Future-ready talents seen as answer to career hopes

Let’s help our schools put students on path to success in rapidly evolving world

For many of us, this is school prizegiving season. For those who missed it this time, don’t worry, in most New Zealand schools it hasn’t changed from ones you might have sat through 30 or 50 years ago.

Schools celebrate the achievements of their best in academics, sport and service, rows of smart kids line up to be awarded books and cups by local dignitaries and principals and board chairs extol the school’s superior academic results and accomplishments to reassure parents their kids are being successfully prepared for the future.

Are we, though, preparing students successfully for their futures?

Do the academic, sport and service prizes and the NCEA grades assure anything outside the education bubble? Have our schools focused on grading tests at the expense of less easily assessed skills such as creativity, curiosity, collaborative problem-solving, communication, teamwork, tenacity, global competence and growth mindset?

If the answer is yes, is that not a concern given that those skills really count in this rapidly changing world of work, affected by automation, globalisation and digitisation?

The 41 per cent of employers who are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the work readiness of school leavers, and the 46 per cent who are struggling to find skilled labour, are certainly concerned.

For me, prizegiving season prompts a big question: How might we re-imagine what a celebration of student achievement and preparedness for the next stage of learning and earning could look like in the 21st century? How can we recognise academic and vital skills achievement as equally important?

How might we involve the whole community — parents, coaches, employers, iwi, community members — who have supported each student’s growth and who await their contribution as employees, collaborators and community leaders? That is a challenge for all communities to explore together, but here are some ideas.

Does all of this need to happen only at the end of the year? Could families, communities and firms come together in senior school festivals of learning throughout the year, where students showcase a project that demonstrates their skills in identifying and understanding issues in their communities and creating solutions, in partnership with experts and stakeholders in those communities?

Could Y13 graduation ceremonies combine awards with video showcases of diverse students talking about the key skills they are taking from school and the passions they want to pursue? Wouldn’t our aim be that every student could recognise the valuable skills they have built?

Transforming our education system to one capable of supporting our young people to thrive in the rapidly changing world of the 21st century is a huge task. Schools cannot undertake it alone.

As a parent, board member, or local business, I propose to you that helping your school re-imagine prizegiving as a celebration of student achievement in work-relevant “21C skills” — as well as success in subjects, sport and service — is a place to start.

We challenge businesses to sponsor one or more new 21C skills awards for high schools. The awards would celebrate students exhibiting skills development or achievement in 21C skills such as communication, creativity, collaborative problem solving and global competence.

Let’s send a message to our young, schools, parents and communities that these skills matter and that building them is the best way to prepare for a future in this new world of work. Justine Munro is the co-founder of 21 Skills Lab, a director of Z Energy and a member of the NZ Qualifications Authority. The opinions expressed are solely those of 21C Skills Lab which can be contacted at 21cskillslab.com.