The skills in shortest supply for the future workplace are not technical, but behavioural – creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking. Raising Thinkers begins with an exploration of this skills gap in developed countries across the East and West from a national, corporate and educational perspective. In Asia there is growing unhappiness with a school system that is too narrowly focused on rote learning and teaching to test. In the West there is much debate about the efficacy of school systems that either cater largely to the lowest levels of ability or that too blindly strive to top global education rankings. Raising Thinkers provides insight into the future that today’s children will inhabit as adults and what public school systems are currently serving up. It covers the mechanics of high-level, critical and creative thinking, problem solving and decision making and proposes a curiosity-based approach to problems that should be taught right from school-going years. School reform will always lag behind the ever evolving needs of the corporate world. For current scholars and parents, change will come too late – therefore Raising Thinkers is also a guide aimed at helping parents and caregivers bridge the skills gap in fun, useful and practical ways.

Tremaine du Preez is a behavioural economist, consultant and lecturer in critical thinking. She lectures in behavioural economics, decision science and critical thinking to multinational organisations, government agencies and on MBA and undergraduate programs. She designed the critical thinking training programme for the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and is a faculty member of Duke University’s Corporate Education division.