Tony Wagner discusses in his book how students are not being prepared for the real world following their high school education. He interviews various CEOs and leaders of successful companies and asks for the qualities they are looking for in potential candidates. Highlighted throughout the book is the notion that students should be able to listen to ideas not just offer them, know how to effectively collaborate, and how to communicate within the confines of a team or group. Essentially, the technical skills are not as important as ability to communicate and work in groups to create a product that is beneficial, but probably impossible by an individual alone. Wagner lays out seven survival skills for students to be effective in the employment community following high school and college.
I agree with Wagner’s Seven Survival Skills that go as follows:
1) CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
I think it is essential for students to be able to use critical thinking skills to problem solve. I will strengthen these skills in my classroom by constructing open-ended questions that will follow with probing questions that will deepen students understanding. I will especially use this when analyzing a text and asking text-based questions.
2) COLLABORATION ACROSS NETWORKS AND LEADING BY INFLUENCE
Since collaboration is essential in many fields of employment, then it will be essential in my classroom. I will have students work in groups, be given defined roles, and exchange information and ideas with one another for projects, presentations, text-based questions, and so on.
3) AGILITY AND ADAPTABILITY
It is important for our students to be able to adapt to change and keep moving with technological changes in our world today. Technology is ever evolving and we should expose students to such evolution in the classroom to prepare their minds to be able to adapt to changes in their careers. I will expose my students to wide varieties of technology and try to implement as many assignments and projects with the technologies.
4) INITIATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Students also need to be given autonomy in their education. They should be able to do assignments of their own choosing and have say in how they want to do it and in what they want to do. I want to engage my students in their own learning by giving them responsibility to complete tasks they have chosen and for which they have taken initiative.
5) EFFECTIVE ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
The inability to effectively communicate was a common theme for many CEOs in their interviews. Students must be given the opportunity in class to strengthen their writing and oral communication skills. Students will respond to open-ended questions that require them to gradually build on previous responses and hone their critical thinking skills. Also students must be given opportunity to present their work and explain verbally their ideas by sharing with their classmates.
6) ACCESSING AND ANALYZING INFORMATION
Students must be given access to information. I will do this by sometimes breaking up readings and having students explain the information they read from a portion of a text to another classmate. Then the other classmate will explain their information. This will allow students to work collaboratively to analyze information. Students should also be given the tools to access further information through the use of technology and also collaborate with their team.
7) CURIOSITY AND IMAGINATION
When students are allowed to give their own personal touch to an assignment or project, it makes it more meaningful to them. I want students to be engaged and be able to use their imagination. They might come up with some “crazy” ideas, but if they can use essential elements to justify their argument using a logical sequence based on solid premises, then they are engaging in learning some valuable principles. I want students to use their imagination, to be curious, and broaden their understanding and perspective.
What is Wagner missing?
One of things that I think Wagner is missing is that his approach is very theoretical. Yes of course in theory it sounds amazing to tailor education to what the work force is demanding. More hands-on and experiential learning, but sometimes that simply isn’t feasible in actual application in the classroom. The question is always posed, well why is it not? There are many reasons why, but certainly there are limitations to how much can be done within a classroom every day in public education. It is much more than take the theory and apply the theory. I think some of the survival skills and other components mentioned in the book and ideal in theory, but only in theory. Some schools just aren’t going to be able to let the children be hands-on and autonomy over their learning. Not when there are standards to meet and funding to obtain. This is not to say that small steps cannot or should not be taken. Teachers can, and should, implement more collaborative group work, use technology, and make learning as engaging and meaningful as possible. I just think there are limitations.
Incorporating
I would incorporate these skills in a number of ways. First, I will use collaborative groups on a regular basis weaving it into the fabric of my classroom. Students will have roles and they will know exactly what their to do in their role. Students will also have a chance to have a different role throughout the year. Roles such as: Facilitator, Researcher, Note-taker, and so on. Secondly, I will have students extensively practice answering text-based questions. I will have them annotate and summarize texts. I will have them share their responses with their teams and practice their written and oral communication skills. Finally, I will encourage to use and try all different types of technology and technological programs. This could be through mobile apps, websites, Chromebooks, iPads, and so on. Students should gain exposure to different mediums and I want my classroom to be a place where they may do so.
This School Year
This school year I want to open up the classroom to more discussion and input from my students. I want students to speak in class and participate in the learning. I want to give opportunities to practice their writing skills and using evidence to make an argument. This school year I want students to use their own words to describe concepts, texts, and information. I will try to use more collaborative grouping and introduce more technological resources in my classroom.
I agree with Wagner’s Seven Survival Skills that go as follows:
1) CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
I think it is essential for students to be able to use critical thinking skills to problem solve. I will strengthen these skills in my classroom by constructing open-ended questions that will follow with probing questions that will deepen students understanding. I will especially use this when analyzing a text and asking text-based questions.
2) COLLABORATION ACROSS NETWORKS AND LEADING BY INFLUENCE
Since collaboration is essential in many fields of employment, then it will be essential in my classroom. I will have students work in groups, be given defined roles, and exchange information and ideas with one another for projects, presentations, text-based questions, and so on.
3) AGILITY AND ADAPTABILITY
It is important for our students to be able to adapt to change and keep moving with technological changes in our world today. Technology is ever evolving and we should expose students to such evolution in the classroom to prepare their minds to be able to adapt to changes in their careers. I will expose my students to wide varieties of technology and try to implement as many assignments and projects with the technologies.
4) INITIATIVE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Students also need to be given autonomy in their education. They should be able to do assignments of their own choosing and have say in how they want to do it and in what they want to do. I want to engage my students in their own learning by giving them responsibility to complete tasks they have chosen and for which they have taken initiative.
5) EFFECTIVE ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
The inability to effectively communicate was a common theme for many CEOs in their interviews. Students must be given the opportunity in class to strengthen their writing and oral communication skills. Students will respond to open-ended questions that require them to gradually build on previous responses and hone their critical thinking skills. Also students must be given opportunity to present their work and explain verbally their ideas by sharing with their classmates.
6) ACCESSING AND ANALYZING INFORMATION
Students must be given access to information. I will do this by sometimes breaking up readings and having students explain the information they read from a portion of a text to another classmate. Then the other classmate will explain their information. This will allow students to work collaboratively to analyze information. Students should also be given the tools to access further information through the use of technology and also collaborate with their team.
7) CURIOSITY AND IMAGINATION
When students are allowed to give their own personal touch to an assignment or project, it makes it more meaningful to them. I want students to be engaged and be able to use their imagination. They might come up with some “crazy” ideas, but if they can use essential elements to justify their argument using a logical sequence based on solid premises, then they are engaging in learning some valuable principles. I want students to use their imagination, to be curious, and broaden their understanding and perspective.
What is Wagner missing?
One of things that I think Wagner is missing is that his approach is very theoretical. Yes of course in theory it sounds amazing to tailor education to what the work force is demanding. More hands-on and experiential learning, but sometimes that simply isn’t feasible in actual application in the classroom. The question is always posed, well why is it not? There are many reasons why, but certainly there are limitations to how much can be done within a classroom every day in public education. It is much more than take the theory and apply the theory. I think some of the survival skills and other components mentioned in the book and ideal in theory, but only in theory. Some schools just aren’t going to be able to let the children be hands-on and autonomy over their learning. Not when there are standards to meet and funding to obtain. This is not to say that small steps cannot or should not be taken. Teachers can, and should, implement more collaborative group work, use technology, and make learning as engaging and meaningful as possible. I just think there are limitations.
Incorporating
I would incorporate these skills in a number of ways. First, I will use collaborative groups on a regular basis weaving it into the fabric of my classroom. Students will have roles and they will know exactly what their to do in their role. Students will also have a chance to have a different role throughout the year. Roles such as: Facilitator, Researcher, Note-taker, and so on. Secondly, I will have students extensively practice answering text-based questions. I will have them annotate and summarize texts. I will have them share their responses with their teams and practice their written and oral communication skills. Finally, I will encourage to use and try all different types of technology and technological programs. This could be through mobile apps, websites, Chromebooks, iPads, and so on. Students should gain exposure to different mediums and I want my classroom to be a place where they may do so.
This School Year
This school year I want to open up the classroom to more discussion and input from my students. I want students to speak in class and participate in the learning. I want to give opportunities to practice their writing skills and using evidence to make an argument. This school year I want students to use their own words to describe concepts, texts, and information. I will try to use more collaborative grouping and introduce more technological resources in my classroom.