Home schooling parents have some concerns, especially when comparing their children to those in traditional schooling. For one, they look at the humungous syllabus and heavy text books school-going children ‘absorb’ and wonder if their children are not missing out on some vital info.
Two, they ask us what skills do we train our children for, to equip them for the job market 15-20 years hence.
The answer to the first question is simple: take any of the children who have passed out of regular schooling, and ask them a question from those text tomes. Even in less than two years from graduation, they would not remember any of the info. Forget the time when they are at the peak of their careers. This is simply because most of what we ‘study’ is not relevant to our daily lives or career. So then, why put a child through all that unnecessary stress? Isn’t it enough to know exactly what we need? That is what we learn in home schools, open schools, etc. Once the child identifies his or her interest and aptitude, we help them to master the topic and pick up the relevant skills. Less irrelevant info, more specific knowledge; less stress, more learning.
Coming to the second question, we will look at it here in more depth.
What skills will the children need some 15-20 years from today? It’s anybody’s guess. We cannot predict at all. Especially with the advent of AI and bots that can handle a whole range of tasks, we cannot say how the future develops. However, we must remember that some 20-30 years back we did not predict that computers would invade every sector. We prepared for some skill sets and ended up learning a whole set of new skills. Therefore, I would suggest that we do not worry about the skills required in the future.
But let us be clear here, we are talking of hard skills like the ones that can be taught or picked up from classes/courses. This could be technical skills around the use of equipment, hardware or tools, processes, etc and cover anything from computer hardware, coding, management, design, data mining, diagnostics, research, marketing, presentation, finance, planning, budget, writing, etc.
We truly cannot predict how many of these will still be needed two decades from now. But there is a bunch of skills that will still be required at any time, and those are the life skills and soft skills. These are what we can help our children acquire. We will look at them in detail. But let me clarify here that all three are inter-related and inter-dependent to some extent.
Soft skills
How are soft skills different? A simple definition to make it clear is this: Your qualification (covering your hard skills) will get you called for an interview, but your soft skills will determine if you sail through! So does it mean soft skills are more important ? No. But they are as important, and yet neglected, compared to hard skills. Given a person who is technically sound but a social misfit and one who is technically average but has good people skills and communication, the latter has more chance to land a job. In fact, a LinkedIn study showed a slightly higher preference for soft skills over hard skills among employers.
Life skills deal with knowing to take care of your body, mind and soul. These cover various aspects of daily routines from hygiene, food and nutrition, medical basics, health, and so on. Soft skills are those that help you survive and flourish in society, be it communication, problem solving, organising skills, time management, prioritising, teamwork, etc.
Being methodical and organised will not only get you to work on time daily, but will help you get the desired results much faster than someone who has all the knowledge but is totally disorganised. So also, one may know a lot but unless able to communicate this across effectively, through speech, PPTs or articles, it is of no use. Today, very few jobs are done in isolation, except for a few scientists at lab perhaps. This calls for being able to work as a team and collaborate. So also, knowing which task to prioritise is very important. Deadlines are strictly adhered to and require staff to manage time efficiently.
On the job learning
It becomes clear how soft skills are as essential as hard skills picked up through attending classes or courses. However, soft skills cannot be taught. While some of it is inborn, much of it can be picked up from the environment. Exposure to job environments become very important. This is one of the focus areas of informal schooling where children move around people of different age groups and observe. Children learn by seeing and doing. Immerse them in an environment where they can pick up the above soft skills. Often this begins at home. Home schooling contributes largely to this aspect of education. It could be simple things like doing a chore together or keeping your cupboard stacked neatly. A leakage in the roof may require an expert but the discussion at home can include the children.
We can help train our children in the basic ABC factors – appearance, body language and communication. The way you are dressed and groomed, your behaviour and the way you communicate have a strong impact on whom you interact with. Not just your clothes, but how presentable the overall image is, plays an important role at work. This is complemented with the way you behave. Being courteous, able to listen and not just speak, empathetic, friendly and approachable, honest, ready to apologise when wrong, etc are some behaviour patterns that children can pick up from watching adults. In communication too, the body language plays a significant role and can convey the ease and confidence of the speaker. Communication is often said to be 70 percent body language, 20 pc voice tone and only 10 pc the actual words. A voice that commands attention need not necessarily be loud. A clear speech with simple words can have more impact than high-sounding prose delivered in a monotone! Making eye contact is one trait that comes in handy too.
Life Skills
So, instead of breaking our heads on what hard skills will be relevant 15 years later, let us focus on what will still be. Like breathing! Yes, they will need to breathe so why not teach them techniques in conscious breathing that have been proven to aid overall health. As attention spans plummet, breathing practices can help the brain slow pace and become more sharp. This has been scientifically validated.
Likewise, our children will still need to eat. But with soils being depleted of nutrients, and water polluted, what kind of future do they face? Why not show them ways to grow their small patches of vegetables with no chemical? Why not talk to them about various kinds of food and their impact? My son Sai has taken a course in Satvik food that educates children on what foods have a calming effect on the body and mind. Children can be taught to eat mindfully, instead of food on a plate in one hand and the mobile on the other hand.
Small ways in which each one can contribute to make the planet a better place for all life, such knowledge can be shared to make them aware and act towards a prosperous future.
Take your child to live in a farm or a forest for a few days and see how they pick up life essential skills needed for survival. Lessons in coexistence, teamwork, nature cycles, the role of the earthworm and the bee, mulching techniques, pest management, growing food, lighting a fire, the myriad of plant species and their interdependence, and much more can be learnt.
And then, there is financial literacy we can educate them for. Making it a habit to save money is very important. Not only will this help one in times of recession with jobs vanishing overnight, but it will also give one the luxury of quitting a job and falling back on reserves, instead of continuing to work in toxic environments. It is imperative to have in bank a minimum corpus of six times your monthly requirement, always. We have learnt this from our experiences through the covid and other unexpected external pressures. The corpus is never touched, unless there is an emergency. At E Construct, this has helped us immensely to know we have a corpus fund for 12 months even if we fail to earn a rupee!
Lifelong learning
Without soft skills you will remain a back runner always. When recession hit the job market, Sandeep lost his job but was not too perturbed as he was confident of the many soft skills he had honed up. Like the bird on a tree, we need to make our wings stronger rather than think of the branch we sit on. Let us train our children to be confident and courageous to take the right decisions for themselves.
Yes, soft skills will take a longer time to be picked up than hard skills that need a short duration or course to be learnt. Soft skills are picked up from the environment around us and hence, home plays an important role. Soft skills are a lifelong learning process. Integrity, willingness to learn, open mindedness and adaptability are some personality traits one picks up at various stages of life and become your soft skills. Hard skills can be measured by tests but soft skills cannot be. This is also why perhaps an employer will prefer a candidate with soft skills and no hard skills as he can be taught the latter easily. One who is heavily equipped with hard skills but nil soft skill will be tough to train.
Now let us look at regular school and home school to see which is more amenable to children picking up soft skills. The environment in an informal system like home school is such that opportunities are many for the student to pick up soft skills as well as the hard skills that he/she needs. The time spent in landing a job is comparably much lesser in home schooling than regular schooling. This is because in regular schooling so much of time is spent in learning so many subjects and hence, hard skills than one will ever use in one’s career. In a home school environment, children are immersed in the work atmosphere and are assimilating so many more soft skills as they watch and learn by doing things with people of different age groups. The hard skills and information they gather is restricted to the areas of their interest/aptitude. The run up from school to a job is much shorter.
Any doubts still, on which one you want for your child???