Reddam House Principal Rick Cross on the fourth industrial revolution and how to balance tomorrow’s skillset with today’s life experiences
At Reddam House, we have been thinking about what it means to be living through the fourth industrial revolution. This term, coined in 2016 by the founder of the World Economic Forum Klaus Schwab, attempts to understand the changes in our global society and economy that are emerging in an age of cyber-physical systems – big data, artificial intelligence, breakthrough materials – all of which involve entirely new capabilities for people and machines.
So why have we launched a new outdoor pursuits department at Reddam House to complement our highly academic and technology driven educational approach?
In this tech determined age, the World Economic Forum published its fourth edition of The Future of Jobs Report in 2023. This tracks the global labour market, identifying occupational disruption, growth and decline. It is a fascinating read that asks many questions of the education sector – those of us on the front line in helping to guide young people to succeed in a very different world to the one in which I grew up.
“The most important core skills future workers will need are analytical thinking, creative thinking, curiosity, technological literacy, resilience and flexibility”
Academic excellence is core to what we do and learning traditional ‘tech’ linked subjects like science and maths will continue to be essential. It is not surprising that Computing A level saw the biggest increase in national entries in 2023, up 16.7% (a trend we have also seen at Reddam House), but how do we also develop the character for further success, which will in turn enhance employability?
Learning is diverse and complex and cannot be truly effective if we simply rely on subject silos – nor will it be successful if we view education purely as a means to develop the skills to churn out economic units to fill roles awaiting in the future. The Future of Jobs Report suggests the most important core skills future workers will need are analytical thinking, creative thinking, curiosity, technological literacy, resilience and flexibility.
These skills must be acquired in a variety of ways and an outstanding education creates opportunities for students to develop as rounded people. This is why we are now embracing the outdoors more than ever at Reddam House. Underpinning every change we make at our school is a focus on the individual child. We now enhance learning through our own bespoke Virtual Metaverse School and use Inspired AI in all core subjects, tailoring it to individual needs and accelerating students’ learning (also reducing teacher workload, a nice double win).
“Reddam Adventure Department offers children opportunities to collaborate, create succeed, and fail, just as they do in the classroom and the metaverse”
We are also fortunate to live on a 125-acre estate with woods, wildlife and a lake. With these facilities, children will have timetabled lessons of RAD (Reddam Adventure Department), offering opportunities to collaborate, create, build, plan, cook, succeed, and fail, just as they do in the classroom and the metaverse. By being outside in nature, they will also enhance their wellbeing and deepen their appreciation of the environment, which in turn completes the loop back to employability. After all, according to the World Economic Forum, the strongest net job-creation effect will be driven by investments that ‘facilitate the green transition of businesses’.
So, we will continue to learn on our devices, continue to roll out our AI learning tools and VR headsets and teach children computing and technological literacy. But we will also develop their creativity, curiosity and flexibility in other ways too – by putting them outside their comfort zone among the trees, the colours, the bats and the deer.
Reddam House Berkshire reddamhouse.org.uk
Further reading: Frensham Heights on progressive values in education
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