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TONY WAGNER’S:CREATING INNOVATORS

7 Soft Skills Students Desperately Need

Undefined Work

Knowledge

Workers

Flexibility

Real VoiceProblem Solver

Influence

LEADERSHIP

“Yesterday’s answers won’t solve today’s problems.”

“Even in our best schools, we are teaching kids to memorize much more than to think, and in the 21st century, mere memorization won’t get you very far.”

Would you Hire Your Own Kids?

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Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Soft Skill #1

What is It?• Asking Good

Questions• Figure out

what’s important and what’s not

• Self-learning and inquiry

What It’s NOT?• Teaching to a

test• Only occurs at

secondary levels• Using textbooks

as sole resource

IDEAs• Open ended

questions• Essential

Questions• Big Ideas

“The idea that a company’s senior leaders have all the answers and can solve problems by themselves has gone completely by the wayside…The person who’s close to the work has to have strong analytic skills. You have to be rigorous: test your assumptions, don’t take things at face value, don’t go in with preconceived ideas that you’re trying to prove.”

-Ellen Kumata, consultant

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MATH PRACTICE 1

Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

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Collaboration Across Networks and Leading By Influence Soft Skill #2

What is It?• Team Work• Collaboration• Relational skills• Reaching across

boundaries• Teacher as

facilitator

What It’s NOT?• Whole Class

instruction• Step by Step

instructions• Teacher-

centered

IDEAs• Wikis• Sharepoint• Cooperative

Learning• Discussions

“The biggest problem we have in the company as a whole is finding people capable of exerting leadership across the board….Our mantra is that you lead by influence, rather than authority.”

-Mark Chandler, Sr. VP at Cisco

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MATH PRACTICE 3

Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others

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Agility and Adaptability Soft Skill #3

What is It?• Reflect and

Revise• Experimentatio

n• Risk taking• Opportunities to

fail• Learning

process

What It’s NOT?• Only one right

answer• Answer more

important than process

• Lecture and rote memorization

IDEAs• Debates• Presentations• Inquiry Based

Problems• Problem Based

Learning

“I’ve been here four years, and we’ve done fundamental reorganization every year because of changes in the business…I can guarantee the job I hire someone to do will change or may not exist in the future, so this is why adaptability and learning skills are more important than technical skills.”

-Clay Parker, President of Chemical Management

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MATH PRACTICE 1Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

MATH PRACTICE 5Use appropriate tools strategically

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Initiative and Entrepreneurialism

Soft Skill #4

What is It?• Proactive, self-

starters• Creativity• STRETCH goals• Out of the box

thinkers

What It’s NOT?• Status Quo• Teacher

Dominated • Boring, dull,

non-engaging lessons

IDEAs• Teams• Project Based

Learning• Students

monitoring growth

“For our production and crafts’ staff, the hourly workers, we need self-directed people…who can find creative solutions to some very tough, challenging, problems.”

-Mark Maddox, Human Resources Manager –

Unilever Foods

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MATH PRACTICE 4

Model with mathematics

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Effective Oral and Written Communication

Soft Skill #5

What is It?• Clear and

concise• Focus, energy

and passion• Reason and

persuade• Write with voice

What It’s NOT?• Focus on

grammar, punctuation, and spelling

• Worksheets

IDEAs• Reporting• Newspapers• Blogging• Websites• Presentations

“The biggest skill people are missing is the ability to communicate: both written and oral presentations. It’s a huge problem for us.”

-Annmarie Neal, VP of Talent Management at Cisco

Systems

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MATH PRACTICE 6

Attend to precision

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Accessing and Analyzing Information

Soft Skill #6

What is It?• Evaluating

information from a variety of sources

• Synthesize findings

• Always changing

What It’s NOT?• Definitions• Sole Sources

(textbook)• One answer

IDEAs• Research• Use of varied

sources• Technology

infusion• Multiple

approaches

“There is so much information available that it is almost too much, and if people aren’t prepared to process the information effectively, it almost freezes them in their steps.”—Mike Summers, Vice President for Global Talent Management at

Dell

+MATH PRACTICE 7

Look for and make use of structure

MATH PRACTICE 8Look for and express regularity in repeated reasoning.

+ What is It?• Inquisitive

Thinkers• Problem Solving• Unique and

meaningful tasks

• Innovation

What It’s NOT?• Rigid Structure• Close-minded• Fear of failure

IDEAs• Make Learning

Fun• Real world

problems

“Our old idea is that work is defined by employers and that employees have to do whatever the employer wants…but actually, you would like him to come up with an interpretation that you like—he’s adding something personal—a creative element.”

—Michael Jung, Senior Consultant at McKinsey and

Company

Curiosity and Imagination

Soft Skill #7

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MATH PRACTICE 2

Reason abstractly and quantitatively

+Resources: www.tonywagner.com http://quizlet.com/5556999/tony-wagners-7-survival-ski

lls-flash-cards/

http://www.edutechmag.org/2009/06/28/reviewing-tony-wagners-seven-skills-students-desperately-need/

http://www.thedailyriff.com/articles/would-you-hire-your-own-kids-7-skills-schools-should-be-teaching-them-291.php

http://wiki.bath.ac.uk/display/charlescornelius/Tony+Wagner%27s+Seven+Survival+Skills

Wagner, T., & Compton, R. A. (2012). Creating innovators: The making of young people who will change the world. New York: Scribner.