Soft Skills Are the New Power Tools (And AI Can’t Touch Them Yet)

As AI tools like Gronk 4 push the boundaries of what machines can do, schools have to ask a bigger question. Are we preparing students just to keep up, or to lead and think for themselves in a world full of uncertainty? When I was leading a California Distinguished School, we made soft skills the foundation. Curiosity, collaboration, critical thinking, and metacognition were not side notes. They were the core. Our teachers built their own framework to measure growth in these areas, and over time, everything started to shift. Students took more ownership of their learning. Teachers leaned into empathy and inquiry. That is where the real transformation happened.