From 2025 onwards, schools will need to teach more than just the “basics”

In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of doors, gates, and transitions. Janus could see in two directions and was associated with passages, beginnings, and endings.

January, the month that bears his name in the Western calendar, is a time to reflect on how the compulsory education system needs a fresh start in many ways, in terms of envisioning broader goals for students. It’s a fitting month.

Students need to read, write and do math, but the “back to basics” approach to promoting educational excellence developed by the Prussians hundreds of years ago is no longer sufficient.

Schools and society are experiencing major technological, environmental, cultural, and social changes. K-12 systems must embrace a more multidimensional vision of educational excellence that includes the promotion of both cognitive and non-cognitive skills.

These “two faces” (cognitive and non-cognitive) help students prepare for their future rather than their past.

Cognitive and non-cognitive skills

Performance in traditional subjects such as English, French, mathematics, and science has long been recognized as important for students’ cognitive abilities. Many parents, teachers, and policy makers are concerned that state or national test results suggest declining or stagnant performance in these curriculum areas.

But even the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is quick to point out that improved cognitive skills are necessary but insufficient for student success. The OECD, which runs the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the largest and most influential international test of reading, science and mathematics, is also considering the value of other types of learning.

A recent OECD research report, Beyond Literacy: The Progressive Value of Non-Cognitive Skills, explores how broad categories of non-cognitive skills influence important life outcomes such as educational attainment, employment, income, and self-reported outcomes. It points out how to predict. Health and life satisfaction.

growth mindset

Non-cognitive skills are also called “soft skills” and include attributes such as “growth mindset.” This refers to the common belief that success is based on hard work and dedication and has less to do with innate and fixed qualities.

Those with a high growth mindset will agree with the statement, “Math isn’t easy for me, but if I try hard, I can succeed.” Interestingly, countries with relatively high levels of growth orientation also tend to perform better academically.

emotional intelligence

Another often-noted non-cognitive skill is social-emotional learning, or sometimes referred to as emotional intelligence. The latter allows students to self-regulate and ultimately become more resilient in the face of adversity and changing times.

There are many factors that shape a child’s emotional makeup, but with the right support, social-emotional learning can develop in the classroom.

physical health and well-being

Finally, physical health and well-being are also important non-cognitive skills that are often overlooked in Canada’s education system.

As our work with colleagues suggests, state systems have given relatively little policy attention to promoting physical health during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery.

Indeed, this disturbing trend existed long before COVID-19. In some ways, we are currently faced with a disincentive epidemic of mental and physical health in schools without the benefit of appropriate interventions.

ideal and practice

Each province in Canada has complete autonomy in developing and implementing education policy and outlining the main objectives of education.

For example, in Ontario, the provincial education act states: “The purpose of education is to provide students with the opportunity to realize their potential and develop into highly skilled, knowledgeable, and caring citizens who contribute to society.” It is determined that there is. Similar educational guidance has been implemented in other states, emphasizing the importance of developing students’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes.

What is clear from these various legislative mandates is that each state appears to support a holistic view of student development. Unfortunately, goal statements that align with a student’s overall growth may look good on paper, but are rarely realized in practice.

For example, teacher education programs vary widely across and between Canadian and American states, with limited attention given to mental health-related certification standards, including social-emotional learning.

piecemeal approach

States’ approaches to assessing noncognitive skills are also fragmented, suggesting a need for more innovative and integrated assessment systems. Without the benefit of reliable and valid data sources, it is difficult to address the problem.

Similarly, fewer than half of Canadian children meet daily physical activity requirements, despite mandatory policies in provinces such as Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. Given the close association between childhood and adult obesity rates, a lack of attention to physical activity will have lasting negative effects.

Research also suggests that half of Canada’s provinces did not develop new mental health policies in the aftermath of the pandemic. Local education systems appear to be lagging in targeted policy development and implementation efforts related to non-cognitive skills.

It is clear that there is an urgent need to concretely embrace the duality of cognitive and non-cognitive skills within schools. Sometimes duality can be a good thing.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.