{"id":80841,"date":"2025-02-26T13:30:36","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T19:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/casel.org\/?post_type=blogposts&#038;p=80841"},"modified":"2025-02-26T13:30:37","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T19:30:37","slug":"designing-learning-spaces-for-future-ready-students","status":"publish","type":"blogposts","link":"https:\/\/casel.org\/blog\/designing-learning-spaces-for-future-ready-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing Learning Spaces for Future-Ready Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Key Points<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Social and emotional learning (SEL) is central to preparing students for the future. By integrating SEL into classrooms, students can build the emotional intelligence, empathy, and relationship skills needed to navigate complex social and professional environments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Durable skills like communication, adaptability, and problem-solving, alongside academic knowledge, are crucial for success in students\u2019 personal lives and future careers, especially in a rapidly changing world.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Future-ready classrooms balance traditional teaching methods with student-centered activities, focusing on relationship-building, real-world problem-solving, and experiential learning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Thriving in Tomorrow\u2019s World Three-Part Webinar Series: Part 1 Recap<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How do we prepare a generation for a world that is more complex, globally connected, and technologically advanced than we have ever experienced?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CASEL\u2019s new three-part webinar series, <a href=\"https:\/\/casel.org\/events\/thriving-in-tomorrows-world-learning-spaces-for-a-future-ready-generation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thriving in Tomorrow\u2019s World: Learning Spaces for a Future-Ready Generation<\/a>, dives into this critical question. Leading researchers, practitioners, and policymakers will explore the vital role of social and emotional learning (SEL) in future-readiness, along with systems-level approaches and classroom strategies that can equip students with the skills they need for success in a rapidly shifting world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To kick off the series, <strong>Andy Tucker<\/strong>, Director of Policy at CASEL, was joined by a panel of experts to discuss future-ready skills and how we can design learning spaces that foster these skills in students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Bob Chapman<\/strong>, Chairman and CEO, Barry-Wehmiller<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Catharina Gress-Wright<\/strong>, Analyst and SEL Lead, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Julie Lammers<\/strong>, Executive Vice President, American Student Assistance (ASA)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Watch the recording of the webinar below, or read on for key takeaways from the conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><iframe title=\"Thriving in Tomorrow\u2019s World: Learning Spaces for a Future-Ready Generation (Part 1 of 3)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Gw_rew_APzE?start=2&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-does-it-mean-when-we-talk-about-future-ready-skills-sometimes-called-durable-skills\"><strong>What does it mean when we talk about future-ready skills, sometimes called durable skills?<\/strong><\/h2><a class=top href=\"#top\">Back to top<\/a>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Tucker:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCommunication, adaptability, critical thinking, flexibility, problem-solving, collaboration, are all examples of future-ready skills. <strong>Each of us, as professionals, has to use these skills every single day to be successful in our careers. And that\u2019s what we need to be teaching our students as well.<\/strong> Not only the academic and technical skills they need, but the social and emotional skills they need to be successful in school, in the future world of work, and in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Chapman:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve become aware of this epidemic of anguish in this country. Young people with high levels of depression and anxiety, and a poverty of dignity where people don\u2019t feel valued. I\u2019m very concerned with how education can transform this. <strong>How can education begin to create people with life skills, not just academic skills?<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Lammers:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDurable skills is a term that has been increasingly used to talk about what we used to call soft skills. America Succeeds looked at job postings and found that about 7 out of 10 of the most-requested skills were what we were terming \u2018durable skills.\u2019 These skills were requested significantly more than the hard skills, which employers felt they could train themselves if they needed to. <strong>Employers were saying these durable skills were ones employees really needed to come to them with\u2014collaborate, communicate, think critically about issues.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of crossover between the durable skills employers are looking for and the social and emotional framework that CASEL has created. \u2026 We are working diligently through SEL and other efforts to make sure young people are able to build skills not just for work success, but for life success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-does-a-future-ready-learning-space-look-like\"><strong>What does a future-ready learning space look like?<\/strong><\/h2><a class=top href=\"#top\">Back to top<\/a>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Gress-Wright:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s about doing things we already do, just differently and better. \u2026 It starts with relationships. This means the adults being aware of their own capacities and skills. Am I modeling these capacities\u2014for example, the leadership you want to see\u2014and then teaching it to kids? So things like feedback and classroom interaction \u2026 every teacher I know of does that, but think about <em>how<\/em> you are doing it. Are you giving feedback in a way that is relationship-oriented and not just content-oriented?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFuture-ready classrooms are not a radical new thing that we\u2019ve never seen before. They\u2019re<strong> finding a balance between some of the traditional stuff and more student-centered stuff, and then harnessing things like feedback and classroom interactions and relationships so that those don\u2019t become byproducts, but they become some of the&nbsp; central factors and drivers of the classroom.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Lammers:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHow are we bringing in <strong>opportunities for experiential learning, project-based learning, service learning, to connect what\u2019s happening in the real world to what\u2019s happening in the classroom<\/strong>? We need to begin to build those skills in a real way. Rather than the theoretical of \u2018this is how you work on a team,\u2019 how are you actually working on a team to solve a real-world problem?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe want to make sure that when we\u2019re talking about future readiness, it\u2019s not some theoretical thing you need to deal with 10 years from now. We are building opportunities for kids to experience these activities, determine the way they like to work and their own career identity, and begin to build social capital in a real way, so that when they are moving into the working world they have opportunities for relationships with workplace mentors. \u2026 These experiences allow young people to really understand themselves, not only what they like, but also what that they don\u2019t like. How are we building those relationships and that social capital while supporting young people to develop the real-world skills that will inform their long-term career goals?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"what-skills-do-you-think-will-be-especially-important-for-the-future\"><strong>What skills do you think will be especially important for the future?<\/strong><\/h2><a class=top href=\"#top\">Back to top<\/a>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Chapman:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe forgot one thing when we designed our education system: <strong>We need to have leaders who have the skill and courage to care for the people they employ<\/strong>. Our team came up with three fundamental human, durable skills. The most powerful, it turns out, is <strong>empathetic listening<\/strong>. Not listening to debate, judge, or respond, but listening to validate the worth of others. In schools, we teach speech and debate, but we don\u2019t teach students how to listen. The second durable skill was how do you<strong> recognize the goodness in others in a meaningful way<\/strong>? The third thing we taught was culture of service, <strong>seizing the opportunity to serve others<\/strong>. \u2026 The greatest thing we\u2019ve learned in the last 20 years is giving people the skills to move from \u2018it\u2019s all about me and my career and my job\u2019, to \u2018it\u2019s about we,\u2019 to actually care for others. We need leaders in all parts of our lives who genuinely care for the people they\u2019re leading.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Gress-Wright:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen I think about future-readiness, the first thing is <strong>adaptability<\/strong>: the ability to adjust to a world that is changing in more and more dramatic ways that we\u2019re all experiencing in our daily lives, the ability to adapt to those changes and come up with new solutions and new ways to approach those challenges. The other is <strong>compassionate responsibility<\/strong>. When we feel a lot of big changes in the world that feel out of our control \u2026 it\u2019s not just about doing what you want and doing what\u2019s good for your closest people, but thinking what does the world need and how does that align with your passions and your own individual capacities? These are two things that I think are going to be the characteristics of a future-ready person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>For more on creating future-ready learning spaces, <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/casel.org\/events\/thriving-in-tomorrows-world-learning-spaces-for-a-future-ready-generation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>register<\/em><\/a><em> for the three-part Thriving in Tomorrow\u2019s World series. Join us on April 3 at 12 p.m. CT for Part 2: Systems for Future Readiness.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Related Posts<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/casel.org\/blog\/state-of-the-sel-field-2025-skills-that-last-impact-that-endures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">State of the SEL Field 2025: Skills That Last, Impact That Endures<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/casel.org\/blog\/we-asked-high-school-graduates-what-sel-skills-theyll-bring-into-their-futures-heres-what-they-said\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">We Asked High School Graduates What SEL Skills They\u2019ll Bring Into Their Futures. Here\u2019s What They Said.<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/casel.org\/blog\/how-can-states-prepare-students-for-the-future-the-portrait-of-the-graduate-helps-set-the-vision\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How Can States Prepare Students for the Future? The \u201cPortrait of the Graduate\u201d Helps Set the Vision.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"write-for-us\"><a href=\"https:\/\/casel.org\/blog\/roundup-6-blogs-showcasing-student-voice\/\"><\/a><strong>Write for Us<\/strong><\/h2><a class=top href=\"#top\">Back to top<\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>Are you interested in writing for CASEL\u2019s blog, <em>Constellations<\/em>? <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1zSZFveKA8xsmlCADpfDP8t-y9emN0qswHQh1MnfmqBI\/edit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Learn more<\/a> about what we\u2019re looking for and how to pitch your idea!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Points Thriving in Tomorrow\u2019s World Three-Part Webinar Series: Part 1 Recap How do we prepare a generation for a world that is more complex, globally connected, and technologically advanced than we have ever experienced? CASEL\u2019s new three-part webinar series, Thriving in Tomorrow\u2019s World: Learning Spaces for a Future-Ready Generation, dives into this critical question. 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