Learning to learn: for a reflection on soft skills in a sociocultural pedagogical perspective.

In this theoretical article, we define Learning to Learn (L2L), at the intersection between cognitive and non cognitive skills. We then point to a pedagogical pathway to develop L2L since early childhood, framed in a sociocultural perspective. In this line of thought, we describe L2L’s empowerment function to support self-awareness, useful for scholastic and work orientation, to contrast educational poverty and school dropout. L2L is a basis for the formation of active citizenship and for a positive induction into adult life. Working with this concept, we do not pretend to transform teachers into psychologists manipulating students’ personality traits. We intend to equip teachers with pedagogical tools to cultivate the numerous abilities that this hyper-competence orchestrates in children and students, up to adult life. Through this trajectory, the aims of schooling and the borders between schools’, teachers’ and families’ responsibilities in the socialization of new generations are examined.