In the quest to build digital transformations for our communities, the idea of combining professional skills and technical skills has long been a “go to” conversation.
The idea is that if we can contextualize the use of technology to a business value proposition then we are advancing the digital economy in the right direction.
However, I think that it isn’t a duality, but a trinity that may be required to actually achieve digital transformation and growth. We need to not only train on professional and technical skills, but also look at how we can build personal growth. Not only for better balance, but to meet the needs of our learners (and, eventually, co-workers)
This idea is not particularly new – either for myself or others – but it came to the forefront of my thinking due to two recent events in my life.
First: I was reading the book “Rise of the Creative Class” by Richard Florida, and Second: a video on my YouTube channel was recently sponsored by MindValley – a site that specializes in personal growth tools and courses.
Some of the take-always I got from the Creative Class book was that we are living in a world where we need to respect the new attitudes that are becoming more prevalent in our societies. While I don’t like suggesting it’s age-based (because I’m no longer in my 20’s, but share this attitude!), but “younger” workers are seeking more creative and experiential types of work lives. They want to not only develop the skills that are applicable to accomplishing their goals (professional and technical), but they are working more on the project of “self”.
It would be a failure to label this attitude as self-absorbed or self-indulgent. Personally, I respect a strong self-awareness and the desire to work on projects, skills, and in environments that support this self-development.
So – how as educators can we facilitate not only technical and professional skills, but also support students in a process of self-awareness and self-discovery? While still respecting boundaries and maintaining subject-matter focus.
It likely begins with a framework outside of a traditional classroom setting although we should incorporate it into all classes. What I suggest is an on-boarding or mentoring solution. A way to guide the student towards self-guidance.
This is something that is school/campus led and classroom supported in my opinion.
In my own programs, I had the luxury of being with a group of students for the majority of their studies. While this has changed somewhat in my current role, I still do have strong blocks of time with a cohort and am able to take the time to pre-load my students with personal development skill sets. I have a three-day session I call “All About YOU” – where I seek to resource my students with tools for Learning Skills, Stress Management, Personal Development – as well as all the campus resources. You’d be surprised to learn how many of the students don’t know how to use electronic databases in the library.
Then, throughout their studies, I can reenforce and revisit these skills as we work on technical and professional skills.
In the event that you do not have these blocks of time – for example, if you have your classes 60 minutes, three times a week – then I hope that you might consider providing a resource list to students as a starting point. Of course, please comment and share resources and success stories here as well!
Resources for Personal Growth
Coursera
Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects | Deep Teaching Solutions
MindValley
This is an excellent resource for the development of Brain Skills, mindfulness, meditation, and many other subjects related to self-development and actualization. (Jim Kwik’s course on Super Brain is very, very good)
My Presentation on Balancing Technical, Professional, and Personal Skills
