The Future of Education

This presentation aims to introduce a theoretical model for students' non-cognitive skills based on empirical evidence. Non-cognitive skills are defined as a collection of individual resources that students can use to boost their learning experience at school and in the daily life (Duckworth & Yeager, 2015). There is an open debate on what these competencies are and if and how they can be taught at school (West et al., 2016). Mostly, there are not clear descriptions of these competencies in terms of students' development in different ages, and in terms of the relationships among different kind of non-cognitive skills. We used data collected throughout students’ questionnaires in a sample of 2100 middle school students in a longitudinal study in Nord East Italy (Autonomous Province of Trento) to test a theoretical model of non-cognitive skills, consisting of three main dimensions: character skills, psychological capital and motivation to learn. 1) character skills are represented by the BIG5 model (McCrae & Costa, 1987), which is know to be the perfect synthesis, some say, of the ‘differential’ complexity of individuals; 2) psychological capital’, are all the resources related to hope, self-efficacy, resilience and optimism, the so called HERO model (Luthans et al., 2010); 3) motivational to learn is represented by Self Determination model (Deci & Ryan, 2000), and by Mastery orientation model. We have tested the structural validity of the non-cognitive skills model, in which psychological capital should have a ‘slingshot’ mediation effect between character skills and motivation to learn, boosting the effect of character on motivation (which is usually low). We have tested also the effect of this non-cognitive structural model on student learning, measured with national standardized testing. Data analysis confirm the ‘slingshot’ consistency of the model, with psychological capital as important proxy boosting the effect of character on motivation, and the effect of the entire model on student learning. We present at the end some practical implications and strategies, on teachers training and classroom activities for students, to apply this model in real setting.

Keywords: Non-cognitive skills, character, psychological capital, motivation to learn, theoretical model. 

References:
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[2] Duckworth, A. L., & Yeager, D. S. (2015). Measurement matters assessing personal qualities other than cognitive ability for educational purposes. Educational Researcher, 44(4), pp. 237-251.
[3] Luthans, F., Avey, J. B., Avolio, B. J., & Peterson, S. J. (2010). The development and resulting performance impact of positive psychological capital. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 21, 41–67.
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[5] West, M.R., Kraft, M.A., Finn, A.S., Martin, R.E., Duckworth, A.L., Gabrieli, C.F.O., & Gabrieli, J.D.E (2016). Promise and Paradox. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 38(1), pp. 148 – 170.