Home » Preparing our Children for an Innovative and Technological Future
Education

Preparing our Children for an Innovative and Technological Future

skill development

The world is evolving at an accelerated rate in today’s world, and it is estimated that 65% of our children today will end up in a job that is not yet invented in the future. As the Information Age evolves into Innovation Age, our children need to have the skills to work in a highly innovative society where the use of knowledge is vital for survival.

How can we prepare our children for an innovative and technological future? The answer lies in teaching them how to use the knowledge that they acquire to make something entirely new. The skills needed to do so are called The Four Cs.

The Four Cs

1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Critical thinking is a skill that is lacking in today’s society. Many older employees do not value this ability as something crucial and, in fact, criticise younger generations for being “a dreamer” at the workplace. Critical thinking, however, is an essential skill in the future as the world moves towards an innovative age where information needs to be digested in creative ways before a new product can be made to improve the world. Problem-solving skill is equally important as our children need to solve problems in the future that we do not have now.

2. Communication
Clear and precise communication is king in the future where ambiguity rules the world. Our children need to speak clearly and articulate their thoughts in words that fit the new world. Public speaking and the ability to communicate fluently will be highly valued. Therefore, the best thing that we can do for our children now is to train them to communicate well.

3. Collaboration
This is a word that has been thrown around blatantly in the current context. However, do we truly appreciate the merits of collaboration? Our children are heading into an innovative and highly-technological world; a place where a lone person is likely to get nowhere. Hence, we need to teach them how to collaborate with others. We need to teach them to make use of other people’s talents while allowing others to make use of theirs. Their skills in collaboration are going to help them move forward in life as a working adult.

4. Creativity and Innovation
Lastly, we know that creativity is at the heart of innovation. If our children are not creative, how can they innovate and create new things in the future? Thus, it is vital for parents to help our children to develop their creativity at a young age. Similarly, we need to encourage our children to innovate at a young age. One way to do it is to do handicraft with them and help them to think out of the box. Creating something new out of an old item is also an excellent way to train their creativity and innovation skills.

Our current educational system is great at teaching children to acquire knowledge, but it is lacking when it comes to teaching children how to apply the knowledge they learn. As parents, it is our responsibility to add the skills that are lacking to ensure that our children can survive in the new world that they are headed to.