to solve all of children’s problems for them. Although it is often quicker and easier to do so, children can benefit from working through challenges and having responsibilities. This not only allows them to grow new skills, but also the belief that they can solve problems. It also means sometimes letting children be
w w w . t h e r i dg e o n l i n e . c o . z a
bored, and finding things – other than schedules and technology – to keep themselves busy.
Heart
Skills like emotional regulation and self-management will become more and more important. This includes skills like resilience, flexibility and adaptability, stress tolerance and empathy. Many parents want to help their children avoid hard feelings, worrying that these kinds of feelings will negatively affect their child’s development. However, learning how to identify, understand and choose what to do with a variety of feelings is crucial in an unpredictable and challenging world. It is more important to engage these feelings, and work through them in supportive ways. An ability to engage in emotions in this way, also allows people to recognise, empathise and support other people’s emotions. This is an important part of finding solutions to people’s needs and solving problems in a constantly changing world.
