The Era of Scrutiny
In several of my recent articles, I have described a “dark age” for public education regarding public trust. Regardless of the topic, whether the focus is on professional development, school culture, or even instructional strategies, a pervasive sense of mistrust seems to hover like a dark cloud over educators, students, and parents alike. It is in this era of schools facing increasing scrutiny that a wave of reform movements has risen Durable skills. Many of these are based on dubious research and murky practices, yet they all center on the notion that the status quo is untenable and that the problem stems from what is happening inside classrooms.
Up until now, I have acknowledged the rather immense elephant sitting in nearly every room where education is being discussed, from state capitol buildings to the classrooms where attendance, IEPs, and grades are debated. The one common theme is an increasingly widening moat between educators and the greater community. There is a growing belief that schools cannot be trusted to prepare students for the complexities of life in the 21st century.
I want to make it clear that I do not endorse this cynical view. It often appears as if certain factions with monetary and political reasons for discrediting public education are the ones fanning these flames. Furthermore, there are many in the public who fully trust the passion, commitment, and creativity that teachers are showing every single day.
However, the data remains consistent. While 3% of Americans believe a student without a diploma is ready for the workforce, that number only increases to 4% for those with a high school diploma and no other education (Hodges, 2012). Furthermore, only 11% of business leaders strongly agree that schools are effective at preparing students for the workforce (Gallup, 2023). Whether this perception is fair or undeserved, a significant portion of the public feels a misalignment between education’s goals and its outcomes.
The great irony is that public schools have already found the bridge to cross this moat. The solution is the explicit instruction of transferable skills or Durable skills.
What Are Transferable Skills and How Do We Teach Them?
Just as a teacher plans a specific lesson, we must first define the “what” before moving into the “how.” In educational literature, transferable skills are defined as:
“…a broad set of knowledge, skills, work habits, and character traits that are believed—by educators, school reformers, college professors, employers and others—to be critically important to success in today’s world.” (Appleby et al., 2018)
Essentially, these are life skills, the metacognitive strategies students can employ in any subject or situation. They are often categorized into three pillars: cognitive (analytical thinking), social (collaboration), and emotional (resilience).
It should be noted, however, that this is a very large umbrella. Indeed, just about any skill could fall into one of these domains. Many different organizations have offered their own respective lists of transferable skills that educators should target. Perhaps the most common one comes from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (2024), which identifies the following 8 core competencies:
- Critical Thinking: Identifying and responding to needs based on situational context and logical analysis.
- Communication: Clearly and effectively exchanging information and ideas across various platforms.
- Teamwork: Building collaborative relationships and managing conflict within diverse groups.
- Technology: Leveraging existing and emerging technologies ethically to enhance efficiency.
- Leadership: Recognizing and capitalizing on personal and team strengths to achieve shared goals.
- Professionalism: Consistently demonstrating accountability and effective work habits (e.g., punctuality, integrity).
- Career & Self-Development: Proactively developing oneself through continuous learning and networking.
- Equity & Inclusion: Demonstrating the awareness, attitude, and skills required to equitably engage with people from different local and global cultures.
Many school districts have adopted these standards to form the framework of their Portrait of a Learner. For those unfamiliar, this serves as a kind of pedagogical North Star that schools use to anchor their instruction (Vander Ark & Liebtag, 2020). Because these skills are broad, schools create subskills that serve as benchmarks. For example, a high school “Technology” skill might be broken down into:
- I can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other new tools ethically, making sure I am still doing my own thinking and citing my sources.
The logistics of teaching these skills might initially seem like a barrier. If they do not fit into one specific content area, whose job is it? In reality, the universality of these skills makes them incredibly flexible. They are best taught across curricula and teacher teams.
The Power of Collaborative Instruction
There are immense benefits to this shared approach. First, it reinforces Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). When teachers meet to discuss transferable skills, they create shared goals and a stronger sense of collective efficacy. Students learn collaboration more effectively when they see it modeled by the adults in the building.
Consider these examples of the model in action:
- The Elementary Focus: A 2nd-grade team might meet monthly to focus on a teamwork subskill: “I can positively contribute to a group project with my peers.” By developing a shared rubric and instructional strategies across the entire grade level Durable skills, they ensure every student is meeting the same high standard.
- The Middle School Integration: As a principal, I worked with a 7th-grade team that identified a communication subskill: “I can conduct a research project and present my findings using various media.” They developed a cross-curricular project where students researched a city’s culture (Social Studies), economy (Math), climate (Science), and history (ELA).
Projects like these allow teachers to balance transferable skills with content-specific ones, strengthening both through integration.
Moving Towards the Future
Transferable skills have been education’s “not-so-secret” approach to ensuring K-12 instruction remains relevant. This is one of the most promising trends in education because these skills are universal and fit nearly any context a graduate will face Durable skills.
Although this shift has not been met with much fanfare from the general public, we must remember that improvement in education takes time. As students continue to graduate with these targeted, “durable” skills, employers and community members will begin to take notice. Slowly but surely, we will restore trust in public education and usher out the era of scrutiny.
Connect the dots: How this topic evolves in our next guide at 2A Magazine.
