Design for Delight: Building Durable Schools with Learners

21st-century skills. Soft skills. People skills. Job readiness skills. The education system is evolving toward a skills and competency-based model, yet some schools and programs are still far behind when it comes to teaching learners the in-demand skills they need to be successful. America Succeds, an education advocacy organization that’s committed to improving educational opportunities, outcomes, and equity, calls these Durable Skills. Their Durable Skills Initiative was created based on the concept that in an era when technical skills are advancing at an unprecedented pace, there’s an important set of durable ‘soft skills’ that last a lifetime.

Durable Skills are a combination of how you use what you know – skills like critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity – as well as character skills like fortitude, growth mindset, and leadership. Last fall, America Succeeds published an analysis with Lightcast that found that of the over 80 million job postings from 2020-2021, seven of the ten most requested skills were Durable Skills and the top five Durable Skills were requested in job postings. The analysis also affirmed that Durable Skills are in demand for jobs across the workforce regardless of educational attainment level, industry, sector, or geography.

Earlier this year, Intuit and America Succeeds partnered to create a case study articulating the effectiveness of Intuit’s Design for Delight program (more on that here) and how well it cultivates Durable Skills. Our team joined as a partner in the work to support educator engagement, develop and refine learning outcomes and we were lucky enough to participate in the camp to support storytelling and connect with learners.

The objective: Determine the value of the camp in preparing students with the skills needed to be successful in their future careers.

After observing the camp, America Succeeds created a case study sharing the four-day summer camp experience and their verdict on if it truly supports learners in creating and building Durable Skills that will serve them in high school and beyond.

Download the case study here and take a look at what America Succeeds found, see photos of learning in action and learn more about Intuit’s Design for Delight program and camp opportunity.