Backed by Research
Durable skills are non-academic skills that require students to genuinely want to develop positive traits, qualities, mindsets, and attitudes. They cannot be developed merely by memorizing definitions or acing a test.
We utilize a proven metacognitive approach to prompt young people to become aware of their thinking and actions, inspiring them to actively choose and work on developing durable skills. The importance of self-reflection is underscored through weekly metacognitive goals in our lessons. By combining this with micro-learning, another research-backed approach, students are more engaged with the material, giving it the thought required for personal impact.
Finally, context is provided for all durable skills lessons, leading students to appreciate for themselves the importance of developing personally and professionally.
We are experienced trainers of non-cognitive, non-academic skills that initiate a shift in thinking and behavior. Leveraging our expertise can support you in developing and implementing your effective durable skills program.
Tailoring Solutions by Listening to Teachers' Challenges
MindSage addresses three key educational issues to implementing a durable skills program identified by teachers: 1) Lack of time, 2) Reasons for buy-in, 3) Lack of supportive culture.
First, the program tackles the time crunch with micro-learning, condensing lessons into three 10-15 minute sessions weekly.
To promote teacher buy-in—the second issue raised—our professional development (PD) underscores the academic and workplace benefits of the durable skills program. Teachers can see benefits by experiencing durable skills-specific PD. Trainers demonstrate how time flexibility and ease of adaptability make it simple to implement MindSage.
Finally, in our PD, we also tackle the final sticking point, cultural shift. In our training, we emphasize the significance of durable skills in an evolving world. This is supported by research indicating that 85% of career success stems from well-developed soft and people skills.
SEQUENCE MATTERS
One of the questions we get a lot is ‘Where do we start?’
Over the past seven years of continual testing, we realized that there are three core foundational skills that most students need to cultivate first before they are comfortable with developing additional durable skills. The MindSage program is the only durable skill program that focuses on the development of the traits of self-awareness, self-appreciation, and self-acceptance as the first or foundational durable skills. Establishing the foundation of these core traits gives our program transformational effectiveness that promotes personal growth and development for life.
Tailored Learning: Concise Lessons Aligned with Students' Natural Content Consumption
Our lessons are intentionally designed to align with the organic learning preferences of young people, mirroring their natural engagement with content such as reading articles and exploring videos on a single subject. They are intentionally concise, catering to shorter attention spans, providing immediate relevance and a clear connection to their lives.
Beyond Degrees:Hiring Creative Problem-Solvers
In summary, the MindSage Professional Durable skills training program was designed in the workplace and is built upon current corporate soft skills/durable skills training.
We've collaborated with educators to fine-tune the program to address educators' challenges when implementing new programs. The program is easy to implement, and the certificate program takes the training off the teacher’s plate and allows professional trainers to provide an innovative real-world work experience.
Using proven teaching methods for non-academic concepts and zeroing in on a student's foundational self-beliefs, our program is unique in how it prepares students for an innovation economy as described by globally-recognized educator, Tony Wagner.
Tony currently serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute and held many positions at Harvard including four years as an Expert in Residence at the Harvard Innovation Lab.