When we think about the future we already know that resourcefulness within the workforce is key to effectively executing ideas, projects and services. Creativity, collaboration and innovation are therefore critical skills that should be present for projects to become successful. That’s why education at schools must undergo a major catch-up in order to prepare students to become our future workforce.
Today’s schools should be teaching our children subjects such as:
1- Problem-solving and critical thinking skills – to be able to look at the bigger picture, to understand how different areas interact between themselves, to appreciate complexity, to come up with innovative ideas and solutions in order to give response to an array of different disciplines. In other words, the style of teaching must include analytical thinking!
2- Creativity – for most jobs a certain degree of creativity has always been important, but for today’s working environment it is an essential skill, as it is those ‘out of the box’ approaches that often generate amazing and inspiring ideas that really ‘push the envelope.’
3- Technological literacy – let’s face it, technology is here to stay! This is an age of unprecedented technological advancement and schools should therefore give opportunities for students to interact with different technologies and even integrate them into everyday learning.
4- Cognitive flexibility – being able to adapt and being flexible is often key to being able to juggle a range of subjects such as biology, physics, engineering, technologies, arts, literature, etc. It is therefore imperative that schools raise their students in an exciting learning, as much as, a nurturing environment providing them with opportunities to acquire the skills they will need to face globalization.
5- Collaborative Assertiveness – the 21st century world is already showing how ‘small’ it really is and, for many of us, large-scale collaborative assignments are already a reality. However, in order to be able to fully integrate teams where different languages and skills sets are used, and where coordination and communication within multi-disciplinary teams are effective, it is imperative that today’s students are prepared to work with one another regardless of their background at all levels. Only this way success can be achieved!
Perhaps having these subjects embedded in our schools is still a step too large to take, but we can help our children of today by providing them with opportunities outside the school environment. One such opportunity is to give them the chance to learn a new language. It is a well-known fact that children who master two or more languages already possess skills that place them above all other average children and this can be the first step towards raising a better prepared and more versatile workforce of tomorrow.
Here are the Butterfly Learning Centre (BLC), through our various programs, we can guide your children towards developing that potential flexibility. By enhancing collaborative skills, by reaching deep for that inner creativity, and by nurturing your child’s natural curiosity and inquisitive mind so it may enlarge their critical thinking.
At the BLC we are primarily concerned with our students’ English language, which in today’s work environment is the number one business language in the world. Check out all our activities, and in specific our Cambridge courses for further details. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us!