MIT 2020 - Step 4: Tweaking and redefining the challenge

Below is my original challenge statement which reflected my concern around figuring out how teachers could equip Year 8 with the necessary life skills to make the move to their first year of high school as seamless as possible

Taking on board comments from the from the School Hall scenario, I realised that 'life skills' was too broad and could legitimately include skills such as how to cook which although useful life-skill was unlikely to be a dealbreaker for a Year 8 transitioning to high school. Clearly, I needed to consider more carefully the type of skill set that would be both appropriate and beneficial to support Year 8 students in their move to secondary school.

For me, the logical 'next step' was to look to the New Zealand Curriculum document for inspiration, in particular the five Key Competencies..  I found myself gravitating towards the competency of  MANAGING SELF and re-worded my challenge statement to now read:

Preparing Year 8 students with the self-management skills to confidently transition from the primary to secondary school learning environment.

This one tweak has helped me drill down to where I need to focus my design thinking -i.e.  developing a Year 8 student's capacity to cope in new or unfamiliar situations.