The best synopsis comes from The Partnership for 21st Skills website. Their framework suggest the following skills are critical for 21 century learners:
-Learning and Innovation
-Information, Media, and Tech.
-Life and Career Skills
While none of the above categories may seem unique to this century...many educators view this century as being unique. This perceived uniqueness is drawing many to redefine core concepts to education...especially the idea of literacy. I personally find this interesting as I have always viewed literacy as being simple. Personally, I viewed literacy as being able to comprehend written and/or numerical information where ever you may find it. Take a few moments to watch the video below. As you watch, count the various types of literacies that are referred to. Some of them go way beyond my limited definition and refer to skills that don't even involve text (ie: outdoor literacy, emotional literacy, etc.) Also ask yourself "Are the listed skills unique to the 21 century? Are the skills unique only in terms of their focus? Are the skills unique in terms of the tools present to put them into practice? Is there any real uniqueness at all?"
I personally believe that many of the skills they list, especially skills like critical thinking and creativity, are not unique to the 21st century. George Manthey agrees:
For me, it's hared to think of a century in which it wasn't important to think critically as well as be analytical, creative and collaborative. (2009, p.11)
Think of the Aztecs, Galileo, Aristotle, Archimedes, Mayans, Newton, Darwin and countless other examples of individuals and civilizations in the past that required analytical, critical, communication, and collaborative skills to survive and excel.
When I ran into the next video I realized that my focus...my interpretation of what I was reading about 21st century skills was wrong. Maybe people from this movement aren't stating that these skills are only important to this century. Maybe they are stating that these age old skills have a new twist to them now and are even more important given the challenges we are facing. Watch the video and reflect on the implications of a society that reflects the stats they share:
George Manthey (2009) eloquently summarized some of the thoughts that ran through my head and some of the thoughts that have obviously sparked debate in other circles:
I'm not sure why I should be surprised, but I am when I learn that teaching critical thinking, analytical and technology skills-as well as teaching students to be creative and collaborative-has become controversial. There seems to be a bit of a backlash against such skills, often called 21st century skills. The concern is that if such skills are emphasized, it will be at the expense of core content(p.11)
I don't know why my gut reaction to this topic was "Okay...here comes another fad" but that was my reaction. After watching the videos and revisiting The Partnership for 21st century Skills website I realized I was wrong. This organization and other educational leaders are actually asking me as an educator to do my job....better. For instance, math and science curricula focus on the tools used in these areas as well as communicative, collaborative and innovative skills required to understand and succeed in related fields. Do these documents state that we are only to use the tools that Galileo had at his disposal? I don't think so. If doctors, astronauts, lawyers, city planners, interior designers, counselors and countless other professionals have always sought to used the best tools and skills available, why would this trend stop at the 21st century? If our kids are growing up in a would inundated with media...why wouldn't we pursue directions/skills/practices that would allow us to prepare them to navigate their world safely and effectively?
I would like to suggest that this topic of 21st century skills is important for teachers and students alike. Watch the news for the next week and track all of the stories related to just the topic of attention and technology. How we interact, form friendships, listen to the people we care about is being altered by technology. Parents, kids, teachers, students and almost every other group in North America is trying to learn how to live meaningfully in this type of world. With this in mind, watch Howard Reingold's lecture (at least from the 6 minute to the 20 minute mark where he focuses on the basic skill of attention) and then ask yourself how effective education/educators could ignore responding to the unique needs of our time.
What really struck me this week was reading the thoughts of my fellow classmates. My classmates are leaders within education who excel at what they do. One shared that her students prefer to stay within the box rather than wondering creatively. Another classmate shared a vision of education where learning went beyond the walls of the school and meaningfully impacted the very communities the students lived in. Another shared the tough issues students face when they aren't nurtured at home for various reasons. Most of our thoughts around 21 century skills/education came back to education meeting the needs of each individual student. Meeting these needs walked hand in hand with topics such as collaboration, community, creativity, accessibility and fairness rather than knowledge or content. None of us believe that content isn't important but we seem to be excited about the opportunity the 21st century is giving us to make learning meaningful for us and our students.
The big question...How can educators raised in the knowledge/independence/individuality addicted 20th century learn how to teach in a 21st century world that is founded on connection/collaboration/creativity?
Nonhyperlinked resources:
Manthey, G. (2009). The knowledge vs. skills debate: A false dichotomy? Leadership, 39(2), 11.
Thanks, Mark. Lots of food for thought here! One thing I was reminded of when I read your post was the conversation I heard at the School Library Journal Summit in October...the school library leaders at that conference said that they would have preferred to see the term 'learning' instead of 'skills' used when talking about the Partnership for 21st Century Skills...do you think that changing the word from skills to learning would change how educators and others perceive the importance of these ideas? Also, I agree with you that many of these 'skill's or ideas are not really unique to the 21st century. But how we teach and how we think about education is perhaps what needs to change. That said, people such as Jeff Utecht, who is obviously doing great things with his students in relation to technology, has decided to no longer use the term 21st century learning or skills. His argument is that we are 10 years into the 21st century and so maybe we shouldn't be thinking of these ideas as new or revolutionary, but just what is expected of teachers and students now. You can read his words here: http://www.thethinkingstick.com/im-done-with-the-21st-century
ReplyDeleteJoanne
I don't know if shifting the term to learning would help anything. To be honest, in education we often play so much with words that the actual power of the words we use is undermined. Right now the term learning is a hot term as well...assessment for learning...assessment of learning...life long learning. Sometimes I think we will have to make up new terms to catch anybody's attention.
ReplyDeleteI will look into Jeff's thoughts as that is more how I feel. Maybe if we emphasized the present state of things instead of "newness" there would be less resistance and more open dialogue. For some reason, new brings up bad memories in educational circles.