21st century skills & wisdom

As we think about the future of education and the skills and knowledge that young people-- no make that all people-- need for their future, I think we need to broaden our definition of what is needed.

Stephen Hall's Wisdom contains some wisdom on what is needed...

Hall, Stephen. 2010. Wisdom: From Philosophy to Neuroscience. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

I reviewed Hall's book for Education Review... my comments seem to be gaining relevance each day:

Hall’s pillars and similar themes from other authors have 

not become obvious in the modern classroom. I write this 

review days after seeing boxes containing the latest 

iteration of our standardized tests arrive in the school 

where I work. Recent faculty meetings have focused on 

strategies for ensuring students perform well, and the days 

of test-administration promise to be stress-filled for all, 

especially for my son who attends the school where I 

work. I expect to see my son’s scores in a few months, but 

I am not sure those tests will measure wisdom. After 

reading Hall’s book, I suspect his pillars of wisdom are 

more predictive of my son’s future success than the scores 

on his upcoming standardized tests.