Instilling 21st Century Skills at Home

We are in the information age with a myriad of technology at our beck and call just for anything you can imagine! The education sector is having its own fair share too with several institutions around the world conducting research on 21 century teaching methodologies etc, to further intensify education reforms against traditional mode of education. As it stands, the child needs to consciously imbibe 21 century skills to survive at a time as ours and especially for the envisioned future. However, one often neglected and not revered environment where the child learns first-hand about survival skills for the 21 century is the home.

The home is the very foundation upon which the society’s architecture is built. Quite popular is the cliché Charity begins at home, but fast eroding from our culture is it too. Unfortunately, the survival skills for this age are embedded in the underlining principles of age-old traditional values that have not been conscientiously handed down from generation to generation or communicated in the form that is intuitively deciphered by the child. To put it more aptly, skills needed in the 21 century are really not new. The challenge is just that the rapidity of change within the technological, economic, political, socio-cultural landscapes caught us unprepared!

Consciously or otherwise, children closely observe their parents. For instance, when both parents work very hard at their professions to progressively climb the corporate ladder or build their careers either as employees or entrepreneurs, to put food on table, pay school fees and provide other basic needs to make the children comfortable; when they hear their parents repeatedly shout and talk down on domestic helps for their sake (in their presence); when they feel the aura of unhealthy competition between their parents who want to win them over with gifts and soften disciplinary measures; when they see their parents’ judgement at the instance of sibling rivalry they occasionally experience as children etc, how do children interpret the message?

Feeble, playful but fertile, the mind of children amazingly grasp concepts not conceived by you when you were their age. And because little personal attention is given by those who truly matter (or at best by domestic helps) during their formative years to intelligently nurture, guide or shape their thoughts and ideas, they often find themselves in a dilemma of misinterpreting the home’s message and accepting the tainted societal standards.

In today’s world where life-long learning, network and adaptability etc are priceless, has the home brought out the genuine lessons in applying oneself to productive ventures as opposed to mere being busy with activities; the values of integrity and trust as bases of any enduring relationship; the virtues of mutual respect and love regardless of the societal class anyone belongs; the gain of showing empathy and working as a team in the family? Gradually, children sink in the wrong perceptions and painfully, parents do not realise early the havoc they have caused their children until they grow to be adults.

Little wonder these adults cannot critically think and responsibly make certain independent decisions; show initiative except being always prompted; take ownership of parents’ businesses or have entrepreneurial drive; willingly serve others and engage in community development projects as part of their contribution to building the society we live, to say the least. To whom much is given, much is expected; but often time, these children fall short of their parents’ expectations.

Education is holistic. It is a process that must deliberately begin at home. The mandatory time spent by children over the years within the four walls of the classroom learning is never always sufficient. In order to give profound meaning to the subjects learnt from our schools, prepare our children for the new technologically driven world and forestall future outcomes owing to negligence, parents, as strategic partners have huge part to play in this shared responsibility of engaging in their children’s learning.

This article was originally posted by school tips and more magazine.
-Akintunde Akinmolayan