Would You Hire Your Own Kids?

7 Skills Schools Should Be Teaching Them

 By Tony Wagner

  "The ability to ask the right questions is the single most important skill. --President, BOC Edwards

I've spent the last two years researching and writing a new book, The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don't Teach The New Survival Skills Our Children Need -- and What We Can Do About It. I began with several questions: First, in the new global economy, where any job that can be turned into a routine is being either automated or "off-shored," what skills will our students need to get -- and keep -- a good job. And what skills are needed for citizenship today? Are these education goals in conflict, I wondered.

With a clearer picture of the skills young people will need, I then set out to learn to what extent we are teaching and testing the skills that matter most. And because we already know that many of our nation's urban schools are failing, I chose to observe classrooms in some of our most highly regarded suburban schools in order to understand whether our "best" was, in fact, good enough for our children's future. What I discovered in this journey may come as a surprise to many.

One of my first interviews was with Clay Parker, the President of the Chemical Management Division of BOC Edwards -- a company that, among other things, makes the machines and supplies the chemicals for the manufacture of microelectronics devices, including silicon semiconductors and flat panel displays. He's an engineer by training and the head of a very technical business, so when I asked him about the skills he looks for when he hires young people into the company, I was taken aback by his answer.

"First and foremost, I look for someone who asks good questions," Parker responded. "Our business is changing, and so the skills our engineers need change rapidly, as well. We can teach them the technical stuff. But for employees to solve problems or to learn new things, they have to know what questions to ask. And we can't teach them how to ask good questions - how to think. The ability to ask the right questions is the single most important skill."

"What other skills are you looking for?" I asked, expecting that he'd jump quickly to content expertise.

"I want people who can engage in good discussion --who can look me in the eye and have a give and take."

"I don't understand," I confessed.

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