Amit Baveja, CBO, India & South Asia, Burlington English India has 19 + years of experience in the areas of Sales & Operations, Risk Management, Customer Service and Process Operations in Financial Services, Telecom, Media, Education & Publishing sectors. He is proficient in ensuring effective execution of business strategy, p&l management, process operations, etc. Also, he holds a demonstrated proficiency in driving revenue growth, customer loyalty, revenue enhancement while providing award-winning leadership in Sales & Operations in a highly competitive environment.
Since the turn of the century, we have constantly strived for innovation and change. Children nowadays are more interested in tablets, computers, social networks, and online games than conventional child games. Today’s fast-changing world and a massive paradigm shift in the education industry have influenced how educators teach these days. Remembering, rehearsing, and repeating is no longer enough to be a good learner. A student’s ability to survive and thrive in an increasingly competitive global landscape depends on finding information, asking questions, being creative, solving problems, and thinking in many different ways (imaginative, profound, critical, etc.). They have to be adaptive and flexible in collaborating with others worldwide.
In recent years, practitioners and educators have discussed a comprehensive instructional approach that emphasizes informal learning and making connections to enhance the cognitive skills of learners to cope with the demands of contemporary societies. With the advancement of modern technology, there is a greater focus on creativity, teamwork, critical thinking, ingenuity, problem-solving, effective communication, and project management. Without these skills, learners cannot successfully participate in the global economy.
How can educators and practitioners collaborate to mold a child’s mind to equip them to cope with the plethora of knowledge around them and achieve in the hyper-competitive, technology-driven global economy?
Learning and innovation skills: Critical Thinking, Communication, collaboration and creativity are the four C’s of crucial learning abilities for children to flourish in contemporary society.
Critical Thinking: Critical thinking requires students to acquire, assess, interpret, rationalize, and analyze a large amount of contradictory information to make an informed decision and act promptly. Learners use critical thinking to determine the truth in statements when differentiating facts from opinions.
Communication: Achieving effective communication involves speaking and writing skills, using various digital tools, and listening to others. It entails avoiding tangents, speaking precisely to an idea, and ensuring that all participants are engaged. Today’s digital tools and resources facilitate communication/ interaction in a new setting in which the ability to navigate effectively is crucial to success. The challenge is not simply learning to utilize new communication technologies but mastering various rhetorical styles – a more challenging endeavor.
Collaboration: The ability to collaborate requires knowledge sharing, the ability to learn from others, utilize social skills, and demonstrate empathy while working in a diverse environment. Learning collaboration and teamwork assist learners in addressing an issue, pitching solutions, and determining the right plan of action.
Creativity: Creativity is the development of new ideas, concepts, and theories to meet societal needs. It enables students to embrace their innate abilities, ranging from big-picture planning to rigorous organizing. Educators and practitioners expose children to problems with no obvious answers, various answers, obscurity, and encourage inventiveness rather than rote information.
Literacy Skills: Also known as IMT (Information, Media and Technology) skills, assist students in acquiring or creating information through perusal, writing, media, and technology.
Information literacy: Consuming today’s abundance of information necessitates youngsters learning new skills for dealing with it. With the advancement of technology, creating information has become one of the primary means students interact. It has real-world applications and repercussions, and students must learn to be practical and ethical information producers.
Media Literacy: Understanding the many ways information is created and communicated is part of media literacy. Students must critically evaluate and assess information received through any media platform. Educators or practitioners can effectively equip children to receive and deliver information in any medium by expanding their mindset to perceive all media as part of a larger communication context.
Technology Literacy: We live amid a technological revolution, with rapid developments. Technology literacy enables students to modify and personalize technology to their preferences, dig deeper, seek knowledge, cooperate, create, and change. As a result, children can grow accustomed to their surroundings and play an essential part in the evolution of technology in the future.
Life Skills: Children are at a pivotal period of growth and development, marked by significant physiological changes and psychosocial transition. Life skills are the flexible and positive behavior talents that enable youngsters to deal well with the expectations and obstacles of daily life. It involves flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity, and social skills.
Educators and practitioners can combine old and new education methods, comprising traditional academics and life skills, and professional skills such as innovation, technology, and global awareness, to provide an excellent foundation for children at a young age. These adaptability traits will equip youngsters for the ever-changing innovations of the future.