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Soft skills: why school doesn't teach what the world of work demands today

2021-08-30T15:26:28.544Z


Critical thinking, problem solving and decision making are capacities that the current system does not include. The look of experts and international organizations.


Jasmine Bazán

08/30/2021 12:14

  • Clarín.com

  • Society

Updated 08/30/2021 12:14 PM

The official Pedagogical Continuity Survey shows that, of the 10 million students in the country, at least

1 million dropped out of school during the pandemic

.

The drama focuses on the

Secundary level.

Scholars in the field point out that the so-called

"soft skills"

are a necessary pillar to reinforce (or resume) the

pedagogical bond with adolescents, as well as to promote successful school careers that facilitate

entry into the world of work

.

What are those skills and how can they be trained?

Do they exist in educational programs?

What is the performance of Argentine students in this area?

Clarín

spoke with

specialists and national and international organizations

to answer these questions.

A very particular origin

Jorge Catelli

, psychoanalyst, professor, researcher at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and member of the Didactic Function in the Argentine Psychoanalytic Association (APA), states that the emphasis on what today are called

soft skills

(or soft skills) arose from starting from the observation of

American troops in the seventies.

Soft skills in the world of work.

Illustration: Hugo Horita.

Everything indicated that the best performance did not occur in the groups with greater knowledge in the handling of artillery, nor in the most submissive, but in

those that had a series of qualities

: good intra and intergroup communication, collaborative work, assertive and effective communication .

From there a series of values ​​emerged, taken up by Education Sciences and occupational psychology, which gain vitality in crisis contexts such as the current one.

Catelli names

crisis management

and

cooperative leadership skills

as two clear examples.

In the educational field, the study of these capacities has a long tradition, in charge of figures such as Vigotsky, Bruner and Piaget.

But the soft skills, in reality, would exist "since humanity is such", since they are

essential for survival

: as the human being is the only animal that is born defenseless and vulnerable, it requires others to survive.

Back to school after winter break in the City of Buenos Aires.

Photo Andrés D'Elia

From the psychoanalytic point of view, Catelli distinguishes the

communicational and social

factor

, the ability to carry out tasks in a participatory way, giving entity to the other person.

Should these capacities be learned during childhood and adolescence or can they be incorporated in later instances?

"If people go through experiences that privilege solidarity and teamwork early, these will be enhanced."

The role of the school and adults is fundamental.

They can also be exercised in the future, although, according to the professional, "all training will be post-education."

The Internet revolution generated a crisis in the scholastic model of teaching,

where knowledge was centralized.

"What does the school teach today and what should it teach?"

asks the teacher.

Internet changed the paradigm of access to knowledge.

In an age where knowledge abounds (because of unprecedented connectivity),

critical thinking

would be a fundamental soft skill to select information sharply and not naively.

Pandemic and regional framework

Daniela Trucco

is Social Affairs Officer in the Social Development Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

A first piece of information is that Latin America and the Caribbean constitute

one of the regions of the world with the longest interruption of face-to-face classes

, with an average of 48 weeks with partial or complete closings.

That is, more than one academic year.

"This

is

definitely

going to have an impact

."

Trucco points out the need to prioritize the socio-emotional well-being of the educational community: "soft skills to be able to recover the teaching processes and connection with education".

The secondary level is the most affected by school dropouts in times of crisis.

Photo Luciano Thieberger.

"The training of citizens who are critical and prepared for diversity since before the pandemic. This is an opportunity to make visible the importance that this type of skills have. We already knew that we were facing a scenario of

high uncertainty regarding the present and the future

, in a world scenario marked by constant economic, political, environmental and social changes, which profoundly affect educational and labor paths. The new generations live in a

complex and challenging context

", he emphasizes.

"From ECLAC we are investigating what skills the future will demand, in order to develop them today from education. The report that we published last year together with the Organization of Ibero-American States estimates that about

half of the occupations could be automated in the near future

and that young people would be the most affected, "says the expert.

In the same study it is observed that, among the

most demanded skills in the labor market

, are the ability to learn, adaptability, collaboration, verbal and written communication, creativity and innovation, problem solving and decision making. decision making, critical thinking, information and data management, leadership, technology and computing.

"The students who were best able to address the current crisis are those with autonomy to continue learning and connecting," defines Trucco.

The "agency" is key to new ways of learning.

"Although there is a narrative on these competences, which has been incorporated into the educational legislation of the countries of the region, its application continues to be imperfect and requires greater coordination at

the budgetary and public policy level,

" says the specialist of the ECLAC.

Specific subject or transversal content?

Micaela Finoli

is a lawyer from the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and has a Master's degree in Educational Management from the Universidad de San Andrés.

She worked in the Unit for the Comprehensive Evaluation of Educational Quality and Equity of the Ministry of Education of the City of Buenos Aires, and currently works as an associate researcher

for the Inter-American Dialogue Education Program.

The expert clarifies that there is no consensus on how to name these competencies.

Some speak of soft skills, others of non-cognitive, life skills or "for the 21st century."

"Specifically in the educational field, there is an incipient consensus that the most appropriate name is

Socioemotional Skills

(HSE)", he complements.

Finoli reports that, "in all cases, skills related specifically to academic activities that impact school performance are included: for example, motivation, determination, perseverance."

And they can predict good development in the workplace, but also in relationships and even in health.

Although the family, the social environment and different institutions collaborate in its development, Finoli points to the

school role.

This incorporation can be done

in a transversal way

(as it happens in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and other countries in the region) or it can be included

as a specific subject

(this is the case in Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru).

"The case of Peru is interesting, because the subject is presented specifically at the secondary level and focuses on 'education for work'", exemplifies the educator.

"While inclusion in curricula and assessments is a great advance, there is still much to do. Especially thinking about what tools are being provided to teachers to carry out this task," he concludes.

Problem solving deficit

The

PISA tests

(Program for International Student Assessment) examine, in different countries, the performance of 15-year-old students in key subject areas, as well as their motivation to learn, their conception about themselves and their learning strategies.

The project was born with the idea of ​​creating "a common language" and a "global platform for collaboration" in pedagogical matters

,

Andreas Schleicher

tells

Clarín

, from his Paris office

.

Andreas Schleicher.

/ AFP

He is director of the educational area of ​​the

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and creator of the PISA.

The "soft" skills are at the center of his interest.

You know that in Argentina these tests have been criticized, since they examine aspects that are

not learned in school

: this is precisely their objective.

Schleicher affirms: "

Argentine students are good at remembering content.

That is why they yield better results when they are asked questions related to the curriculum, than when they are asked to apply this knowledge to other areas".

The resolution of

specific exercises of a certain complexity is deficient in the country

, according to its indicators.

"Still in Argentina,

students are trained to memorize

the contents of the subjects. In other countries, education was transformed to help

think more critically

. In the times in which we live we have to develop skills that create value, not just replicate existing knowledge, "he warns.

During the pandemic, about 1 million children dropped out of school.

Photo Luciano Thieberger.

In his experiences in local classrooms he noted that Science, for example, is instilled "almost like a religion."

In other parts of the world, on the other hand, it is taught to "question the contents, to investigate, to identify effects, to draw conclusions based on evidence, to

distinguish facts from opinions

".

"We are not only interested in whether students handle certain aspects of Science or Chemistry, for example, but if they can think like scientists, do experiments, ask scientifically relevant questions. We look at whether students can apply their skills creatively in situations that are not to them. they are familiar ", details the scholar.

PISA Assessors are trained in Science, Mathematics, Problem Solving, and Language.

But they do not focus only on curricular content.

The team is made up of educators, but also professionals who apply mathematics or language analysis in their work routine.

"In the tests we do not tell the students to answer a slogan by means of an equation, but we give them a real life problem, so that they can exercise what contents learned in school serve to solve it. Many students in Argentina

have problems with this,

"adds Schleicher.

The changes targeted by the OECD have to do with the curriculum, but also with the relationship between students and teachers.

They also raise the need for

teacher training

, which enables students to question established knowledge, rather than "absorb".

Finally, they suggest reviewing what content is evaluated in the different areas and how.

Crisis effect

"As stated in a study by the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture of Argentina, together with organizations such as UNICEF and UNESCO, the gaps during the pandemic widened. Not only due to the lack of connectivity, devices and resources technological, but also because

the first ones who had to go to work are those most in need

. "

Villa 31 in Retiro.

The economic crisis also affects school dropouts.

Photo Maxi Failla.

The speaker is

Facundo Pajon

, with a degree in Political Science from the University of La Matanza, a master's degree in Education Policy and Administration at the University of Tres de Febrero and a member of the

Fundación Voz

coordination team

.

The organization is dedicated to studying, learning about, and transforming high school.

Pajon recalls that crises have a direct impact on classrooms and mentions that, from 1993 to date,

the year that enrollment dropped the most was 2002

: after the financial and social explosion.

"There are schools that do prepare adolescents well for the world of work and others that do not.

It has to do with the system

: it is impossible to think of a complete educational project, when teachers have to work in many schools to have a

salary dignified

and they do not have time concentration, nor institutional time to think about how to improve the subjects, "he adds.

From his experience, he extracts that the best results come from those institutions that maintain permanent ties with their community;

that are open and participatory for parents and students;

that are led by a management team that drives transformation projects;

where projects with new learning modalities are worked on and

each student is fully accompanied.

MG


Look also

Educational drama: they offer jobs and do not find young people with completed high school

They launch a campaign to reduce school dropouts that increased due to the pandemic

Source: clarin

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