The six C's in Education - Does it make sense or difference in Higher Education?

In several different countries new educational models are being tested and implemented. Most of the efforts aims to try to use education to allow students, especially poor ones, to “become architects of their own lives,” in the words of Fernando Reimers, director of the Global Education Innovation Initiative at Harvard University.

In 2014 Reimers wrote: (...) Give kids the right skills, and they can be productive citizens and fulfil the great promise of the Enlightenment, which “espoused that ordinary people can rule themselves, assisted by reason and science and by the capacity to associate with others to improve themselves and their communities, and in so doing reduce human suffering,”

Also in Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us About Raising Successful Children, Kathy Hirsh-Paseka of Temple University and Roberta Golinkoff from the University of Delaware integrate the sciences of learning—neuroscience, developmental psychology, and education research—to figure out what skills matter and why. They map the most important skills and how they materialize in different developmental stages of childhood.

They call these skills the “six C’s”: collaboration, communication, content, critical thinking, creative innovation, and confidence. These are intricately intertwined.

My questions is simple: Can or should these approach's only be tried in primary and secondary educational levels? I really understand that change and big shifts are achieved by generational layers, but being an Academic teacher at University level should i keep my arms crossed watching these educational (R)evolution or MUST i do something and make my contribution and let my higher education students to experiment different models and learning approaches?

I not good in keeping my arms crossed and watch! I'm basically a DOER! I have been researching and creating my own teaching models and tools to address exactly the same issues that all these articles and academics Observed and are trying to find new and innovative solutions. In short the problem's aroused are in its essence the same!

We are not training our students to become Doer's! We are not developing the right set of skills that will help them to succeed in real life context! We are teaching them formulas for problems that dont exist anymore and we are not preparing them with the set of skills and competences to make "Problem Finders" and "Solutions providers".

That is why i have already Changed my teaching approach and philosophy! My classes happen in a radical collaboration setting, they are completely content oriented, meaning that the students dont apply formulas! They have to develop their own processes to find the real problems, envolve the community in the solutions and strategically think about how to implement them creating positive impact in the society!

I am focused on providing the right environment to help the students to develop their own mindset and attitude towards their role in the world today and find the exact spot where they can make the difference! It is a personalised journey of self discovery but within a collective and community frame...

And YES i really think that is still time to introduce these changes at University level, even is a huge opportunity to do it in the E-learning paradigm! The new online education must address the "togetherness" and the peer-to-peer learning approach!

I have been dedicating the last 10 years of my lecturer and research life to this CHANGE opportunity. Sometimes even against the Mainstream of the Academia way of doing....But the growing movement for Educational (R)evolution is giving me the sense that it as been a fight in the right direction!

And the "Six C's" are really connected to same of the drivers on "how to change" the learning experience:

Collaboration -

• Complete change of the classroom environment and scenario,
• Changing from individual learning mindset to "learning well with others".
• Introduces the peer dimension to the student perception of "from whom to learn".
• Is not only about the teacher anymore is even more important the learning from each other approach.

Communication -

• Its about dialogue between all Stakeholders
• Knowing "how to listen"
• Express yourself - Learning anytime, anywhere with everybody (if you know how express yourself clearly)
• Know how to make the right questions

Content -

• Knowledge is about CREATING not repeating
• Become a Doer, a maker of your own Statements in life
• Is about personalisation and personality - Being yourself
• Is about being genuine and authentic

Critical thinking -

• Develop your systemic skills
• Develop your own process
• Understand your decision making process
• Be rational and objective to MAKE and IMPLEMENT

Creative innovation -

• Allow yourself to try and fail
• Build your iteraction skills
• Learn the diverge/converge techniques
• Be bold and ambitious

Confidence -

• Build your self trust
• Trust in your colleagues and peers
• Trust in your differentiation factors
• Be self confident in your achievements, dont give up at the first no

The end results that i am obtaining at my home based University IADE-creative University with my students at the Degree level, Pos-graduation level and Ph.D level, as well as the increasing value that my methods and tools are perceived by the students of the Universities that invite me as guest lecturer, as Karel de Grote in Antwerp-Belgium and FH.Volalrberg in Dornbirn-Austria (where i have been teaching students from all corners of the world), empowers me to keep researching, developing models and tools to MAKE my contribution to this Education (R)evolution Movement!

Américo Mateus Ph.D in Management and Innovation-Teacher/researcher/entrepreneur/creative leader - Faculty and IDEAS(R)EVOLUTION Applied Research group coordinator at Universidade Europeia /IADE – Creative University Portugal. He is an active Business entrepreneur in the fields of Design and Innovation, marketing, Social Innovation and Creativity. Américo is a System Thinker, course creator, creative leader, models and tools developer and at his essence a provocateur, disruption igniter and bias toward change. His passion is to challenge existing dogmas and paradigms applying research methods designed “trough the Eyes of the user/consumer”. He his a “Science to the market believer” and his work as a senior innovation facilitator and cross-pollination mind-set his recognise by his co-workers, students, colleagues and peers. Is quest for “doing things different and better” makes him an inspirational leader and an innovation faculty and speaker.