'Emotional education' to counter AI-driven job uncertainty

Shining qualities

In emotional education classes, teachers typically focus on themes, such as self-awareness, emotional management, empathy, interpersonal communication, and the value of life. The classes also help students explore ways to relieve stress and adjust their mindset.

Teachers at Shanghai Huangpu Luwan No 1 Central Primary School said that during recent classes, students were encouraged to nominate "unsung heroes" around them.

"It was an opportunity to allow children to recognize the shining qualities in ordinary individuals who might not be highly visible and not receive the most academic awards, and inspire them to see the strengths in everyone," said Bao Yinglei, a teacher at the school.

She said the school had installed cameras in the corridors to quickly identify potential problems when students gather in groups. However, these cameras have now become a window for capturing moments of warmth and concern.

"The cameras record how surrounding children react if a student falls. These acts of kindness become topics for discussion in emotional education classes," Bao said.

Zhou Shuqun, master of Hiba Academy Shanghai, a bilingual school of Wellington College Education (China), said that over the last few years the school had implemented various practices to help students develop "uniquely human qualities".

One example is emphasizing oral expression in primary school classes to cultivate a pupil's ability to listen to others with respect and improve self-expression and group collaboration. For middle school students, debating competitions help develop critical thinking and oral expression skills, she said.

When someone makes others feel comfortable in interactions, it often leads to successful collaborations and business deals, experts pointed out.

Some kindergarten teachers are also changing the way they interact with their students.

Xu Hui, a kindergarten teacher in Shanghai, said when conflicts arise among children, instead of providing a direct judgment, she and her colleagues now encourage the children to express themselves and then switch roles to describe the situation.

"This process is more beneficial as it helps the minors gradually acquire the ability to better communicate and collaborate with others," she said.

Some kindergarten teachers believe that preparing children for the future must be rooted in moral development, the basis of humanity that AI cannot replace. Core competencies in this area include empathy, kindness, collaboration, and reverence for life, they said.

"Through daily interactions with young children in an atmosphere of passing on love and care, teachers instill these virtues and qualities into the minors' hearts," said Xu.

Lin Min, deputy principal of the Shanghai Municipal Kindergarten, said the school emphasizes that teachers should respond to children in a positive and encouraging way.

Since last year, the teachers at the school have been meeting regularly to discuss real-life cases that occur daily in their classes. They discuss how they should respond to the pupils in such situations, and whether there are better ways to address and guide them.

"The way a teacher responds to a child will influence how the child responds to others in their later lives. This is a gradual accumulation process that leads to qualitative changes in their characters," said Lin.

She said despite AI's development, the teachers believe that a positive outlook and a sense of national pride and responsibility, are human qualities that AI lacks.

She cited as an example the humanoid robot half-marathon in Beijing in April, saying what touched her the most was when a robot failed to complete the race, its programmer cradled it as they left.

"Machines will accomplish many things that surpass human physical limits, but they can never win over human emotions. Those moments when people give love and gain trust from each other cannot be replaced," said Lin.

Soft skills

With the belief AI will perform repetitive and standardized jobs, about 60 percent of parents now prioritize "soft skills", such as character building, interpersonal communication, and problem-solving for their children's development, the Fudan survey also found.

This compares with 43 percent who still place securing a seat in a top university first, according to the survey of 1,900 families across the country.

Wang Shuangchen, 39, from Chongqing, signed up her 12-year-old son for an extracurricular public speaking course a year ago after discussing it with him.

"Even though AI tools can assist in writing a speech draft, there is still a significant difference in the personal charisma each individual displays when speaking on stage," said Wang, a book editor.

"My husband and I believe that having the ability to deliver compelling and engaging speeches in public is a highly competitive skill in the future job market," she said.

The awareness that her 11-year-old daughter needs skills that are hard for machines to replicate prompted Lu Yiyi, a mother from Shanghai, to make changes in their lives. Since September, the fifth-grader has been taking the subway to and from school alone, a 60-minute journey that includes transferring between lines.

"For my child, traveling between home and school alone involves finding the way, taking charge of her own safety, managing her time, and coping with unexpected situations," said Lu, adding that her experience in the graphic design profession has heightened her awareness of the pressures brought by AI.

This personal experience led her to reconsider how to better equip her child for the future. "Communication skills and the capacity to tackle real-world challenges are not what kids can learn at school through exams. They are developed via real experiences like these," she said.

Such practices align with the new educational paradigm of "human flourishing" proposed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in recent years.

Michael Stevenson, founder of the OECD's High Performing Systems for Tomorrow Initiative, said under the concept of human flourishing, the goal of education is to help every youth develop core competencies, including adaptive problem-solving.