The SPIRIT Framework is built around ten transversal skills that we believe can help today’s children prepare for tomorrow’s world. Rather than exploring them all at once, this series takes a moment to reflect on each one individually. Together, these ten skills form the heart of the framework: emotional awareness, regulation and communication; creativity; problem-solving; critical thinking; resilience; flexibility; curiosity, sense of wonder and openness; empathy; valuing people and nature; and connectedness. This time, we turn our attention to problem-solving—a skill that is often associated with finding answers, but which begins long before a solution is ever reached.

Every day, children encounter problems. Some are small, like figuring out how to rebuild a tower that has just collapsed or deciding how to include everyone in a game at break time. Others are more complex, requiring patience, collaboration and the willingness to try again when the first idea doesn’t work. The SPIRIT Framework describes problem-solving as a structured process that involves recognising a challenge, exploring different possibilities, evaluating options and refining solutions along the way. What makes this skill so valuable is that it reaches far beyond any single subject. It encourages children to think creatively, reason critically and adapt when circumstances change. In a future where many of the questions we will face have not yet been asked, learning *how* to approach a problem may prove just as important as finding the right answer.

The framework also reminds us that problem-solving develops gradually. Young children often begin by recognising simple challenges and discovering, through trial and error, that there is more than one way to move forward. As they grow, they become increasingly able to compare ideas, explain their reasoning, collaborate with others and understand that some problems have several possible solutions rather than just one. This progression is only possible when children feel safe to experiment without fearing mistakes. Every unsuccessful attempt becomes another opportunity to think differently, adjust their approach and try again. In this way, problem-solving becomes closely connected to creativity, resilience and critical thinking—skills that strengthen one another through experience rather than in isolation.

Perhaps one of the most valuable lessons problem-solving offers is that uncertainty is not something to avoid. It is something we can learn to navigate. By encouraging children to ask questions, explore possibilities and persevere when answers are not immediately obvious, we help them develop far more than a useful classroom skill. We help them build the confidence to face life’s inevitable challenges with curiosity, patience and the belief that even the most difficult problems often begin with a simple willingness to take the first step.