Developing skills for the future Philippa Ireton ponders what awaits the next generation of the workforce and how Dallington School is preparing the children of today for the jobs of tomorrow Much has been written in recent times about the future world of work, and the kinds of careers we need to prepare our children for. We know that many of the jobs of tomorrow have not yet been invented, and that the next generation’s workforce may well have as many as twelve different careers in their lifetime. They are going to need to be flexible, quick-thinking and fast on their feet. It begs the question – what does this really mean for the schools and universities of today? How can we best prepare children at school today for the world they will be facing in a decade?
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There is much talk, and even concern that soon robots will be able to do everything that a human can do, and technically it’s hard to deny this assertion, but a robot will never be able to emulate the human skills which are often called “soft skills”: having high emotional or social intelligence, adaptability, flexibility, good judgment, resilience, an ability to communicate. All these skills categorise our human strengths and define our competitive edge over robots. Human skills require practice and it seems that just as they are becoming key to people’s economic value,
