Skills for Life: A Whole-School Approach
Skills for Life: A Whole School Approach
What might the following have in common: a school mission statement; a student profile; a personal statement for a university application; a careers aptitude test; and a job advert?
Well, they are all likely to include language like:
- “building confident, caring leaders of the future”
- KG student profile: open-minded: “We understand that we are all different and grow from new experiences”
- “During my time at school I have shown myself to be a responsible student as well as a hardworking one…”
- “Your score reveals you to be analytical, good at problem-solving, likely to be effective at working with others…”
- “We are looking for applicants who can think outside the box to achieve a specific solution”
All fine words and ambitions, but perhaps a lot easier to write than to achieve? We’re now almost a quarter of the way through the 21stcentury. But how are we getting on teaching the skills needed for modern-day studies, careers and life in general? I’m somewhat reluctant to use the term “21st century skills” but that is, of course, the current catch-all phrase for what I’m discussing. However, I’m fairly sure creativity, collaboration, critical thinking etc. were all around in the centuries beforehand and were all considered necessary to get on in life. But I hope the big difference now is that we are starting to publicly recognise and value their importance in education and are willing to explicitly reference them in our curriculums. Subjects like maths, geography and art may still remain at the centre of our school studies but there has definitely been increasing awareness, as shown by the sample skills and values language above, that our students need more than this if they are to thrive in this world.
So, for those of us working in schools, how do we give students the opportunity to practise and develop these skills? And for students, how can they give evidence of the values and characteristics that they claim to have?
In a crowded curriculum and a busy school day, it might be tempting to see the teaching of skills such as critical thinking or the promotion of values such as tolerance and an acceptance of diversity and difference as being reserved for one specific teaching time slot: a PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) lesson or as part of the civics/social studies curriculum. Maybe we just bring them to students’ attention during a parent-teacher meeting or as part of a careers advice session? However, if we focus on these skills in such a limited and narrow way, then we are unlikely to see our students making much progress. It’s probably much more effective (and a more efficient use of school time) to integrate them into every subject, and in fact the whole of the school day, so that students acquire them in an authentic context and get far more practice than they otherwise would.
I don’t actually believe there is one subject that is a better fit for all these general skills. Some subjects might naturally lend themselves to certain elements: for example, problem-solving in maths; awareness of biodiversity issues in biology; or collaboration in music (I’m thinking playing in a school orchestra here). But ideally, these are best treated – and crucially practised and developed – in each and every subject where possible. And, of course, the overall benefit is likely to be a far more student-centred lesson, putting personal development and social contribution at the centre of all learning. All subjects should be able to integrate 21stcentury skills in one way or another.
Perhaps you are doing this already – but do you recognise how what you are doing maps toskills? Are you aware of the variety of skills that students need? Some so-called soft skills such as critical thinking are obvious and referenced all the time. But how do we break these down so that we can clearly see which elements need to be covered, and at which level of education? A good start would be to look at some of the challenges posted on the Citizens Skills Hub [launching soon, a preview can be seen here]. Here you’ll see a wide range of subskills that you can consider for your subject. Map them to a topic or a particular activity and consider how best they could fit into a specific level.
If you’re not convinced that your subject is a suitable context, then perhaps it’s just a question of tweaking how you already teach – not all of the time but occasionally – thereby giving students the opportunity to develop these skills?
Why not consider:
Tweak #1: Input
The world we show our students in the classroom can say a lot about what we value. Are images that we use representative of the diverse world around us? Do we bring in other voices to debates and discussions? Do we acknowledge the influence of other cultures and individuals on our subject matter? Are we showing students a wide range of opinions and attitudes and allowing them opportunities to question and justify? What about the role models we present or the generalizations we may give – any danger of stereotyping? If we want our students to inquire and analyse and reflect, then our teaching materials need to give space for this.
Have a look at the subject content of your own lesson. Can you bring in a variety of voices and opinions so that students are prompted to see the topic from more than one angle? Can the input be “sprinkled” with a global perspective?
And who is going to give the input? Only the teacher? Could a student or students sometimes be tasked with researching the input and then peer-teaching it to the class?
Maths example: You may be teaching algebra, but how about informing students that this branch of maths comes from an Arab mathematician? A quick diversion into the global connectedness of the maths world (Arabic numerals; the concept of “zero” coming from Mesopotamia via India to the Arab world and then Europe) without distracting from the core learning objective of the class?
Tweak #2: Activities
Consider the way you design activities for your lessons. We all know about avoiding teacher-fronted lecturing from the front, but how often do you set tasks that actively engage students, promoting collaboration and cooperation through pairwork and groupwork? When we give opportunities for all students to both speak up and listen to others, we acknowledge the value of each individual and the part he or she plays in the class. Group discussions, group presentations and projects, alongside student research on the topic, all contribute to the development of the individual and the positive reinforcementof the individual seeing himself/herself as a valued member of the group or community. The soft skills that are practised and encouraged in such tasks lay the foundations for students becoming active global citizens.
Geography example: Give individual students responsibility for researching one aspect of human migration to cities. Put students in groups to report back and share this information. As a group, they then summarise their findings in a wall display and share with the whole class.
Tweak #3: Output
What do students have to produce at the end of the input stage to show that they have understood the new material? Should this output be individual or could students collaborate? Is it possible to link the output to some real-world application that would further social awareness or social justice?
Art example: Link the art technique being studied to a campaign of the students’ choosing. For example, students design a poster or collage that both highlights the art technique and draws attention to an issue like conservation of the environment or reducing waste in the school. Or ceramics produced in class perhaps being put up for sale and the funds used tosupport a local cause (eg a hospice) voted on by students.
Finally, just being a member of an educational institution that values personal development and social contributions, integrates them into the school environment and gives students opportunities to take part in activities that promote both of these throughout the school year, can lead to development of these crucial skills and develop the whole person. When such values are integrated throughout the whole school and therefore “normalized”, students may start to see them as the worthwhile values of their community and feel motivated to adopt and promote them, both in the classroom and beyond the school walls. Is this something that your school is doing already perhaps?
Adopting a whole-school approach, we can consider how the physical environment contributes to our goals. Questions to ask: What or who is on the walls to inspire our students? Does the library display a range of books representing different voices, times and cultures? If we want to promote environmental awareness and responsibility, does the school have a recycling programme? For positive health and well-being, do the vending machines or the cafeteria supply healthy, nutritious meals? Do we do everything we can to minimise our carbon footprint and reduce our use of energy?
What about the ethos or character of the whole school - the “vibes” that the school gives off? Is there an open and welcoming school environment? Questions to ask: Who is invited to the school from outside - for example, to speak at assembly or to take part in a careers fair? How does the school represent itself to future parents and students in its marketing video or prospectus? How do we welcome and integrate new students at the start of the academic year? Do we celebrate, for example, International Day of Older Persons? Can students take part in the running of certain aspects of the school? Instead of the adults and administration taking the lead, is it possible to involve students in such activities so that they make the wall displays, give recommendations for books, select and welcome guest visitors and get engaged through, for example, a student council to have some voice in school decisions that affect the student body?
In my view, a platform like Citizens then becomes an ideal tool for students to document the skills they have acquired and evidence their involvement in the sort of activities I've outlined. They can start building up a portfolio of accomplishments, highlighting and recording their skills, personal development and social contributions. This visual portfolio will not only recognise students’ achievements but also hopefully inspire them to take on more. And it adds weight and, crucially, proof for the type of person that they are becoming and aspire to be.
So, why not use Citizens to document every skill learnt and every action taken, empowering your students to be a global force for good ?
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FAQs
Citizens is a youth development and recognition platform seeking to expand what we value in education. We help students and schools showcase personal development, extracurricular achievements and social contribution in digital portfolios mapped to expert benchmarks.
Citizens is free to students and always will be. Schools subscribe for admin and showcase features. Please request a quote here.
Subscribing schools can set 'visibility ceilings' for their students, which prevents either actions or profiles being public until students reach a certain age, or graduate. We also have advanced settings that allow students to share specific actions only with their assigned teachers, or even with other students in their school.
For individual students that use our app without a school subscription, we set minimum ages for profile and action visibility based on local guidance in your country. This is usually 15 years old.
The Citizens Benchmarks are designed to map student action to recognised frameworks for skills, character and social contribution.
The Citizens Skills 360™ is based on our founder's PhD research at UCL’s Institute of Education on Global Citizenship Education and youth development, and has been refined thanks to a codesign and piloting project with students and schools funded by Innovate UK, the UK government’s innovation agency. You can read more about this research in our forthcoming Founding White Paper.
The UN Impact 360 is a visual framework for the UN Sustainable Development Goals: 17 commitments for a better world, made by 193 world leaders… our best blueprint for collective action as global citizens.
If you are below the age of 15 you must have parental or guardian consent to use Citizens.
Your school must become a subscribing member of Citizens, demonstrating your commitment to character development and recognition, and evidencing this in our index. Accredited schools become part of a global coalition of like-minded institutions and gain access to resources, recognition, and a platform to showcase their impact. Please book a call with our team if you would like to hear more.
It is! We looked at a lot of ideas for our logo, from globes to civic symbols, but none of them really clicked. Then, our founder’s daughter suggested a unicorn — and we instantly loved it! There’s a serendipity in this choice. Unicorns are often seen as representations of uniqueness, inner strength, and untapped potential. Celebrating this in every citizen is what we’re all about, and our little unicorn gives us a reminder of this every day!
No, and we can work with you to integrate Citizens with either, depending on how you plan to embed Citizens in your cocurricular programmes.
For schools that go beyond exams and celebrate a whole-child approach. For students that want to take control of their own development.
We take a data export from your LMS and use this to build student profiles in Citizens, preloaded with their existing activity. We do this under a data processing agreement to ensure compliance with privacy requirements such as GDPR.
This can be done via LinkedIn's Featured section. First, you need to copy your unique URL for your profile, which can be accessed by clicking 'Share' under your name and photo on your main Citizens dashboard. Then, follow LinkedIn's guidance here to add this link to your profile as a Featured section, ensuring it is the first thing prospective employers view when they review your LinkedIn CV.
The Citizens Skills 360™ is based on our founder's PhD research at UCL’s Institute of Education on youth skills, character and social contribution, and is designed to be a comprehensive benchmark of those skills and attributes exams alone cannot recognise. It has been mapped to Future Skills frameworks from bodies such as World Economic Forum, McKinsey and Microsoft, and has been iterated on and adapted during a codesign project and pilot with students and schools globally. You can read more about the research behind the Citizens Skills 360™ in our forthcoming Founding White Paper.
The UNSDGs or 'Global Goals' are 17 'Sustainable Development Goals' from the United Nations. The goals are designed to address major challenges facing humanity, such as poverty, inequality, climate change, and peace. Adopted by all UN member states in 2015, they set targets for 2030, and are the best blueprint we have for collective action as global citizens.
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