EDUC 638 Sheninger's Seven Essential Skills
- Nov 6, 2016
- 2 min read
Eric Sheninger, in his book Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times, lists seven essential skills that he feels every twenty-first century student needs. He says of these skills, “These skills and processes should be at the heart of every decision a leader makes and are key to providing students with the tools to succeed in jobs that have not yet been created” (Sheninger, 2014, p. xviii). Let that sink in for a moment. We are tasked with preparing our students to develop skills necessary to do jobs that don’t even exist yet! Talk about a tall order! But even though we don’t know what those jobs will be, we do know what types of skills those students will need. They are creativity, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, technological proficiency, and global awareness.
Creativity can be defined as the ability to recognize alternatives and possibilities. This skill is very useful in the twenty-first century for finding more efficient ways of dealing with issues faced. Students of all ages should be encouraged to exercise their creativity.
Communication is the process of getting information from one source to another. This skill most often involves people at some point, and represents an area of huge gains in technology over the last three decades. Students need to be taught from Kindergarten on up to communicate effectively with others.
Collaboration is the working together of multiple individuals or entities toward a common goal. Teamwork is another word for this skill. Students need to learn from early on how to get along and work with their fellow students. After all, they will need that skill in the workplace.
Critical thinking involves higher-order thinking skills. It is used to form a judgment about something. This skill is mandatory in the modern workplace as judgments need to be made on a daily basis. This is a higher level of thinking, and as such should be introduced to students in their middle school years.
Problem solving involves the thought processes necessary to find a solution to a problem. This skill is necessary to perform basic job duties in the modern jobs landscape. This skill is higher level thinking, and should be introduced in the middle school years as well.
Technological proficiency is the ability to use technology effectively. Not only do students need to know how to use technology, they need to know how to use it in the most efficient and productive way. This skill can be introduced as young as first grade.
And finally, we have global awareness, which is simply the understanding that it’s a small world and getting smaller by the day. Students need to learn how to be global in their thought processes. This skill is a higher level of understanding and needs to be introduced in the high school years.
These twenty-first century skills are vital for success in modern careers. It is our duty as educators to prepare our students for those careers and help them develop these skills.
Sheninger, E. (2014). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
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