Позитивные изменения. Том 2, № 2 (2022). Positive changes. Volume 2, Issue 2 (2022)

Source: John OP, Srivastava S. The Big Five trait taxonomy: History, measurement and theoretical perspectives. Chapter 4. In: Pervin L.A., John O.P., editors. Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research. New York: The Guilford Press; 1999. pp. 102–138.

Heckman J. J., Kautz T. (2012). Hard evidence on soft skills. Labour Econ. Aug 1; 19(4): 451–464

WILL SOFT SKILLS TRAINING BE UNNECESSARY AT THE SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE?

We can say that experts agree that if the school is properly configured with "hidden educational content", then children will acquire soft skills naturally, as part of school life.

Svetlana Marzeyeva believes that it is not necessary to impose either «hard» or «soft» skills on children: "Any school that wants to meet the current trends must put aside control and evaluation and focus instead on helping students develop and master their personal educational goals; that is, children in today’s school must cease to be objects of educational activity. As soon they become subjects, the question of «hard» and «soft» skills will fade away by itself. It doesn’t matter what to teach, it matters who to teach. And that determines how they will be taught."

Alexey Semyonychev explains that if the principles developed in alternative education are implemented in practice, this will effectively mean that separate, special training in school for flexible skills will no longer be necessary. "Soft skills, democratic education, free education are parts of a common democratic concept. If the schools change towards alternative, informal education, as we are planning it, "soft skills" training will no longer be necessary. The school system itself, each teacher’s mode of instruction, the system of school organization — all this will work to ensure that the child grows up as a free and independent person, right from the start. In turn, freedom and independence themselves will give birth to all the ’soft skills’ you can think of," the expert says.

What can change and improve a school? The three slogans of the French Revolution — liberty, equality, fraternity — are as relevant here as never before.

What can change and improve a school? The three slogans of the French Revolution — liberty, equality, fraternity — are as relevant here as never before. "The school of the future should at least be a free school, which respects every student and is free from any form of violence. Violence is inability to negotiate. And the ability to negotiate is a soft skill. The school of the future should not be based on child abuse or classroom abuse", Alexey Semyonychev summarized.

In the future issues we will talk more about schools in Russia and abroad where soft skills development is already integrated into the curriculum.

LIST OF SOURCES USED:

1. Foxford.Media. Soft skills — what they are and where to learn them. 18.03.2019.

2. Mann C. (1918) a Study of Engineering Education. Boston: the Merrymount Press.

3. Strauss V. (2017) the surprising thing Google learned about its employees — and what it means for today's students.

4. Faye F. (2016). If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich? Bloomberg.

5. Heckman J. J., Kautz T. (2012). Hard evidence on soft skills. Labour Econ. Aug 1; 19(4): 451–464.

6. Gray A. (2016) the 10 skills you need to thrive in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

7. OECD (2015). Skills for Social Progress: the Power of Social and Emotional Skills, OECD Skills Studies, OECD Publishing, Paris.

8. OECD Skills Outlook.

9. National Soft Skills Association (NSSA).