"Soft Skills" Education in Schools - Columbus, OH

Acton Academy Columbus is a private school / homeschooling alternative where we focus heavily on developing the formerly-known-as “soft skills.” For the 21st century, they are the “critical skills”

In a world where computers and robots are being created to complete any algorithmic work, our schools need to focus on developing the critical skills of communication, self-motivation, leadership, responsibility, teamwork, problem solving, decisiveness, time management, flexibility, negotiation, and conflict resolution.

Prior to becoming the lead guide at Acton, I was a project manager for a machine learning team. I am very familiar with the impact of robotics for an increase in work productivity but also what it can mean for job losses.

I am also very familiar with all aspects of project management and how critical the “soft skills” listed above are. At Acton, we are regularly doing team projects - every week so far this year, we have worked on team projects 3-4 times / week. Some weeks, it’s everyday.

As part of project time, Eagles need to learn to work together, manage their time, problem solve, take leadership, and communicate. Sometimes, there are disagreements and they need to work on dispute resolution.

One of my primary reasons for starting Acton is because I know these are skills that must be practiced and developed over time. We are not simply born with these soft skills. Traditional schools focus so much on the 3 R’s (Reading, Writing, Arithmetic) - and while that’s important at Acton as well, we focus equally heavily on the 4 C’s (Creativity, Communication, Critical Thinking, Collaboration) to develop the critical soft skills.

We need to reimagine education. It’s not enough to focus simply on the 3 R’s.