This is a time of rapid change; this is a time of competition for talent. In order to enhance the competitiveness of a nation or a region, it is incumbent upon their universities to nurture graduates with international competitiveness. This begs the question: What soft and hard skills do students have to acquire in order to respond to the global competition?
Derek Bok, former president of Harvard, points out in his book Our Underachieving Colleges, that there are eight key educational goals in the twenty-first century, which are communication skills, analytical thinking, moral reasoning, fulfillment of civic responsibilities, embracing diversity, fitting oneself into a globalized society, development of extensive interests and boosting of one’s employability. All these are essentially “soft skills” which are developed outside students’ major disciplines. If these “soft skills” cannot be acquired purely from classroom learning, then how can students acquire them?
In a recent media session, Prof. Haydn Chen, the newly appointed vice rector (student affairs) of UM, pointed out that UM’s 4-in-1 educational model is both forward-looking and student-oriented in that it aims to help students realize well-rounded development and graduate with independent learning ability, commitment to service, an international perspective, multi-faceted intelligence, liberal arts knowledge and a positive outlook on life through the combination of classroom learning and learning outside of classroom, so that by the time they graduate students will have acquired necessary soft and hard skills to better respond to the various future challenges in their careers.
The “hard skills” Prof. Chen spoke of refer to those skills that students can acquire from their major disciplines, while “soft skills” are those related to an individual’s attributes, qualities and values, which should include zeal, optimism, proactiveness, team spirit, communication skills, sense of responsibility, compassion, empathy, the ability to exercise sound moral judgment, and motivation for life-long learning, etc. But how can students acquire these soft skills? “The full implementation of the residential college system on the new campus is a very far-sighted strategy on the part of UM to realize the liberal arts education or whole-person education advocated by so many world-class universities,” said Prof. Chen. He noted that liberal arts education helps students to become an independent agent of “free will”. The essence of this type of education, explains Prof. Chen, is not the “chalk and talk” way of teaching, but rather lies in the fostering of a close teacher-student relationship and the imparting of a diverse body of knowledge to students. The residential college system is a departure from the traditional pedagogical model in that students are encouraged to interact with their teachers and peers in a close-knit community, and to learn from each other through dining and participating in various activities together.
A veteran educator with rich administrative experience in higher education in Taiwan, mainland China and overseas, Prof. Chen emphasized, “We don’t need our students to be the best academically, but we do want them to be ideal students who understand the relationship between other people and themselves as well as the relationship between them and the world. As a scholar once said, ‘When a person, twenty or thirty years after graduation, finds that what he learned during his college years is no longer relevant, what he will find still with him is his unique personality, in other words, the kind of person he has become, and that is the greatest value of higher education.’ The purpose of the whole-person education on which UM has placed so much emphasis is exactly the same: to help every student become a good person who contributes to society.”
A 2011 survey by the Global Views Monthly, a journal in Taiwan, found that in today’s world those who display learning initiative, who have professional knowledge and skills, a strong sense of responsibility and self-management skills, and who are flexible, adaptable, stable and a team player, are the most sought-after by businesses. These desired traits coincide well with what UM aims to cultivate in its students. Now UM has provided such fertile ground for whole-person education, and what about you, fellow students? Are you ready to go for it?
Should you have any inquiries about the press release, please feel free to contact Ms. Lei or Ms. Lai at（853）8397 4325 or prs.media@um.edu.mo or visit UM webpage www.umac.mo.
