21st Century Skills

 

As educators, our job is to prepare our students for the future. Sure, we have to teach them how to read, write, and do math, but if we don’t teach them how to be functional adults, hold a steady job, and be contributing members of society, I believe we have failed. The problem with trying to prepare our students for the future is that we don’t know exactly what the future will look like. There have been so many advances in technology that we’ve only begun to explore the benefits and skills in our classrooms.

The web site Partnership for 21^st Century Skills is a great resource to begin to look at the 21^st century skills needed in education, and begin to understand what changes need to occur in our schools to promote these skills (www.p21.org). The mission statement for “P21” as they are referred to on the web site is “to serve as a catalyst to position 21st century readiness at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders” (http://www.p21.org/about-us/our-mission). To me, this statement encompasses the ideas that should be at the forefront of educational reform as we look at the road ahead. School districts must form a partnership with community members, businesses, and leaders to determine how to address the needs of our schools and our students in relation to changes brought about by technology and the new outlook of work environments.

http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework

One of the things I like about P21 is the way they breakdown the skills necessary for 21^st century learning and employment. Like most researchers and organizations, they focus on the need to improve the “3 R’s” – reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic, as well as subject specific content areas (Science, Social Studies, etc.). However, the focus is not only on those subjects but how we as teachers can incorporate the “4C’s” into our subject areas. The “4C’s include: critical thinking (problem solving), collaboration, communication, and creativity (innovation). I like this simplistic memory device because it helps me focus on the important skills that can enhance student learning.  The “4C’s” helped me look at 21^st century skills in a new way in that I don’t feel as overwhelmed when trying figure out ways to blend the skills in to my lessons and curriculum.

After reviewing P21’s information, I couldn’t find much to disagree with. I was a bit disheartened (but not surprised) to see Pennsylvania was one of the states not working with P21 to incorporate their statewide initiative (http://www.p21.org/members-states/partner-states). P21 also discusses the vision of 21^st century citizenship and what we must do “to make sure that all students are able to develop into true 21st century citizens” (http://www.p21.org/our-work/citizenship). If we are looking at a partnership between schools, community, and the workforce, I believe our focus should be on educating students, but it should not stop there. How do we educate and work with generations who don’t have experience with technology and grew up during a time where drill and practice where the means of instruction? Who is responsible for connecting and educating all generations for this ever-changing world? If we want to promote 21^st century skills in our youth, it is also imperative we make a push to have everyone exhibit these skills. So, I believe if P21 is looking at this full-circle, there should an initiative to bridge the technological gap with some of the older generations.

As we move forward, it may seem like a daunting task for educators to change their practices to include these 21^st century skills. In reality, it may take some extra planning and collaborating with other expert teachers and staff members as well as some “out of the box” thinking, but many of these skills can be incorporated in to what we are already doing in the classroom. We just have to begin “do different things” to promote change. The first step is to understand the skills and competencies needed to function in society and the work place, and revise our curriculum to incorporate these literacies.

In what way are you reshaping your curriculum to address these skills?

http://21stcenturyhawthorne.wikispaces.com/