Take-aways from Wagner’s 7 Survivals Skills that resonate with me most:
First Survival Skill: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Second Survival Skill: Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence
As a teacher, I believe it is my duty to teach life skills in conjunction with content. As Tony Wagner points out there is a core set of survival skills needed for success in today’s workplace: collaboration, adaptability, initiative, entrepreneurialism, communication, curiosity and imagination. My goal is to structure lessons so that students can discover content themselves while honing these essential life skills. I can commit to planning and structuring lessons in a way that honors and facilitates the construction of knowledge. Rather than dominating classroom talk and relying heavily on textbooks, I invite my students to search for understanding themselves. Student thinking is valued, and group collaboration and exploration are encouraged.
First Survival Skill: Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Habit of asking good questions
- Problem solving skills needed to be effective in teams
- “Being curious about why things are the way they are and being able to think about why something is important”
- “Taking issues and situations and problems and going to root components; understanding how the problem evolved-looking at it from a systemic perspective and not accepting things at face value.”
Second Survival Skill: Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence
- “Trust is the total number of interactions divided by the number of positive interactions”
- Learn from and work collaboratively with individuals representing diverse cultures in a spirit of mutual respect.
- Work effectively with others and understand and respect differences--not just in our own country but around the world.
- Demonstrate leadership skills to solve problems in a changing and uncertain world
- “To survive, you have to be flexible and adaptable and a lifelong learner”
- “Leadership is the capacity to take initiative and trust yourself to be creative”
- Take initiative; seek out new opportunities, ideas and strategies of improvement.
- Know how to be clear and concise, how to create focus, energy and passion around the points you want to make.
- Effectively process an abundance of information and evaluate information from many different sources.
- Learn to “find the important details and the say ‘here’s what we should do about it.’”
- “Creativity and innovation are key factors not only in problem solving but also in developing new or improved products and services.”
- “I want people who can think—they’re not just bright, they’re also inquisitive”
As a teacher, I believe it is my duty to teach life skills in conjunction with content. As Tony Wagner points out there is a core set of survival skills needed for success in today’s workplace: collaboration, adaptability, initiative, entrepreneurialism, communication, curiosity and imagination. My goal is to structure lessons so that students can discover content themselves while honing these essential life skills. I can commit to planning and structuring lessons in a way that honors and facilitates the construction of knowledge. Rather than dominating classroom talk and relying heavily on textbooks, I invite my students to search for understanding themselves. Student thinking is valued, and group collaboration and exploration are encouraged.