21st Century Learning
I am in a study group at my school that is trying to define the specific skills that our students will need in order to be ready for the future job market. In the past, my school has focused on issues like internet safety and getting the kids more hands on time with various technologies. With this study group, however, we've found that there are some other areas that we think need to be addressed and/or tweaked: collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, oral and written communication, leadership, and an appreciation for the arts. I'm interested in finding out what other schools in the U.S. and abroad are doing/thinking on this subject.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Mitchell on
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I will. Thanks for the link.
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I have not spoken to local businesses. That's a great idea. I'll do that over our holiday break. Thanks again.
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Permalink Reply by Erik Johnson on
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what a great collaboration you were involved in. I downloaded the report and will look it over. Lately I've been looking for such conversations where applications and trendy tools are not involved, but rather, minds work together to clarify our educational objectives. Thanks for sharing!
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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on
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I teach in a state mandated special ed program for gifted kids. Last year we used the 21 Century Skills and NETS standards to write our students goals--lots of good stuff there.
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Permalink Reply by Kev on
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According to most teachers I've spoken too who are clearly very forward-thinking the most important skills for our students to learn are (in no particular order):
-Showing work on very easy math problems
-Remaining very quiet for long periods of time
-Coloring in maps (content doesn't matter, just stay in the lines)
-Copying definitions (content doesn't matter, just make sure you include the word origin)
-Use the proper form of "there" (circling the proper version on a worksheet is the most proper way to teach this)
-Diagramming sentences (using only pre-made sentences of course)
-Getting information in the slowest, most archaic way possible (highly recommended: Microfiche!)
-Answering pre-written, pre-defined questions using poorly written materials
-Avoid using abbreviations at any cost in every circumstance, especially in note taking.
And most importantly, I've been convinced you simply cannot leave this out...
-Understanding that everything about their generational culture makes them stupider and less connected than the Baby Boomers were.
I'm very proud of the role we teachers today are playing in preparing our students for their futures. Our students should leave school today fully prepared to survive in the post-nuclear world devoid of technology that, judging by the standards of most teachers, is sure to come within the next 5 or so years thus rendering all you "technical" folk irrelevant.
/sarcastic rant
On the serious side, kids need to learn to be collaborative (not so hard seeing as how they live in a 2.0 world) and able to adapt quickly to new ideas and technology (again, not so hard for a generation that has seen more rapid change than any in history).
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I'm laughing! Let's write a book, I'll add a few more.
Read the story three times even if you are reading 5 years above grade level.
Write your spelling words five times each.
Do extra credit even if you don't need "extra" credit.
Practicing keyboarding skills even if you type faster than a legal secretary (are they called legal secretaries?).
Work in a group, even if you are an Aspergian.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa Nielsen on
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I just wrote a post on my blog "You Can Get a Dalton Education at a NYC Public School" about a school using the Schoolwide Enrichment Model that does exactly what you are speaking about. Check out the post and see if it provides any inspiration. You'll notice that this school has a lot of collaborations with local businesses and organizations too.
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Thanks. I will.
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Permalink Reply by Toni Theisen on
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Jennifer,
Certainly all those areas you listed need to be seriously addressed and are in many state depts of education. But the skills that are crucial are global and linguistic competency. As much as we want to share and collaborate, how can students, especially those raised in a monolingual society ever participate in the world without having second language skills?
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Permalink Reply by Ruth on
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In reading The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman he described nine categories of jobs that he believes will not be outsourced. Within a careers unit I shared this information with my students as it provides a bit of direction for them in this quickly changing world. His categories run parallel to the skills that appear to be the most important in preparing our students for the 21st Century.
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