Skills to Develop a Learning Mindset

9 Essential Skills To Help Kids Learn Anything

Preparing kids for the jobs of tomorrow is essentially impossible. Rather than try to second-guess the future, the latest research claims that anyone involved with children should focus on broader skills as young people discover their passions. Teaching them for today’s jobs might not help them fifteen, ten, even five years from now. Think about how much the work world has changed for adults, in the last decade. How can we assume it will stay the same for the kids in school today?

They will learn the technology of the future when The Future becomes Here And Now. I’m a big proponent of “just in time” learning, rather than “just in case”—if I know how to learn effectively, I can learn basic HTML code, or learn enough of a new language to get by while traveling, or harness my copy writing abilities in order to acquire new knowledge in technical writing, and I’m confident it won’t take me long. Children can become masters at “just in time” if we give them opportunities and the right skill set.

There are any number of these what-kids-need lists. Here is a paraphrasing of one of my favorites, 9 Essential Skills Kids Should Learn, by Leo Babauta (founder of the blog, Zen Habits). It’s geared more toward younger kids, but I’d argue that many young adults still need to learn these skills, as well. I cannot tell you how many college students I met who wanted to be told what to think because they still had no idea how to think for themselves. If you know any kids like this, please suggest they start working off of this list!

1. Asking questions. When children know how to ask good questions and follow up the answers with more questions, whatever they need to know, they can learn it on their own.
2. Solving problems. Model problem solving and offer more direction when they ask for it, but don’t jump in and save them at every roadblock. Act stupid once in a while. Kids love it when they know more than grown ups.
3. Tackling projects. Do kids love to write? Let them set up a blog and publish it. Or write and illustrate a picture book and send it to an online publisher or take it to Kinkos to print up a copy or three. Expose a group to a new app or program like iMovie or Garage Band and let them try to figure out how it works. Give them real world projects to tackle and see what they come up with. Sugata Mitra is the Master of this.
4. Finding passion. Try stuff. When kids get excited about something, encourage their interests. Passion can lead to purpose, offering great rewards, in the long run.
5. Independence. Share. Model. Help. Help less. Let them make mistakes. Let them have success. Let them fix the failures.
6. Being happy on their own. Kids need space. Give them privacy and alone time. The payoff? You might get some, too.
7. Compassion. Model compassion. Show compassion toward your child. Demonstrate easing others’ suffering. Discuss the feelings of others. Even small kindnesses can make everyone happier.
8. Tolerance. Expose kids to people of all kinds. Celebrate differences. Variety is what makes like beautiful.
9. Dealing with change. The world is constantly changing; learning to accept and adapt to changes, to see them as adventures and opportunities, can offer personal and professional advantages. Things will go wrong at every turn. Show kids that changes are okay.

In my next post, I’ll share Tony Wagner’s thoughts on Teaching for Innovation (here’s a great interview Wagner gave to USA Today, last month). If you know of other good lists, please post the links. I’d love to read and share them.