From Classroom to Changemaker | Teach for Change Series
Unlocking the 6C’s to support student innovation
As the future of work continues to shift, educators and support staff are being asked to do more than deliver content. Increasingly, our role is to help students build the confidence, adaptability, and mindset they’ll need to navigate uncertainty in their early careers and beyond.
This one-hour workshop introduces the 6C’s framework—a set of horizontal skills that cut across disciplines and align closely with Ontario’s Essential Employability Skills and Canada’s Skills for Success. Rather than positioning the 6C’s as something new to “add on,” this session invites participants to see where these skills are already present in their teaching, advising, and support work—and how small, intentional shifts can strengthen their impact.
Together, we’ll explore how the 6C’s help students move from classroom learning to real-world application, supporting employability, innovation, and changemaker thinking without requiring major curriculum redesign.
Through the lens of the 6C’s, we’ll reflect on:
Critical Thinking: Helping students make sense of complexity and uncertainty
Creativity: Encouraging experimentation, iteration, and confidence-building
Collaboration: Supporting teamwork, empathy, and learning beyond peer circles
Communication: Making skills visible through storytelling and digital fluency
Commerce-mindedness: Connecting learning to value creation and opportunity
Character: Fostering self-awareness, resilience, and allyship
Who should attend:
Faculty members across disciplines
Student support professionals and advisors
Anyone guiding students toward employability, innovation, or entrepreneurship
✏️ Interactive Activity: 6C’s Opportunity Map
Participants will use a simple mapping exercise to:
Identify where the 6C’s already show up in their work
Spot one low-lift opportunity to strengthen student outcomes
Leave with a practical idea they can try immediately
Takeaway:
A clearer, shared language for supporting student innovation—without adding more to your workload.
Facilitator
This session is facilitated by Pat Robinson, Academic Coordinator and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Centennial College. Pat teaches Creative Entrepreneurship at the Story Arts Campus and has 20 years of experience helping students, educators, and early-stage founders build future-ready skills through practical, inclusive, and low-risk approaches to innovation.