Activity: Wagner's Seven Survival Skills

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In his book The Global Achievement Gap, Tony Wagner advocates teaching and using these seven survival skills. Wagner developed this list of survival skills following interviews with many top business leaders and observations of hundreds of American classrooms. He discovered a vast difference between the skills American businesses seek and expect and the skills students are getting in less than engaging, less than inspiring, traditional classroom settings. He suggests that we turn our schools into learning environments that prepare students for the work world that awaits them with the help of these Seven Survival Skills:

  1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
  2. Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence
  3. Agility and Adaptability
  4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
  5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
  6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
  7. Curiosity and Imagination
book cover

Source

Wagner, T. (2010). The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t Teach the New Survival Skills Our Children Need — and What We Can Do About It. Basic Books.


Activity

Drag the survival skills from the list at right into the table to match them with the P21 topics and elements you believe they best fit. Each survival skill may fit in multiple places.

Wagner’s Seven Survival Skills

  1. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
  2. Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence
  3. Agility and Adaptability
  4. Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
  5. Effective Oral and Written Communication
  6. Accessing and Analyzing Information
  7. Curiosity and Imagination
P21 Topics P21 Elements Wagner’s Seven Survival Skills
Core Subjects
  • English, reading or language arts
  • World languages
  • Arts
  • Mathematics
  • Economics
  • Science
  • Geography
  • History
  • Government and Civics
    21st century interdisciplinary themes
    • Global Awareness
    • Financial, Economic, Business and Entrepreneurial Literacy
    • Civic Literacy
    • Health Literacy
    • Environmental Literacy
      Learning and Innovation Skills
      • Creativity and Innovation
      • Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
      • Communication and Collaboration
        Information, Media and Technology Skills
        • Information Literacy
        • Media Literacy
        • Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Literacy
          Life and Career Skills
          • Flexibility and Adaptability
          • Initiative and Self-Direction
          • Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
          • Productivity and Accountability
          • Leadership and Responsibility
            21st Century Support Systems
            • 21st Century Standards
            • Assessment of 21st Century Skills
            • 21st Century Curriculum and Instruction
            • 21st Century Professional Development
            • 21st Century Learning Environments