TITLE:
Can Character Solve Our Problems? Character Qualities and the Imagination Age
AUTHORS:
María García Alvarez
KEYWORDS:
Character Qualities, Imagination Age, 21st Century Skills, Complexity, Education
JOURNAL NAME:
Creative Education,
Vol.9 No.2,
February
2,
2018
ABSTRACT: The emergence of new technology, incorporation of AI to the work floor and rapid pace of change and complexity around us, contribute to the need for a more sophisticated set of skills as key elements for the 21st century and centuries to come. This paper defends the idea that in the Imagination Age we will require more than just the mastery of traditional foundational literacies. Educational institutions should shift the focus towards the training of character qualities. Meta-competencies directly linked with character will provide students with the ability to deal with complex environments. While the importance of character qualities in education is not new, it will become more relevant to prepare the future generations. Educational institutions are urged to rethink their own methods and roles to prepare students to live and collaborate together with new forms of intelligence.