What do students need to navigate the future and be the best versions of themselves?
This question was posed in developing the OLMC strategic plan for 2025-2029. Excitingly, education is at a crossroads where systems and practices are facing major shifts in preparing our students for the future. With the changing nature of the workforce, there are key skills and character traits that our students need to develop to thrive in the future.
OLMC will facilitate Professional Learning in the next 4 years based on the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) document Essential Skills for Learning. As a result of ongoing research, ACER has identified five essential skills for learning - critical thinking, creative thinking, collaboration, communication, and self-regulation.
Adopting the ACER Essential Skills for Learning will provide OLMC with a shared focus, a shared language and shared strategies.
The additional ACER’s skill development frameworks define the five essential skills and provide a continuum of observable behaviours expected to be demonstrated by students when applying the skills.
The approach by ACER is an alignment between curriculum, assessment, and pedagogy. It is important to understand that the development of these skills will enhance student learning and therefore outcomes.
‘Skills are central to learners developing increasingly sophisticated knowledge and deeper understandings in learning areas. Skills are essential tools for supporting learning and increasing proficiency in each learning area.’