Competing in a global world

[Jinsei]

I have read a number of posts recently about how much more competitive the world has become, and the importance of preparing our kids to thrive and succeed in the global market. I don't doubt the truth of this, but I'm curious to know what people think will help the next generation to compete.

For me, this means focusing on the soft skills such as communication, teamwork and people skills, in addition to the more traditional qualifications etc. Cultural awareness and language skills are also important in my view. And IT literacy is another obvious one.

But I'd like to know what others think. What skills and competencies do you think your kids are going to need in order to succeed in their future careers. And do you do anything to help them acquire/develop these skills? If so, what?

xenia what are you in? You last post rambles from one explosive topic to another!

I am convinced that sometimes Xenia is quite drunk when she posts. Shouldn't be at 9:07am, but she wouldn't be the first.

I don't drink alcohol. No one is obliged to read my posts. Just miss them out if you don't like them.

xenia I really do enjoy reading ur posts.

I love xenia's posts.
Don't always agree with them, but they are always worth a read .

how wonderful to read all these positive comments about living abroad/being open to other cultures/not being tied to a "little britain" attitude, as this is how I have lived my life (much to my old-fashioned mother's dismay!)

...and "yes" also to not just wanting our DCs to "be happy"; being successful in a global world means not just settling for an easy life, but having the confidence to grasp opportunities and adapt to new ways of thinking and doing things without arrogantly thinking that the British way is best.

Re the importance of other languages, even if the languages per se do not turn out to be useful, learning another language broadens the mind, engenders understanding of different cultures and thought processes and requires attention to detail. I believe that it is always a plus to be able to offer another language, and would prioritise Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese (for Brazil).

another vote for Xenia I also don't agree with everything you say but I do find your posts worth reading, refreshingly honest and at times insightful. Not quite sure what drinking or the relationship status of a poster has to do with a good debate, but then that's just me!!

I think we will all be taking education much more seriously than we do in the next few years. Whether we like it or not I think tougher times than any of us have known are around the corner. Celebrity culture, materialism etc will all be a distant memory. I realise that many of us on here do prioritise education but we are in the minority I feel. It won't all be bad news, family, community and those things that really matter will become more important.

I envisage a situation 50 or 100 years from now when the tables turn and those in the UK will be the ones with the enrichment and study culture. Those in the East will be increasingly prosperous.

Hamish I think there needs to be a real turn around in culture.

The government will have to grasp the nettle. But so too will parents. All too often young people are accused of having a sense of entitlement and no work ethic, but where are they getting these ideas from?

Here on MN and in real life, parents, well some parents, hate the idea of their DC having to pursue difficult activities. They demonise parents like us. But the fact is the parnets themselves dislike difficult activities.

Pursuing and really working hard and really going for something that is difficult is crucial.

That's what I want my children to have, that. Have some (self-motivated) oomph and be passionate.

Yesterday I was very proud of DD.

She was running a (very long) race in a tournement. It had taken two hours to get there on a school mini bus, it was stuoidly hot and she had picked up a pair of old, no longer fitting spikes by accident.
To cap it all she was running against a girl she has come up against before and been beaten by.

She was given the choice not to run (due to the spikes) by her teacher. And she could easily ahve taken the opportunity to open a packet of Hula Hoops and cry off...

But she didn't. She ran it. She gave it her all. She didn't win but she learned a hell of a lot about herself.

wordfactory that is character! your DD will go a long way!

Well done to the wf daughter.

That's what divides the sheep from the goats. Woody Allen was asked what is the reazon for your success. He said - I show up. In some ways that's all I've done for 25 years for work - shown up, whether I feel like it or not and my children show up. Indeed in the types of jobs they are in that robustness and ability to cope (the Kipling stuff) is just as important as your A grades. If you have had the luck to come from a very hardworking family who may even think sick leave is for wimps (although I accept sometimes people are genuinely on death's door rather than have a tiny sniffle) then you are more likely to be like that.

It's one reason schools ( private and state) do well to subject children to difficult physical challenges too, the D of E awards and things like that. It helps children realise what they are capable of. If you are like that you can then survive one of the greatest challenges on earth - the tiny baby who wakes you every 2 hours night and day for 6 months to feed.

I suppose part of it is being able to cope with rejection. Many of the things I have tried I fail but I always keep going. The oldest won top prize in a competition at age 9, luxury cruise. She was so sure she'd win she picked off an air port floor about 50 competition entries to scratch them off. No one else would have tried 50 times so in a sense she made that luck. If you don't enter the race you can never win it.

Hoever there is a genuine problem at the moment. Even the most hardworking teenager or graduate in some areas cannot find any kind of job at all. I suppose that's when people try abroad. In the 1800s some of my relatives moved to England on both sides of the family from Ireland to an area with more work. Man kind for a million years has moved and spread over this planet in response to ice ages, famines and more recently work. I had my DNA tested (oxfordancestors) and my ancestor on the maternal side 25,000 years ago was in the Caucasus mountains.

Word that's fab, good stuff.

I think years of ballet did that for me. It's hard and one really has to practise and try to be any good. I remember one hour a night at age 11.

It all helps, even with the study.

hanish you post at 12.28, by then we would be saying, oh, but I am happy being poor, doing arty farty fluffy fairy things. I don't do Maths. I hate worksheets. Look at the Asians. Aren't they unhappy in their massive houses and boats and their businesses?! I am happy me. Working for them.

@mega - We are already there :)

Look at all the Nobel Prize winners we have. Look at all the literary geniuses we have. Look at all those foreigners flocking to study at our universities. This is what our great British education system has to offer the world.

Great, except that these Nobel Prize winners were educated about 30 years ago. Today we are churning out graduates in Media Studies and Sports Science as opposed to scientists and engineer.

If I can imbue my DC with anyhting, it is the need to be robust and flexible.

People think that the way we bring up our DC is about eliteism. But that's not it really is it? It's not the whole story anyway.

Winning and being the best is lovely, but it really isn't necessary. You just need to be very good. A high standard.

After that it's all about being robust. Facing rejection head on. And being as flexible as possible.

wordfactory I think we may have been separated at birth...you have nailed it: robust and flexible

I want my DC to have lots of skills and to be aware of what they do know, and what they don't (yet) know.