The 7C’s are:
• Curiosity
• Critical Thinking
• Creativity
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Core Strengths
• Complex Problem Solving
Most are hopefully self-explanatory, but Core Strengths include areas such as empathy, resilience and Emotional Intelligence.
There has been some excellent research into C’s skills and various ‘C’ models have been developed before (4C’s for example), particularly in North America but they are not widely known. As a University Lecturer, I am at a very early stage in researching and developing them. And they definitely need far greater investigation by people far more capable than I. The 7C’s are also not perfect. As George Box once said ‘all models are wrong but some are useful’. I believe that they may be wrong can definitely be incredibly useful.
For example, The 7C’s are be relevant to every subject and discipline, whether primary, secondary, further or higher education. Just think about the UK’s amazing response to developing vaccines for Covid, for example. The 7C’s connect to every single aspect of this process. Or consider the Olympic opening ceremony, or the quest to win The Tour De France, or the continuing success of a business-like Leon or Tesla. The 7C’s are fundamental to all of them. These examples also demonstrate how important the first 6 C’s are to the 7th – Complex Problem Solving – and how we need to consider future skills holistically.
The 7C’s are also directly relevant to business and our economy. For example, the World Economic Forum state that the top ten skills of 2025 are:
• Analytical thinking and innovation
• Active learning and learning strategies
• Complex problem solving
• Critical thinking and analysis
• Creativity, originality and initiative
• Leadership and social influence
• Technology use, monitoring and control
• Technology design and programming
• Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
• Reasoning, problem solving and ideation
The 7C’s can be matched to all of these future skills.
For employers, research shows that ‘65% of children entering primary schools today will ultimately work in new jobs and functions that don’t currently exist’. So how can we equip them with future skills? Again, with employers, according to the CBI, over one third of employers are concerned about graduate skills attributes. The main issues being with resilience, self-management and cultural and commercial awareness. And for university students, 80% of graduates now achieve an Upper Second or a First Degree, so how can they define, identify and promote their knowledge, skills and attributes to potential employers?
But The 7C’s are most relevant to our schools. When you are trying to explore a subject such as The Industrial Revolution, then curiosity is fundamental. When you are debating a societal issue then critical thinking and communication are integral. When you are working in a team to create an experiment or produce a play, then collaboration is vital.
The 7C’s fit naturally into our current and future curriculums. They can also be introduced gradually across the years. For example, in Finland, primary school children are being taught critical thinking in order to help them deal with fake news. So, we could start with Curiosity for younger children, then introduce Critical thinking. As our students develop learning a Creative process such as Fresh thinking could be hugely beneficial (perhaps another model that I have developed, The 5I’s, but that’s another story). As they develop, we could introduce Collaboration and Communication. As they mature, we can start to talk about Core Strengths such as time management, mindfulness or stress management. Then finally we show how all these skills work together to allow us to solve Complex problems. Issues like renewable energy, responsible consumerism and many of the other problems that our young minds will need to understand and respond to in the future.
Yuval Noah Harari, talking of future skills in his book ‘21 lessons for the 21st Century.’ stated that: ‘In order to keep up with the world of 2050, you will need not merely to invent new ideas and products – you will above all need to reinvent yourself again and again.’
The 7C’s offers a simple, memorable and effective model that demystifies the skills, traits and attributes that future generations will need. The 7C’s are designed to help young people understand, practice and apply the skills that they will we need in the future to thrive, prosper and be happy. In work and beyond. I also believe that they will make education more effective, fulfilling, fun and relevant to our future lives.
The 7C’s also enable those not in education to understand what our young people are learning and how we can match those skills to our future needs. This should not be underestimated. If an employer and an employee could connect through a shared language, rather than a paper certificate, this could contribute hugely to our future economic growth.
I realise that this response to the Heywood Contest is not perfect. But I believe that it could start a fascinating conversation and that it directly responds to your question of how to respond to a challenge or opportunity presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. I genuinely believe that Future Skills and the 7C’s could help the world become a better place. Future skills for a smarter world. I hope that you agree.
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