Skills for life

Excerpts from the Approaches to learning and teaching series, courtesy of Cambridge University Press and Cambridge Assessment International Education: cambridge.org/approachestolearning

How do we prepare learners to succeed in a fast-changing world? To collaborate with people from around the globe? To create innovation as technology increasingly takes over routine work? To use advanced thinking skills in the face of more complex challenges? To show resilience in the face of constant change?

The Cambridge Framework for Life Skills

Many frameworks exist that aim to address the skills and competencies learners' need to succeed through the levels of their education and on into the world of work for the 21st century.

Cambridge is responding to educators who have asked for a way to understand how all these different approaches to life skills and competencies relate to their teaching at all levels and how they can support and evidence the development of these skills by their learners through their learning. So, Cambridge analysed the basic components of these global competencies frameworks and interpreted the different approaches and initiatives to create a common framework of life skills and competencies that can be successfully delivered through teaching at all levels and stages of learning.

They have grouped these skills into six main Areas of Competency that can be incorporated into teaching, and have examined the different stages of the learning journey and how these competencies vary across each stage.

For each of these areas, we have broken down the practical component skills to help you to understand what each competency involves.

The six key skills areas that Cambridge Global English is supporting in their Teacher's Resources and Learner's Books are explained below.

Creativity The ability to generate original and innovative ideas or alternatives that are viewed as being valuable and meaningful. Some attributes of creativity are: divergent thinking, imagination, cognitive flexibility, tolerance for ambiguity or unpredictability and intrinsic motivation. We have identified three key competencies within the area of creativity in an educational context: the skills needed to participate in creative activities creating new content from one’s own ideas or other resources discovering and expressing one’s personal identity and feelings through creative activities.

Collaboration Collaboration is often described as being a key skill for 21st century education. Some advantages of collaboration over individual problem-solving are effective division of labour, use of information from multiple sources, perspectives and experiences, higher level of creativity and quality of solutions. When people are involved in verbal interaction, they are not simply sharing information but they are supporting each other in collective thinking. This collaborative approach allows participants to achieve more than they can alone. We have identified three key competencies within the area of collaboration: taking personal responsibility for one’s own contribution to a group task listening respectfully and responding constructively to others’ contributions managing the sharing of tasks in a project.

Communication Communication is a vital professional and life skill, involving sharing information, ideas and knowledge between people. It is an active process in which elements such as non-verbal behaviour and individual styles of interpreting and ascribing meaning to events have significant influence. Mastering effective communication is a skill learners need for effective and efficient sharing of information, ideas or knowledge in educational and work settings which can be developed and honed at all levels and stages. We have identified seven key competencies within the area of communication: using appropriate language/register for context managing conversations overcoming one’s own language gaps participating with appropriate confidence and clarity supporting others to communicate successfully structuring content using language for effect.

Critical thinking The higher levels of thinking that learners need to develop enable them to think effectively and rationally about what they want to do and what they believe is the best action. It consists of identifying links between ideas, analysing points of view and evaluating arguments, supporting evidence, reasoning and conclusions. We have identified six key Critical thinking competencies: analysing to understand key points and links between ideas evaluating texts, ideas and arguments synthesising ideas and information identifying and prioritising problems evaluating options asking effective questions.

Learning to learn It is essential that we continue to learn new skills and knowledge throughout our working lives. The aim of education has to focus as much on the skills of learning as on the outputs of learning. We have identified six key competencies within the area of Learning to learn: developing skills for participating in learning taking control of one’s own learning reflecting on and evaluating one’s own learning success identifying and using effective learning techniques and strategies making notes, storing and retrieving information managing exam preparation.

Social responsibilities The ‘globalised’, fast-changing and multicultural world offers clear opportunities for young people to interact with others and to access information across time and space. However, it also brings challenges of a magnitude no other generation has faced. Climate change, war and conflict, refugees, poverty, gender and social inequality demand global action and a new practice and discourse in the education of young people. Social responsibilities refer to the rights and duties that come along with being a citizen of a particular nation or state, as well as of a broader global entity. We have identified six key competencies within the area of Social responsibilities: understanding one’s personal and social responsibilities as a global citizen behaving consistently with one's personal and social responsibilities showing leadership skills understanding one’s own and others’ cultures understanding and discussing global issues understanding and managing career development options and techniques.

Content via Cambridge GO