21st Century Skills

Yesterday, having been our oldest child’s 27th birthday, I found myself: (1) spending some time convincing myself that I do not look old enough to have a child that age and, when that didn’t work, (2) reflecting on her childhood. When you leave the hospital with this adorable little girl, they don’t give you a manual of directions to go with her. We, as new parents, were excited but also overwhelmed at the task that lay before us; the task of protecting her, teaching her, and preparing her for the future. What would she become? We didn’t know, but we wanted to do our best to prepare her for adult life in the world as we knew it.

When my father was young, boys grew up and worked in the mill or the coal mine. Girls grew up and become nurses, teachers or homemakers. When I was graduating from high school, opportunities were more varied than my father’s generation; however a college degree was thought necessary to pursue big dreams.

Now, years later, I am a teacher and I can’t help but think about the future and how different it will be for today’s students. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learners will hold 10-14 jobs by the time they are 38 years old !(http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/nlsoy.pdf) Many of today’s college majors didn’t even exist 10 years ago. What will college students study 10 years from now?

How can we prepare our children for a future that is so rapidly changing, for jobs in fields that don’t even exist yet? To solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet? What universal skills can we teach them now to prepare them for whatever job the future holds? How can we teach these skills?

Fortune 500 companies list 21st Century skills they look for in future employees. I am curious to know what skills our readers feel will be necessary in any future job and how they feel these important skills can best be taught, both at home and in school. I would welcome any discussion on this topic.