The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a support organization focused on instilling 21st century skills into education. The organization's Framework for 21st Century Learning, defines the skills, outcomes, and support systems needed to ensure quality “21st century teaching and learning.” This framework is currently being implemented by ten states that are committed to providing their students the skills necessary for success in learning, life and work in the 21st century. Although most states have their own technology standards, it is puzzling why more states have not committed to these standards. It would make sense to have a national framework.
However, I must admit that I became quite addled over some of the so called 21st century skills. Each one of them, problem solving, cooperative learning, expert decision making, critical thinking and communicative skills to name a few, are in no way ‘new.’ Often times I feel as if I am the small boy in “The Emperor’s New Clothes” who sees that the emperor is naked and everyone is acting as if he is beautifully dressed. Thus the analogy fits here. These are not new skills or twists on existing skills. They are skills that any good teacher has been instilling in her/his students for the past 100 years or more. Furthermore, I am concerned that someone has suggested that these skills will diminish in desirability and will simply grow old and fade away. The emperor is naked and someone must tell him.
With that being said, I consider an important aspect of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website to be Route 21 which highlights how 21st century skills can be supported through standards, assessments, professional development, curriculum and instruction and learning environments. According to the Partnership, this site represents the first comprehensive, “go-to,” online resource for high-quality content, best practices, relevant reports, articles and research. These tools assist practitioners in implementing 21st century teaching practices and learning outcomes. Contemporary educators can easily navigate Route 21 to gather tips, obtain lesson plans, and watch videos that pertain directly to classroom instruction. The information in this area allows users to tag, rank, organize, collect and share Route 21 content based on their personal interests which is a great use of Web 2.0 social networking.
Overall, I enjoyed navigating my way through the Partnership website. I felt it was an invaluable support system for contemporary educators and one that supported best practices and the infusion of technological skills. While perusing the site, I became more aware of the need for advocates who, “Serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders”.
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Hi Lauren, I appreciate the fact you are not easily swayed. I agree that education goes in phases and tend to swing too far each time the pendulum changes direction. When my Grandmother was in a one room school house, collaborating with all her multi aged classmates, she said it was the best education possible. I think one reason people are so excited about the change is that it is a change from the extreme test taking curriculum in place now to something that has been proven through common sense to work. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed navigating the site and did find many of the resourses on the site interesting. I felt like some of the resourses could be very helpful for someone who really wanted to be a 21st Century classroom but was just not quite there yet. I feel like that all the time! I have some good technology at my fingertips but don't always use it very efficiently in my teaching. Hopefully, the initiative will spread and give us teachers the tools we need to better educate our students.
ReplyDeleteJames,
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when you stated, "I think one reason people are so excited about the change is that it is a change from the extreme test taking curriculum in place now to something that has been proven through common sense to work". I am not sure my school in Gwinnett County has made that shift! We are still very much motivated, and driven, by testing. It is a real frustration, how much instructional time is spent testing and assessing how well the students will do on our end of the year CRCT test. I long for the day when your statement is felt in my classroom.
I agree with your Grandmother. It was quite interesting to me to see collaboration as a 21st century skill. I guess cooperative learning was what is was called in the 20th century, and before that, simply teamwork. Thank you for your response.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI think in our profession, there is always going to be that feeling of, we can be doing more, and better. That is part of the joy, and frustration of teachers. I agree this was a valuable resource. Best practices are timeless, in my opinion. Thank you for sharing.
Lauren, what are your thoughts on my thought...'teachers should be running this partnership...'? Do you think that more states would be on board if teachers were at the helm of this initiative?
ReplyDeleteLauren,
ReplyDeleteYou brought up a really great point that I didn't consider before. The skills they talk about are not new to the 21st century. I think that these skills also do not have to directly relate to technology. I think that what I am getting from this class is that new technology can provide some great tools to teach these skills with. The internet has really made it possible to answer any question you might have, which really encourages independent thinking and problem solving. I liked the site too and thought it had a lot of good links. A lot of the things that we have been taking away from this class I plan on utilizing in the future. Hopefully we can use our wiki page to link to some of the best resources from the Route 21 site and other sites suggested from out class.
Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that some of these ideals are not "new" and should be taught in the classroom daily. However, when district administrators talk to staff members about what they are teaching, are these "old" skills discussed? Most times, they are not. What is pointed out are the numerical growth or deficits of "student achievement" as measured by standardized tests and NCLB. I think that while we, as strong and passionate teachers in our classrooms, realize and understanding that doing those things is crucial to student achievement, it is not necessarily valued in our current educational environment. Students are seen as numbers, and our success with them is, unfortunately, see as a number as well. We have been doing this for so long, and under so much stress, that perhaps reverting to those solid principles of teaching students collaborative and cooperative skills feels new to some.
Do you think that those who see it as an old ideas dressed up as something new will be reluctant to implement it in their classrooms?