Universities
August 28, 2008 by Holst Group
Edward de Bono’s Message
Universities need to change from providing information to developing skills.
These skills would include: information skills, Thinking skills, people skills, management skills, operational skills, project skills etc.
The ‘road map’ concept of education is not good enough. It is not enough to provide road maps of knowledge. You need to teach the skills of choosing the best route and the skill of driving itself.
I could not agree more!
I framed a presentation as part of my Doctorate in the 6 thnking hats mode and was told ‘creativity has no place in academia’ Unless we are to develop thinking, project and creativity skills, all the academic knowldege will never bring about its potential in the workplace.
I do agree…..but is it necessary to first provide the knowledge??
e.g. I need to be taught how to add things up before I go and find out how I will use that knowledge….and what the benefits of aquiring that knowledge will give me.
I think, to Barry’s point, it is all about balance and at the moment the balance is skewed far too much to the academic (e.g.Maths) which isn’t prepareing students for the workplace and life in general. Employers say graduates and school leavers don’t have the skills they need but the vested interests, in areas like Maths, will continue to block essential change to address this issue.
I agree 100% that Universities need to be more responsible for producing fully tooled Graduates. Knowledge, creativity and having the skills to use them should all have equal importance. I would extend this view to all layers of Education.
As an individual who barely made it through secondary education, I know the pitfalls of doing things from the opposite direction. I’ve had to apply myself to learning the skills you’ve listed before acquiring the knowledge or fully understanding at times the ‘WHY’.
I’m active in Business Planning and management for a large national company. I often find myself working with young Graduates who either, don’t understand the power that they hold in the knowledge they possess, and consequently, lack confidence, or who believe that all they need is the knowledge and that’s enough which can be very frustrating and totally unrealistic. The company I work for has a strong Graduate ethic and continues their practical skill training, but if we were able to produce fresh Graduates, with all of their energy and enthusiasm properly focused, that were more rounded and had better business heads, their chances for success and ultimately ours as a nation would certainly improve.