Educating for the Future
Story appeared in the 2015 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.
BY ALISON O’MARRA ARMSTRONG
The world is changing rapidly and exponentially. In fact, Raymond Kurzweil, noted Futurist and Director of Engineering at Google, tells us that the 21st century will experience 20,000 years of progress (at today’s rate), not 100!
So how do we educate for the future? And more importantly, what competencies will the next generation require for a global economy that has yet to be defined? In 1758, the very first transatlantic telegraph took over 17 hours to transmit; today, we can share information around the globe in mere seconds. Upon reflection, it is not hard to see how important thinking skills, such as creativity, innovation and self-reflection will be for our students. Correspondingly, educational institutions like Queen Margaret’s School are expanding their missions to include universal lifelong learner confidence and competence.
The research about how we learn is clear: no two students are alike, and rote memorization of facts will not help our children apply their understanding to real world con-texts. Even skills themselves require the competency to use them. The National Association of Colleges and Employers surveyed over 200 employers about their priorities for new hires—not surprisingly, they are looking for candidates who are team players and problem solvers, and who can prioritize their work and express themselves well verbally.
As faculty, we are committed to creating a culture where students “possess the skills and abilities to realize their potential and meet life’s challenges.” This is why Queen Margaret’s School has embarked on a journey to support our learners through the development of critical thinking and strong habits of mind across grades, from Kindergarten through to Grade 12. Using critical thinking challenges that encourage learners to go beyond simply “knowing,” students are encouraged to employ thinking competencies such as inquiry, analysis, inference and problem solving. With this, they will be able to make reasoned judgments and find answers to 21st century questions that may not yet have a solution.
Working in partnership with the Critical Thinking Consortium in Vancouver, QMS faculty have spent the past year learning how to re-shape their instructional practice to integrate habits of mind and establish a tone in their classrooms which communicates what it means to think deeply and richly about the world around us. For students to effectively engage in critical thinking, they must be able to think reflectively about their world, to approach new information with curiosity, open-mindedness, perseverance and intellectual courage.
Indeed, Dr. Carol Dweck, a leading researcher in the field of motivation, tells us that the 21st century will belong to the passionate and resilient learners. There is little doubt that these are the skills that a 21st century Queen Margaret’s graduate will possess.
So what will your child’s homework look like with this focus on critical thinking?
It may be as simple as asking our students to look beyond what they simply see and hear. For example, if I asked you to identify the villain in the classic fairy tale of the Three Little Pigs, what would you say? Is it really the wolf? Or was he framed? Is there another side to the story? How do we know?