The partnership for 21st century skills is undoubtedly an interesting and informative way of creating a holistic view of 21st century teaching and learning that combines 21st century student outcomes. Some of these are blending of specific skills, content knowledge, expertise and literacies, with innovative support systems. This will in turn, help students master the multi-dimensional abilities required of them in the 21st century. This website is very resourceful, as it has helped me to understand the necessity for the three Rs and the four Cs in education. It came home forcefully to me how important critical thinking and problem solving, communication, collaboration, and creativity and innovation are, and should always be incorporated in the teaching and learning process in the classroom. There is no doubt that the four Cs are essential for student academic and professional success in the 21st century.
I agree that schools must move beyond a focus on basic competency in core subjects to promoting understanding of academic content at much higher levels by weaving 21st century interdisciplinary themes into core subjects. These themes, such as, global awareness, financial and economic literacy, civic literacy, health literacy and environmental literacy are all important factors that contribute to the overall development and success of each student. However, I do not totally agree with the statement that “there is a profound gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school, and the knowledge and skills they need in typical 21st century communities and workplaces”. While I agree that it might be true in some instances, not all schools or classrooms are far off in teaching skills necessary to equip students to be successful in 21st century communities, and create social change in society.
The implications for contemporary educators are to create changes in the way we think, in order to be creative in instructional practices and incorporate more technology based learning materials and tools that are current and engaging for 21st century students. To be effective in the 21st century, students must be able to exhibit a range of functional and critical thinking skills related to information, media and technology.
The overall rating for this site is five out of a possible 1-5 rating scales, with five being the highest. I find the site to be user friendly and give many links to very valuable information for teachers. This site has also helped me to be better able to assist my students in developing not only career skills, but adequate life skills, as well. Students should be able to develop flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural skills, productivity and accountability, leadership and responsibility.
I agree that that the 4 C's are essential for student success. I think those are timeless skills that will always be important and necessary for our students to be successful in the workplace and even in college and high school.
ReplyDeleteI must have missed the quote about the gap between what schools are teaching and what students need to know but I completely agree with your response to that line. I think that a large number of schools most likely do at least an adequate job of preparing their students for the future. Not all schools have the same resources as others but I feel that most do the best they can to prepare their students.
I have to disagree with your position on the gaps between the knowledge and skills our students need and what they are receiving. Although not every single school falls into this category, I have to believe that a large majority do. Technologies in the business world are expanding so quickly that there is no possible way that public schools in the midst of our current economy have the financial needs to keep up. We can do our best to teach our students how to adapt current skills, to determine patterns and other necessary skills to learn what we will need in the future. All of the skills presented in P21 are wonderful ideas but I believe that it remains to be seen how they actually work in a real world classroom, with already demanding goals for our students and teachers time.
ReplyDeleteHi Patrice,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you found the site useful.
"However, I do not totally agree with the statement that “there is a profound gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school, and the knowledge and skills they need in typical 21st century communities and workplaces”
Your raise an interesting and excellent point--I wonder if too much emphasis is placed on the role of technology in promoting higher order thinking, creativity, and self-directedness. That is, I wonder if we could say that schools can accomplish this and are accomplishing this, even without these tools (although technology tools are invaluable and so critical a part of 21st century preparedness.) I find that even without technology, lessons can still focus on problem solving--on collaboration--and self-directedness.
Interesting posting--I enjoyed visiting your blog.
Susan
Patrice,
ReplyDeleteThe 3 R's and 4 C's are essential to the 21st century learning framework that the site outlines. However just like you I question the so-called gap between the knowledge and skills students need in a 21 century labor force. Yes students need to be technologically literate and be able to master the skills that they will need in a multi-dimensional society.
However, higher order thinking skills and creativity are skills that can be taught effectively without the use of technology. This is not to say that technology is not useful nor a necessitiy but I do believe its worth can be overly appraised in teaching some skills.