What Should We Be Teaching Kids for the 21st Century?

Dr. Judy Willis is an authority on brain research. She has a unique background, having been both a neurologist and a classroom teacher. She has written several books and writes a blog for Psychology Today. One of her blog entries, Whose Children Will Get the Best Jobs in the 21st Century? http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/radical-teaching/201104/whose-children-will-get-the-best-jobs-in-the-21st-century , offers an interesting perspective on what we should be doing to prepare students for today’s world.

According to Willis, the best jobs in the future will go to applicants who have the

• skillsets to analyze information as it becomes available
• flexibility to adapt traditionally believed facts are revised
• ability to collaborate with others
• ability to articulate one's ideas

Rather than just learn a lot of information, students need opportunities to discover the connections between isolated facts, build networks of concepts, and apply what they learn in new contexts. Critical analysis, judgment, creative problem solving, and the ability to evaluate and apply data to new situations are all vital.

Parents can prepare students by

• helping children develop personal responsibility
• explicitly teaching how to focus attention, study, organize, prioritize, plan, and set goals
• teaching how to make the switch from memorization to mental manipulation by comparing and contrasting concepts and applying big ideas to solve new types of problems
• teaching how to evaluate sources of accurate information and then to use critical analysis to assess the veracity/bias and current/potential uses of new information
• finding out the topics children will study in the coming school months and then promoting interest by introducing things that relate to the topic, providing background knowledge and interest

Willis provides many concrete ideas for parents to teach these skills at home. I strongly urge you to read the article. The ideas provided would make a great beginning for discussion in a parent support group.

Helping Kids Become Resilient

We all know people who have been through a lot but are able to bounce back—emotionally strong, physically healthy, happy, and able to achieve. We also know individuals who appear to have every advantage but fall apart at the first sign of trouble. The difference is resilience. Resilient people are able to adapt, despite adversity.

When things happen unexpectedly or take a wrong turn, gifted children are just as susceptible to the intense vulnerability that accompanies struggle and tragedy whether it results from something beyond their control or is simply caused by errors in judgment. Given the right tools, young people can gain control over how they react to situations. Children can learn to be more resilient by becoming more optimistic in response to difficulty.

Helping Kids Rebound from Mistakes, an entry in Michele Borba's blog, offers some great advice for parents (teachers, these are good techniques for the classroom as well). Using colorful anecdotes, Borba lists concrete ways to teach kids to bounce back from difficult situations, see mistakes as learning opportunities, and keep trying. In addition to teaching techniques, she suggests that teachers and parents use optimistic language when addressing students in a vulnerable state. She recommends:

• Be an example of bouncing back
• Set realistic expectations
• Start a “bounce back!” motto
• Create a “Stick to It” award
• Help children see mistakes as opportunities
• Respond to errors noncritically
• Offer support only when needed

In Duke Gifted Letter’s article Promoting Resilience, Maureen Neihart discusses how adults can help children develop the ability to bounce back. Neihart recommends:

• Praising effort rather than performance
• Reading hopeful, optimistic stories with resilient characters, discussing the challenges the characters face, and the choices they make
• Helping the child brainstorm many possible reasons for a situation to prevent the development of black-or-white thinking
• Doing anything and everything possible to enhance the child’s relationships with caring adults

In Mental Toughness, Resiliency, and Endurance, Fernette and Brock Eide recommend:

• Modeling resiliency for young people
• Praising effort and perseverance more than accomplishment
• Encouraging risk-taking and boldness
• Allowing kids to fail, but being ever ready with unconditional emotional support, context (failure is one of the best ways to learn), and redirection toward the future