TED Talk - Play, passion, purpose by Tony Wagner

Back in 2013 I was working with ETASHA Society, a Delhi based non-profit organization. We were building short term training programs to equip people with employability and life skills. Through my work at ETASHA, I became interested in the topic of 21st century skills, and specifically, how we can impart these skills in young people. I started researching on the topic and came across a TED talk that inspired me. In this article, I would like to reflect on the ideas of education expert Dr. Tony Wagner.

Currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute, Wagner has spent his life in the field of education with extensive experience in teaching and learning. Prior to his current position at Learning Policy Institute, he worked at Harvard University for over 20 years, teaching and researching on important themes in education. And before that, he was an educator in school and university settings. He has written several influential books, including Most Likely To Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for The Innovation Era, Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change The World and The Global Achievement Gap. Through his work, Wagner argues that education needs to prepare students for the opportunities and challenges of the 21st century economy, which is characterized by creativity and innovation.

In his 2012 TED Talk “Play, passion, purpose” Wagner speaks about the importance of innovation. Wagner asserts that knowledge is a commodity, and what matters today is not what you know, but what you can do with what you know. And this reality has unfortunately not yet translated to the field of education. Wagner identifies seven specific skills that people need to succeed in the 21st century:

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

Through his research, Wagner finds that developing innovative minds is the way forward. With the above skills, and a focus on fostering innovation, young people can find solutions to the world’s most pressing issues. To make this happen, parents, teachers, mentors, and employers have the responsibility to develop the capacities of young people to be innovators.

Wagner states that the culture of schooling as at complete odds with the culture of learning that creates innovators in five ways:

Wagner calls for education to inculcate innovation through a model of play, passion, and purpose. By allowing young people to play in unrestricted and creative manners, they can find their passion. And they can convert their passions into a larger purpose to contribute positively to the world.

My key takeaway of Wagner’s ideas on education is that we, as educators, must also be innovators. Whenever I teach, I have my students learn by doing, in an active, experiential and hands on manner. I also have discussions with my students on 21st century skills, why they are important and how we can develop them. This works well because it is putting the most important stakeholder, the student, into the heart of the conversation.

You can watch Wagner’s TED talk here.