WHAT'S THE ISSUE?

When it comes to training the next generation of successful leaders, it is being widely argued that schools should switch to teaching what is called the 4 Cs. They are Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration and Creativity.

But are they enough to equip them with those tools that they might need in life? Stephen Cole talks to former UK education minister, Lord Jim Knight.

MEET THE EXPERT

Lord Jim Knight is a British politician who served as Minister of State for Schools and Learning from 2006 to 2009. He is also the former Minister of State for Employment and Welfare Reform.

Lord Knight thinks we have become over preoccupied by academic knowledge, and we've not thought enough about how we apply that knowledge in some of the other round of skills, so we need to unlearn something.

"(Exams) are a pretty specific skill that they're never going to use again in their working lives. Machines are going to be better at recalling knowledge in the end. And they've got to kind of unlearn that."

He emphasizes on the importance of play-based learning. "What play offers is the opportunity to learn through failure, through trying again and again and collaborating with each other. And I think the reality is often in the world of work, we do a lot of that… there is playful working, which is highly productive."

ALSO ON THE AGENDA

- Salah Khalil reveals how critical thinking is helping humans compete with the machines of the future.

- Anthony McClaran explains why social media is proving a background barrier to critical thinking.

FIND MORE STORIES FROM THE AGENDA WITH STEPHEN COLE  HERE