6 minute read
Helping students to get the best out of themselves
Tunji David Lees argues that schools should dedicate more time to acquiring life skills
As educators, we want our students to succeed academically and to guide them towards successful lives and careers. According to a report by the World Economic Forum (2016), however, it is estimated that the majority of children entering primary school today will ultimately end up working in completely new job types that don’t yet exist. In a world that is changing rapidly, we have to ask ourselves – how do we prepare our students for drastically different job markets and future technological innovation in a world we don‘t yet know? Let us explore several important factors that will help students to get the best out of themselves in any possible future, and then explore some practical ideas which can be implemented at school.
Many will agree that children growing up in an international environment will have an expanded worldview, greater cultural intelligence, strong interpersonal sensitivity, increased multilingual ability and a high level of general adjustment. A quality international education will reinforce this, helping students to develop into well-rounded global citizens. As the world becomes increasingly globalised, we expect the international education industry to grow alongside it. It is now more important than ever for today’s youth to be comfortable in different cultural environments, to be adaptable to new ways of doing things, and to be understanding of others and their way of life.
Does your school offer a truly well-rounded education? Let‘s look beyond academics here. The International Baccalaureate (IB) includes Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS) as a core component of the Diploma Programme. Around 80% of IB Diploma graduates say that as a result of participating in CAS activities they have developed better interpersonal skills, self-awareness, empathy and planning skills, and have learned
to persevere and take on new challenges (Hayden et al, 2017). These so-called ‘soft skills‘ are all-important elements of personal development. There are similar components of non-formal learning in other curricula, and with many schools placing increasing emphasis on learning beyond the classroom through extracurricular activities and industry-related experiences such as STEM programmes and inter-school events such as Model United Nations (MUN).
STEM or STEAM Education
STEM or STEAM Education is an interdisciplinary approach to the teaching of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics which is becoming increasingly popular in international schools. For good reason: it is estimated that 2.4 million STEM jobs in the United States went unfilled in 2018, and that this demand will increase by 13% over the next 10 years (Education Commission of the States, 2020; Smithsonian Science Education Center, 2020). Anticipating these factors, many schools are responding by developing their own STEM or STEAM programmes, to best provide their students with the skills necessary for these future careers, and to give them the best possible advantages when they enter the workforce.
While the benefits of such school programmes are clear, it is our view that greater emphasis should be put on student leadership and well-being. Well-being can be described as the state of being healthy and happy. Leadership can be defined as getting the best out of yourself and others. By first learning to understand themselves, and then how to understand and collaborate with others, students can be successful and adaptable no matter what changes the world of tomorrow might bring.
Well-being and social emotional learning
To date, the Kingdom of Bhutan is the only country in the world to have made well-being a fully integrated part of the national school curriculum. This was implemented on a systematic basis with the help of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, forerunners in the field. Statistical reports into the effects have shown not only a marked increase in student well-being, but also improved academic performance (University of Pennsylvania, 2020). In the past few years, many international schools have implemented well-being initiatives, but there is still much progress to be made across the education industry as a whole on the implementation of similar programmes.
Based on the experience of the Swiss Leadership Camp & Academy, there are several important points to consider when implementing or improving student personal development initiatives at school: • The first is to define the group of students you want to work with, whether it’s the entire school, one or multiple year groups, or a small cohort of student leaders. • The second is to define the scope by setting clear objectives; what you want the students to get out of it, and how you will measure its effectiveness. The SMART model can be useful here. • Brainstorm how to make the learning outcomes measurable and think of what resources you can use, for example journals, personal learning plans, student/ teacher mentor meetings, or other more creative ideas such as reflection games. • Decide whether you want to have a one-off initiative or a deeper structural change. An important consideration will be whether you have the resources in-house, or whether it’s better to outsource. Budgetary constraints are also important, as well as securing administrative approval. • If developing a consecutive programme, make sure to consider the fluid nature of international schools where students come and go every year; whatever you come up with needs to take that into account and be open both to existing students and to new arrivals. • Finally, make sure what you’re designing is fun and engaging for students, as well as educational! There are a wide range of resources available online that can be used to help with ideas.
What the future holds
In the first forms of organised education, in the time of ancient philosophers and scholars, knowledge was reserved for a small minority of the population. It took until the 19 th century for the value of mass education to become recognised in the Western world, and for nation states to begin national programmes focused on educating children in reading, writing, and arithmetic skills. Education has come a long way since then, with international schooling often leading the way in curriculum innovation. We would argue that schools should dedicate even more time to facilitating the acquisition of life skills. Only the development of the whole child, including well-being, social-emotional learning and leadership skills, helps to fully prepare them for the world of tomorrow – whatever that might bring.
References
Education Commission of the States (2020) STEM Demand, Available from http://vitalsigns.ecs.org/state/united-states/demand Hayden M C et al (2017) The Impact of Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) on students and communities. Available from https://www.ibo.org/contentassets/ d1c0accb5b804676ae9e782b78c8bc1c/cas-finalreport-2017-en.pdf Smithsonian Science Education Center (2020) The STEM Imperative, Available from https://ssec.si.edu/stem-imperative University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology Center (2020) Positive Psychology Research, Available from https://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/research/ positive-psychology-research World Economic Forum (2016) The Future of Jobs and Skills. https:// reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2016/chapter-1-the-future-of-jobsand-skills/#view/fn-1
