Becoming brilliant: What science tells us about raising successful children

“Becoming Brilliant,” by Roberta Golinkoff and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, uses the latest evidence from the science of learning to transform the way we think about education in and out of school. Continuous waves of technological advancements render content more readily available than ever. Yet, our schools, our toys, and our homes are laden with content as they teach facts in reading and science, technology, engineering, and math. Success in a Wiki and Google world demands that our children learn content, but also learn to sort, prioritize, synthesize, and create amid this torrent of information. Golinkoff and Hirsh-Pasek’s book offers educators, policymakers, and parents a new framework for achieving this breadth of skills and a new way to think about global education in the 21st century.

On June 7, Skills for a Changing World, a project of the Center for Universal Education at Brookings and the LEGO Foundation, launched “Becoming Brilliant.” This launch event included a presentation by the book’s two authors as well as a moderated panel. The discussion focused on new systems that help children develop a breadth of skills to allow them to thrive personally and find success in the workforce.