21st century skills are no doubt the wave of the future. The quicker teachers, administrators, politicians, parents, and all others involved in the education of our future generations latch on to the idea that technology is essential to learning today, the faster we as a society can move forward in the modern 21st century world in which we live. After reading some of the ideas presented by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills organization, it is obvious change is coming to American schools. In nine years of teaching I have observed several models and diagrams of how curriculum and assessment should work and the 21st century skill framework makes perfect sense. The framework calls for schools to embed 21st century skills into coursework, curriculum, and assessment. The framework also provides ways that schools and teachers are going to receive training and resources to support this transition for schools. The one element of the website that surprised me is that you need to email them to have permission to use the framework and ideas placed on the website by the organization. I would hope some day that all of this information would be made available to all educators and schools.
I also noticed a short list of states that have initiatives to use and apply this framework to their state education programs. I was excited to see that my state, Iowa, was included on that list. Iowa plans to overhaul state standards and curriculum to place 21st century skills at the top of their list through the implementation of the Iowa Core, which encourages financial, health, and technological literacy. Overall, I really like this website and I agree with their mission to put 21st century skills at the center of education in the United States. If students want to be successful in today's work environment they need to be well-versed in the new technology skills expected out of the working world today.
Here is a link to the proposed Iowa Core: http://route21.p21.org/?option=com_content&view=article&id=148&Itemid=237
The Partnership for 21st Century skills had many valuable resources. However, I also disliked that you had to register for permission to access the materials. This is a valuable resource to all teachers and it would be beneficial to have quick and easy access to the information.
ReplyDeleteThe 21st century skills are essential for our students. In order to function in the workforce, students will need to be able to communicate, collaborate, use technology, and think critically. All school systems need to push forward with these initiatives. Although it will be costly, the students and our future economic system in this country are at stake. One of the simplest and most cost effective solutions is to promote cross-curricular studies. Reading should be taught in the content areas of Science, Social Studies, and Health. At my school, our weakest area is reading of informational texts. It makes sense that students should receive more instruction and practice with the skill.
As you have stated, all of the parties involved in making the push for 21st century skills to be taught in our schools need to agree. It is essential for our students and the change needs to happen.
Last week, my school was hosting meetings with teachers from all different content areas to discuss our plans to complete curriculum guidelines by the end of the school year, an approach never taken by our school before. Upon discovering this news, one of my colleagues sarcastically said “Education; always trying to reinvent the wheel.” The teacher who made this remark was our school’s technology teacher. I thought there was something alarmingly shameful with that comment. The teacher who works in a field of embracing new ideas and technologies is clearly content with the status quo and does not want any changes to interfere with his routine. If this teacher were unique in that regard, I would not think much of it, but I would argue that the mentality of this teacher is consistent with the majority of teachers. Many teachers do not want to adapt to new styles, learn new methods, or change their routine in any way. It is the sad truth; at least where I work. I am glad to hear you are embracing these changes proposed by P21 and I hope this becomes the overwhelming feeling. My state of New York is not even on the list yet, probably because the negative Nancys that I work with said “Change? No Thanks.”
ReplyDeleteScott, You make a key point on the need of teachers, administrators, politicians and parents to get involved in the education of the future generation. This is what I like about the P21 organization. They understand that collaboration between politicians, educators and businesses is the only way to reach the goal of educating our youth. It is always about collaboration isn't it? We hear it over and over again, and this really is the way to get everyone to understand what we are each talking about. It is a shift from thinking the old way, learning on our own for ourselves, to combining our knowledge to solve world challenges that need everyone's input.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to shift the mindset of doing things all together and maybe we have to walk a mile in a politician's shoes or sit in a corporate office for a day to understand their point of view. Above all, we have to work together.
My state is unfortunately not on the list of states with 21st Century initiatives. Though Maryland is not yet a member, the Maryland chapter of the National Art Educators Association has been a vocal and involved advocate for not only the vision, but with the development of the skills and initiatives relative to the arts education. The positive aspects of this cooperation have just begun to appear in the development of curriculum of the fine arts at the state level. In the writing of standards, at least the wording now includes P21 language and initiatives. These are now becoming a part of the curricular lexicon at the local level. The only limiting issue that remains in the schools is, as I am sure it is in Iowa is that the tenor of the political and economic climate has dried up funding at nearly all levels. Here is where relationships with corporate sponsorship needs to be promoted and developed. It may be only within this arena that real change and growth with technology can occur.
ReplyDeleteMy state is also unfortunately not on the list of states with 21st Century Initiatives. Currently, we have extended school days on Tuesdays to provide a common professional development time for all of the teachers across the district. For the last two school years, a lot of that time was spent on curriculum mapping. This year, most of the time has been dedicated to developing the Core Standards. I agree with your observation that the most logical and time effective way to teach these critical skills for the 21st Century is to embed them within the curriculum and coursework. Hopefully, more professional development time will be spent providing training and resources for the teachers. The P21 website does provide many helpful resources and links. Thank you for including the link to the proposed Iowa Core standards. It is always interesting to see which direction other states are taking in addressing the needs of the students.
ReplyDelete