Co-Creating for Resilience – Development of Transdisciplinary Skills and Competencies in Higher Education

Abstract

This paper presents the co-creation of a University-wide Open Educational Resource (OER) on Transdisciplinary Skills and Competencies for enhancing graduate employment with the necessary knowledge, values, and attitudes for building a more resilient workforce in an increasingly uncertain future. The four Key Pillars underlying education and life from the highly influential, and increasingly relevant, Delor’s report (1996) underpinned the development of future-thinking stances for the first-year students as they engaged with learning activities that enabled them to: 1. Learn to know: Investigate their own learning and courses with more agency and depth through metacognitive strategies. 2. Learn to do: Relate theoretical knowledge to more relevant, practical, transdisciplinary applications through collaboration on working towards solution-oriented and challenge-based learning. 3. Learn to live together: This entails the cross-fertilization and respect of each-others’ ideas to bring about innovation through a learning environment that is conducive for thriving together. 4. Learning to be: Developing the human potential to its fullest, especially the skills, competencies and attitudes required to work in an increasingly connected world with greater responsibility for the attainment of common goals. // The objective of the action research was to co-create the OER with the input of both academics and students from different faculties. The collaboratively designed learning activities were adapted to different disciplines and educational contexts to enable learners to be assessed for four main value-laden skills and competencies: a) Collaborative Networking (comprising Cultural awareness, Acknowledging differences, Personal branding, Team playing and trust building, Virtuous circles). b) Communication Networking (comprising Social and Emotional Intelligence, Technology-enhanced Communications, verbal and non-verbal communication, conflict management). c) Growth Mindsets (comprising Solution Orientedness, Grit and determination, Opportunity seeking, creative and critical thinking, design thinking. d) Professional and Ethical Practices (comprising case studies and role plays to demonstrate Social responsibility, Sustainable development, Managing ethical dilemmas and transformational leadership). // 9 faculty members and their respective students formed part of the action research and while co-creation is perhaps too innovative and disruptive for certain academics, the students were appreciative of the opportunity of having a voice and participating in the co-creation of the learning activities that would develop their full potential. This study demonstrates the need for engaging with learners so that they are aware of the active role they play in the learning environment and to build resilience and self-efficacy from within.