The Principal of Concord College Dr Michael Truss on the need to support student’s complex problem-solving skills while also ensuring success in traditional exams
As an educator I feel fortunate to work with the bright and highly motivated children who come to Concord. I regularly consider whether the assessment systems we have as educators, and particularly the exam systems we must work within, are doing their job properly. In other words, are they assessing the skills that really matter in our digitally and globally connected world?
The World Economic Forum publishes a report called the Future of Jobs, which outlines the core skills identified by modern employers as of fundamental importance. In the 2023 report, we find in the top three places: analytical thinking, creative thinking and resilience, flexibility and agility. All these skills boil down to a common theme, which has appeared very prominently in former Future of Jobs reports: complex problem solving.
Employers want solutions to real-life problems, and real-life problems are unpredictable, multi-faceted and dynamically changing things. Our pupils – the employees, entrepreneurs, doctors, economists and leaders of the future – will need to think on their feet. They must adapt to changing parameters, think creatively and – the very essence of complex problem solving – be equipped with analytical strategies that break down a large problem into smaller, simpler units that can build towards to a full solution.
This is music to the ears of Maths and Physics teachers, who will argue, reasonably, that the realm of complex problem solving is exactly what their subjects involves. Beyond STEM, however, I can find important elements of complex problem solving taught across the school curriculum at Concord. From devising the staging of a play in Drama (and conveying abstract concepts or feelings) to learning lessons from history or considering how big data can influence geopolitical policy, our students are challenged to address hugely complex ideas.
To some, success at school might appear to require only success in a system of public examinations that test and reward recall of knowledge first and foremost at a time when knowledge of facts is of declining value. I disagree since I believe that the two are not mutually exclusive. Both knowledge and the skill to use it are key to future careers and lives which we cannot even imagine today.
Leaving aside the very important idea that a doctor, for example, still needs to understand and remember a huge body of knowledge and make life-or-death decisions – hopefully without the need to consult their mobile phone – exam-based curriculums are being developed to test and reward analytical thinking and unseen problem-solving. And guess what? These are the parts that even the most capable students can find difficult.
At Concord we encourage engagement and participation in a wide range of super-curricular activities as well as concentrating on the more difficult aspects of the school qualifications. “How do I get an A*?’ is something we hear all the time. Our answer: practise the bits you find the hardest and appreciate the value of the other things you do. Subject-based Olympiads, performing in the College musical, debating in our Model United Nations competition, organising charity fundraising or co-ordinating your friends to compete in House Badminton – they all matter. And, as, they all involve complex problem solving, they will all contribute to that A*.
Concord College concordcollegeuk.com
Further reading: How schools prepare young people for tomorrow’s workspaces
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