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More than ever children need skills in how to work with changing teams of collaborators and how to seek solutions rooted in the needs of others, the author says.

As most American parents are oppressively aware, our children are far behind their counterparts in Asia when it comes to academic achievement. Departments of education around the country and on the national level have aggressively attempted to remedy the discrepancy by drowning our kids in standardized tests.

So it came as quite a surprise to me – and a breath of fresh air – to discover that the leadership at a prestigious high school in China is heading in a very different direction. Peking University High School is focusing on a skill its educators believe is the key to success in the 21st century. Not calculus, not computer programming, not filling in little ovals; this forward-thinking institution emphasizes teaching empathy.

“There’s convincing scientific, psychological, pedagogical, and anecdotal data to suggest that children are naturally empathic, and learn best through collaborating with each other, and at their own speed,” explained deputy principal Xueqin Jiang.

Xueqin actually sees empathy as the missing ingredient in China’s educational system, and one that is absolutely critical to his students’ future success in a rapidly changing, globalizing economy.

“There’s a consensus that the Chinese system doesn’t work,” Xueqin said. “One question the Chinese like to ask is, ‘Why does China not produce any Nobel Prize winners in the sciences? Why doesn’t China produce innovative entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates?’ And I think that the key here is empathy.”

“Empathy is the basis for collaboration of course, as well as also communication and creativity,” he explained.Much more at http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/Change-Agent/2012/0
608/Beyond-standardized-tests-teaching-empathy

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