May 2015
While taking another class at Ball State University involving high school curriculum, I came across a great book,“The Global Achievement Gap,” which all teachers should at least skim. In this book, Dr. Wagner interviews many teachers, administrators, business leaders, and college professors, to compile what he calls “The Seven Survival Skills” that all children need to survive in today’s world. He defines them as the following (Spoiler alert!): 1) Critical Thinking and Problem Solving 2) Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence 3) Agility and Adaptability 4) Initiative and Entrepreneurialism 5) Effective Oral and Written Communication 6) Accessing and Analyzing Information and 7) Curiosity and Imagination.
Dr. Wagner does a great job of explaining each of the following skills, going into detail as to what leaders in almost every career field are looking for. Dr. Wagner then goes into many schools and classrooms, looking for those instances by which these survival skills are being cultivated, and displays the classes that show the, and the ones that don’t. He concludes by explaining ways that we as teachers can help students learn these skills, and more importantly, make students want to learn them. It really isn’t that long of a read, but I would suggest you get your own copy. If you are a teacher, you will probably do some highlighting. The current version (2015) also includes a section on what has happened in Dr. Wagner’s research 5 years later, after the original book was published.
You can find the book on amazon here
Wagner, T. (2008). The global achievement gap: Why even our best schools don’t teach the new survival skills our children need–and what we can do about it. New York: Basic Books
