To prosper in this new work context, young people will need to be equipped with skills, mindsets and capabilities to respond and adapt to shifting occupational landscapes, and to be able to work across several industries. They will need to be lifelong learners who are curious, adaptable, autonomous, driven, self-disciplined, confident and have competency across these skillsets:

• Foundational skills: literacy, language and numeracy.
• Technical skills: skills related to particular disciplines such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics and humanities.
• Enterprise skills: creativity, problem-solving abilities, critical thinking and digital literacy, financial literacy, project- management, the ability to work in a team, communication and global citizenship.
• Career management skills: it is predicted that young people will need to work up to 17 jobs across five industries to adequately support themselves. A linear career trajectory will not be the norm.

Decision-makers (like schools) are too often caught in traditional, linear (and non-disruptive) thinking or too absorbed by immediate concerns to think strategically about the forces of disruption and innovation shaping our future.

Interesting to see what a company like Google identifies as qualities to succeed as a leader. Schools need to listen!

Education needs to decentralise from one key outcome, the Grade 12 score, and instead develop and value the full range of capabilities young people require for a successful future. Schools educate children for thirteen years, so have a prime role in developing the capabilities young people will need to thrive. Basics, such as literacy, numeracy and core subject knowledge, are important. But the senior secondary years need to go beyond this and provide young people with advanced capabilities within and across subject areas.

The seven top characteristics of success at Google are all soft skills: being a good coach; communicating and listening well; possessing insights into others (including others different values and points of view); having empathy toward and being supportive of one’s colleagues; being a good critical thinker and problem solver; and being able to make connections across complex ideas. Read more. See attachment.

Independent education policy think tank, Mitchell Institute at Victoria University, said the latest report by Foundation for Young Australians strengthens calls to transform education in Australia. The New Work Smarts report adds to mounting evidence for capabilities like critical thinking, creativity and collaboration to be prioritised in education. It is becoming more and more di!cult for young people to find meaningful jobs without bold education changes. This report is attached. PAY ATTENTION!!