Steven Wolfe Pereira discusses building 21st century skills, and it's about to get accessible

"Whether you’re using books or apps, crayons or toys, sports or martial arts, the onus is on the parents, guardians, and educators to find a way to help kids today." Cofounder and CEO of Encantos Steven Wolfe Pereira shares his thoughts in this installment of You've Got This on Generation Alpha, educational resources for remote learning, and how to help kids build the skills for the future. Don't miss his answers below - and be sure to ask your questions of our next guest, Melissa Connelly, CEO of educational access organization OneGoal.

Victoria: "You recently wrote an essay on LinkedIn asking if kids were acquiring "21st century skills" like adaptability, leadership, and social and cultural awareness. What are some ways you think guardians and educators can be helping Generation Alpha kids acquire these skills?"

Steven: "The inconvenient truth is that parents, guardians, and educators are all struggling to find ways to help kids acquire 21st century skills. There is no 'silver bullet' that will address all three distinct yet interconnected areas. When some people hear the term '21st-century skills,' they might think it implies coding or other STEM-related activities.  

"The reality is that 21st-century skills comprises three key areas that kids now need to know including learning skills, literary skills and life skills. All three areas are critical for Generation Alpha, the kids born after 2010, especially now as we go through this pandemic." 

For example, learning skills focus on teaching kids creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking whereas literacy skills focus on not just language and numeracy but also civics and culture, environmental, financial, health and wellness and not just STEM but STEAM (must include the Arts!). Finally, when it comes to life skills these might be the most important things for kids to learn ranging from confidence and curiosity to grit and resilience. So my recommendation is to come up with your own “21st-century skills” plan for your child and bring together all of the entertainment, educational and technology tools that will address these areas. Whether you’re using books or apps, crayons or toys, sports or martial arts, the onus is on the parents, guardians, and educators to find a way to help kids today."

Victoria: "With schools and educational programs on pause due to coronavirus, what are some resources you'd recommend to help busy parents keep their kids having fun, learning new things and growing at home?"

Steven: "With 9 out of 10 kids around the globe now learning at home, one of the bright spots during the pandemic is seeing so many companies provide free resources to help kids, parents and educators. Some of my favorite resources include Wide Open School, YouTube, Time for Kids, and of course Encantos. There are also lots of lists such as Common Sense Media and Red Tricycle."

Victoria: "What kind of feedback do you get from your community and where do you hope to take your company next?"

Steven: "It’s been interesting to see the LinkedIn community both embrace and engage in the topic of Generation Alpha. It’s sparked a lot of conversations on and off the platform about 21st century skills – how kids need to learn them and the lack of resources for parents and educators. 

"Having been born entirely in the 21st century, Gen Alpha will be the most digital and diverse generation of all time. For these kids to thrive in the AI era, they will need to learn new skills."

Unfortunately, most education is stuck in the 20th century model built around the teacher where students must be compliant and conform to learning, the focus is on standardization and testing, and screens aren’t allowed. What today’s kids need is a 21st century education built around the student as learner using collaboration and creative problem solving, entertaining and engaging kids with personalized learning experiences, and leveraging the best of physical and digital tools. At Encantos, we are using the power of entertainment, technology, and purpose to reimagine education for the direct-to-consumer world. We do this by creating character-led family brands that come to life through immersive play experiences via apps, books, content, curriculum, games, subscription boxes, toys, and more."

Follow Steven on LinkedIn.

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 Next week's guest: Melissa Connelly

I'm looking forward to our next guest, Melissa Connelly. As the CEO of OneGoal, a national college access and success organization, Melissa leverages her experiences, empathy, and energy to help empower access to education for underserved youth. OneGoal provides a three-year long program in collaboration for teachers in public schools in low-income communities that includes robust curriculum, technology, training and coaching to nurture youth pathways to access higher education.

With that in mind, here's what I'll be asking Melissa:

• You began your work at OneGoal as the organization's first chief program officer, building strategically to help ground programming in understanding the communities and students served. How would you say that experience helped inform your leadership of OneGoal as CEO?
• With the current educational adjustments being made around coronavirus university and school closures, how is that affecting the work that you and OneGoal do? Do you foresee a greater need for the services you provide in ensuring that students aren't lost in transitional paperwork between semesters?
• Building on OneGoal's mission of ensuring that all young people have an equitable opportunity to achieve their greatest post-secondary aspirations, what are some ways people can get involved in supporting educational access?

I invite you to join in the conversation by asking a question below - and as always, thank you for reading!