30-06-2020
08:09
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The World Economic Forum published their list which highlights the most in demand skills leaders of business are stating that young people will need by 2020.
This blog explores the skills in this list and considers the implications for our own teaching & learning.
Looking at these two lists of the qualities employers will prefer, I started to reflect on how schools are recognizing and investing in our leaders & entrepreneurs of the future.
Critical thinking has jumped from 4th in the 2015 list to second in the 2020 list. If we dissect what critical thinking entails (logically making connections between ideas, analysis of theories, evaluation, argument & debating, concluding) this progression up the skills chart is maybe not so surprising. To be part of an ever changing business world, demands individuals who are able to apply these skills to keep moving forward, meeting the needs of an evolving business landscape.
Maybe more surprising to me is the fall in the skill of negotiation; a valid and essential life skill I would suggest. Without negotiation does this imply that it’s a one size fits all approach or there is only one way of doing things- the leader’s way? What is involved in negotiation? An understanding of others’ point of view? Active listening? Leadership skills to inspire, motivate & empower? Surely vital skills to be comfortable with.
New in the 2020 list are the qualities of emotional intelligence & cognitive flexibility.
Emotional intelligence is defined as the capability of others to recognize their own emotions & those of others, identify a range of feelings & label them appropriately. Significantly, a high level of emotional intelligence enables the individual to adjust emotions to adapt to differing environments. To be able to modify & adapt to emerging situations together with a secure base of reasoning, I would argue is not only core of leadership but also healthy participation within society as a whole.
Cognitive flexibility has been described as the mental ability to switch between thinking about two different concepts & to think about multiple concepts simultaneously. Within this are the subskills of task switching & cognitive shifting; which enables the individual to adapt, refine & assimilate new experiences or events. Considering the amazing leads I have worked with, I can see the significance of these qualities & they are the attributes I remember most fondly abut them.
Significantly, creativity has moved up the 2020 list seven places to number 3 on the list.
I see creativity as the ability to create, develop & present meaningful new ideas, thoughts & opinions within the scope of the Arts in order to represent, challenge or stimulate thoughts & opinions from others.
When we consider the qualities involved within this definition, perhaps they would include the skull of possibility thinking, sequencing & ordering based on a theory, an understanding of verbal & non verbal communication & the ability to motivate others using a range of strategies.
If our main aim in education is to support children to be happy, healthy (emotionally as well as physically) & transition successfully into citizens of the future (obviously meeting their own individual potential) could there be an opportunity to reflect on how our current provision supports children to be aware of & strengthen these key skills?
https://www.oneeducation.co.uk/
One Education has worked with schools for over a decade, providing specialist training and consultancy services to raise standards and pupil attainment. We offer support across the whole school, empowering school leaders, business managers and teachers to champion excellence at every level.
Operoo is a school operations and productivity platform. We help thousands of schools and trusts to eliminate slow, expensive and repetitive tasks. Operoo helps schools streamline and digitise processes, drastically reducing the associated costs: From student pre-admissions, permission forms, payments, and school trips; to medical information and emergency contacts, incident reporting, staff agreements, and more in over 100 languages.
Unify is an online sales and marketing tool that allows users to create tailored personalised documents in moments.
ImpactEd's mission is to improve pupil outcomes by helping schools understand what is and isn’t working in their specific context. We are a non-profit organisation, and through hands-on partnership and our digital platform, we support schools to understand the impact of programmes they run and make monitoring and evaluation easy.
https://www.utility-aid.co.uk/
There’s nothing special about the energy we sell. In fact, it’s exactly the same energy as all our competitors provide. But there is something special about the way we do it. Where others complicate the process, we simplify it. Where others confuse customers with hidden terms, we’re an open book. And where others do all they can to make as much money from their customers as possible, we do all we can to make as little. Everything we do, we do it differently. Our customers are a privilege. One we’ll never take advantage of.
Securus provide market-leading monitoring solutions to safeguard students on ALL devices both online and offline. We also offer a full monitoring service, where we carry out the monitoring on behalf of the school, freeing up valuable staff resources. From the smallest school to large MAT groups, Securus offers safeguarding protection for all!
Vivify partners with schools across the country to hire out their facilities outside of school hours to enable them to generate much needed revenue that can be invested back into their facilities, teachers, and student experience. Opening up school facilities for communities to get together can improve mental and physical wellbeing, boost confidence, tackle loneliness and help people feel more positive about life.
As European leaders of Time Management Solutions, Bodet offer Lockdown, Clock, Bell & PA Systems. Harmonys, our five-in-one IP/PoE Bell System, provides a unique customisable lockdown or panic alarm alert. Melodys, a Wireless Bell System, is useful where wiring can be difficult.