Education is Hard. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Educators today have an almost impossible task: they need to prepare their students (and themselves) for rapid technological and societal change while budgets are being squeezed from multiple directions. As many as 65% of children entering primary school now will eventually work in jobs that do not exist today¹ where they will require skills and competencies that are poorly served by an education system built around knowledge regurgitation and ‘teaching-to-the-test’. 

I have previously talked about how we ought to rethink education with an eye on the future, boosting competencies such as creativity and critical thinking, and harnessing the power of technology. I’ve looked at what other countries do, to see what lessons we can learn from them.

Which countries are leading the way?

Several countries are implementing noteworthy initiatives to prepare the latest generation for the future. Here are a few examples: 

• Finland²: Renowned for its consistently high academic performance, Finland prioritises skills, knowledge, creativity and equality of opportunity. The Finnish model has minimal standardised testing, and educators have significant autonomy in designing lessons that adapt to student needs. There is also a great deal of focus on student well-being, mental health, and happiness alongside academic achievement. 
• Singapore³ Known for its emphasis on STEM education and strong academic performance, Singapore has invested significantly to integrate the latest technology into classrooms. Their curriculum emphasises developing well-rounded individuals with strong critical thinking, character development, and a robust work ethic. Secondary school students follow multiple pathways catering to their strengths and learning styles. 
• Estonia⁴: Estonia stands out for its tech-driven, student-centred approach. They prioritise digital literacy and personalised learning, with strong teacher training and continuous improvement based on data analysis. This equips students with the skills and adaptability to thrive in the digital age. The Estonian education system has successfully implemented measures that prevent social stratification by ensuring all students have equal access to education and technical resources. 

Other notable examples

Several other nations are making significant strides in shaping the future of education: 

• Japan: Integrating mindfulness and emotional intelligence into the curriculum, Japan fosters well-rounded individuals equipped to handle academic challenges and navigate social complexities. 
• Canada: Championing equity and inclusion, Canada prioritizes providing all students with equal access to quality education, regardless of their background or circumstances. 
• Israel: Emphasising innovation and entrepreneurship, Israel encourages students to think creatively, solve problems, and develop their leadership skills.
• South Korea: Leading in STEM with a rigorous curriculum, strong work ethic, and top rankings in science and math, South Korea is creating a pipeline for technological innovation. However, the intense focus on academic achievement can lead to stress and anxiety among students.  

Key takeaways

The students of today need an education system that fosters adaptability, critical thinking, and lifelong learning. These are the key initiatives for countries aspiring to be educational leaders: 

• Prioritise Skills & Well-being: Move beyond rote memorisation by emphasising creativity, critical thinking, and social-emotional learning. Like Finland, invest in student well-being to create a holistic learning environment.
• Embrace Technology, Personalise Learning: Integrate technology effectively, like Estonia, fostering digital literacy and personalised learning pathways as in Singapore. 
• Invest in Teachers: Provide strong teacher training and professional development, ensuring high-quality instruction that adapts to student needs. 
• Promote Equity & Access: Like many of the countries mentioned, prioritise equal access to quality education for all students, regardless of background. 
• Embrace Innovation & Change: Continuously improve based on data, like Estonia, and encourage a culture of innovation and problem-solving, drawing inspiration from Israel. 

By implementing these initiatives, countries can create an education system that equips students to thrive in the rapidly changing world of the 21st century.

1. The future of Jobs: Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution | World Economic Forum  ︎
2. Finnish education system | Aalto University ︎
3. Overview of Singapore education system | Singapore Ministry of Education ︎
4. Estonian education system | Education Estonia ︎

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Unless you’ve been on Mars for the last 18 months or so, you’ll no doubt be aware of the hype around Artificial Intelligence (AI); the ability of computers and machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence, such as perception, learning, problem-solving, and decision-making. Even before the blanket news coverage of ChatGPT and its friends, AI was already a part of our daily lives, from Alexa and Siri to Netflix recommendations.  

Here at Conflicted Parent Towers we think that AI in the near term is probably overhyped, but we also believe that in the longer term it will have a massive impact on our lives in ways we cannot even imagine today.

Should you teach your kids about AI?

As AI becomes more prevalent and powerful, we believe that it is vital for the next generation to grow up as confident and capable users of this technology from as early an age as possible. Why? 

• Employability and career potential: According to the British Council, It is believed that as many as 65 per cent of today’s students will be employed in jobs that don’t yet exist¹. Equipping kids with AI knowledge and skills will help ensure their employability and career potential in the future. AI is not only relevant for STEM fields, but also for many other domains, such as arts, humanities, and social sciences. Many artists are fearful of Generative AI (or GenAI), with readily-available tools such as Dall-E, but the genie is out of bottle and we are going to have to learn to use it as a tool to enhance human creativity. 
• Critical thinking and digital literacy: Teaching AI to children helps develop critical thinking and digital literacy skills, which are crucial for navigating the complex and often biased information landscape. By learning how AI works, what it can and cannot do, and the ethical and social implications of using it, children can become more aware and responsible consumers and creators of technology. 
• Diversity and inclusion: To promote diversity and inclusion in the AI field, which is currently dominated by a few groups and perspectives. By exposing children from different backgrounds, genders, and abilities to AI, we can inspire and empower them to pursue their interests and passions, and to contribute to the development and use of AI for good. 
• To Stop Killer Robots – Nope, only joking! We don’t really believe in Killer Robots

Why you can’t rely on UK schools to teach AI 

The UK government has recently recognised the importance of teaching AI to young children, but it has been slow to roll out detailed policy. As a result, many (not all) teachers, parents and policymakers are not yet seeing the value or urgency of teaching it to children.  

This is leaving the UK lagging behind other countries that have already implemented AI education programmes at primary level, such as China, Australia, and the US. These countries have developed curricula, resources, and activities that introduce AI concepts and applications to children as young as five, using stories, games, and experiments. They also aim to foster AI literacy, which involves not only technical skills, but also ethical, social, and creative aspects of AI.

How should parents fill the gap while the UK education system catches up?

While the UK education system is catching up with the AI revolution, parents can play a role in filling the gap and supporting their children’s learning in this area. We suggest that you educate yourself a little about common AI tools and talk about AI with your children. We were surprised at the meaningful conversations we had with our young primary school children about its benefits, challenges, and safely concerns. You can ask your children questions that encourage them to think critically and creatively about AI, such as: 

• What is AI and how does it work? 
• What are some examples of AI that you know or use? 
• How do you feel about AI and its impact on your life? 
• What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using AI? 
• What are some of the ethical and social issues that AI raises? 
• How can you use AI for good and avoid harm? 

We also started introducing our kids to AI Image generation (supervised of course) which captured their imagination enormously, leading to more questions and self directed offline activities like drawing and storytelling. We have a whole family of AI generated super hero amphibians – all with a story to tell. Here are some of our favourite images…

In future posts, we are going to explore child friendly AI tools that we are using with our children to bring them (and us!) up to speed with this exciting new world…

1. Preparing young people for the careers of the future | British Council ︎

The post Killer Robots? Teaching your Kids about AI first appeared on Conflicted Parent.

What are 21^st Century skills?

Many organisations and thought leaders have tried to list what they think are the important skills for the 21^st century. But when you look closely, they’re all talking about the same things: thinking critically, being creative, communicating well, solving problems, working with others, and being able to use and manage information. For the purposes of this blog, the Conflicted Parent is going to use the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) list of 16 critical skills that I mentioned in this post.

The WEF splits these skills into 3 areas: foundational literacies, competencies, and character qualities. 

Foundational Literacies

The basic skills and knowledge you need to understand and engage with the world effectively, like reading and writing

• Literacy: The ability to read, write, speak, and listen in a way that allows us to communicate effectively and make sense of the world. 
• Numeracy: The ability to understand and work with numbers. 
• Scientific Literacy: The ability to understand and use scientific concepts and processes to make informed decisions about the world around us. 
• ICT literacy: The ability to use digital technology, communication tools and/or networks to define, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, create and communicate information effectively and ethically. 
• Financial literacy: The ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills including personal financial management, budgeting and investing. 
• Cultural and Civic Literacy: The ability to understand different cultures and perspective and participate effectively in civic life. 

Competencies

How you approach and handle a specific situation to achieve success 

• Critical thinking: The ability to analyse information, evaluate arguments, and make decisions based on evidence. 
• Creativity: The ability to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions to problems. 
• Communication: The ability to express oneself clearly and effectively, both verbally and in writing. 
• Collaboration: The ability to work effectively with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures. 

Character Qualities

Personal traits and behaviours that shape how you interact with others and approach situations 

• Curiosity: The desire to learn and explore new things. 
• Initiative: The ability to act and make things happen. 
• Persistence: The ability to persevere in the face of challenges and setbacks. 
• Adaptability: The ability to adjust to new situations and changing circumstances. 
• Leadership: The ability to inspire and guide others towards a common goal. 
• Social and cultural awareness: The ability to understand and appreciate different cultures and perspectives. 

To succeed, we don’t have to be experts in everything, but we do need a balance of foundational literacy, competencies, and character qualities. It’s the mix of these three that really makes the difference. 

How do these skills get applied in the real world?

Let’s illustrate this with some real-world examples: 

Sir David Attenborough has been exploring and documenting the natural world for over 60 years. Grounded in geology and zoology, which he studied at Cambridge, he has leveraged his scientific literacy to produce and present documentaries on natural history and environmental issues, where he uses his excellent communication and critical thinking competencies to explain complex scientific concepts in an engaging and accessible way. Among his character qualities is obviously curiosity: he has never ceased to be fascinated by learning new things that he can then tell us about. What may be less known are his leadership abilities. As controller of BBC2 in the channel’s infancy, he set the standard for “authored documentaries” and was responsible for commissioning programmes as varied as Match of the Day, Monty Python’s Flying Circus and The Money Programme. 

You (and your children) may know Emma Watson primarily from her work on the Harry Potter movies, but she has also exhibited her literacy and cultural and civil literacy skills as an author of books and speeches on gender equality and women’s rights. She needed her communication competency to deliver those speeches at the United Nations and in many interviews. Emma Watson’s character qualities such as initiative and leadership drove her to create the HeForShe movement to promote gender equality. 

Martin Lewis, founder of the MoneySavingExpert.com website has been promoting financial literacy and consumer rights for over 20 years, demonstrating not only his own financial literacy skills but also a healthy set of competencies and qualities including initiative, communication, collaboration and leadership. He explains complex financial concepts in an engaging and accessible way, and founded the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, which aims to improve the lives of people with mental health problems by promoting financial education and support. 

Success, for these British luminaries, as well as our children, requires a combination of all three areas – foundational literacy, competencies, and character qualities. This is what they need to thrive in an uncertain, complex, and frankly, tough world. 

Convinced? Great, you’re in good company. Globally, there’s a consensus, from UNESCO to the WEF, EU, and the UK government, that new learning approaches are needed to address challenges. However, there’s a problem: ‘there is currently little or no substantial evidence available on the most effective tools and approaches to deliver those skills’.¹

In the meantime, our education systems maintain the status quo – focusing on foundational competencies and standardised assessments. That’s not the right answer for today’s parents who must try to supplement the gaps. 

But here’s where parents can make a difference. In the absence of a globally agreed map, many innovative educators are simply taking action, and you can too! 

Join me on my journey to enrich my children’s education through meaningful family experiences, to prepare them for a future we’re only beginning to understand.

1. 21st Century Skills | Institute of Development Studies ︎

The post A Parent’s Guide to 21st Century Skills first appeared on Conflicted Parent.