Presentation 1
Mark Le Messurier, New Year 2019, educator workshop 1 of 12
Growing human identity in young people
Ideas to teach what it is 'to be human' to young people (3 hours)
There's a wind of change, and it's becoming more and more conspicuous. Once upon a time, the Australian curriculum was exclusively packed with the 'hard skills' - reading, writing, spelling, mathematics, digital technologies, coding and so on. Suddenly, a new capability has emerged under the banner of 'soft skills' or 'social and emotional literacy' - our ability to organise our lives, to recognise and manage our own emotions, and the emotions of others.
Recently, Jack Ma, Professor John Hattie and the esteemed Sir Ken Robinson have raised the importance of teaching these skills in schools. They say the rise in machines and bots powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) has already changed the world, and will continue to change it, profoundly, and quickly. They say machines and robots are likely to replace 800 million current jobs by 2030, and if we do not change the way we teach and employ people, then our kids will be in trouble.
The 'soft skills' are what makes us thoroughly human. They set us apart from machines, and we need to be teaching to our kids the essence of what makes us who we are. So how do we teach this to children? The work that stands before us demands we take our best ideas, strongest impressions of the future and test them by putting them into action in classrooms with our kids. The starting point is to ask kids, "What is it to be a human?" "What is our uniqueness or specialties?" Their answers, and ours, are the qualities to nurture, polish and make the most of – in schools and at home. Let's explore!
Educator workshops are intended for staff working in schools, for clinicians such as counsellors, psychologists, OT's, speech pathologists, social workers and youth workers working in private practice and for parents running home school. To arrange a workshop at a time that suits your staff, simply contact Mark:
Mark Le Messurier
Phone (08) 83320698,
email mark@marklemessurier.com.au
