In order for students to succeed in the 21st century they
will need to have specific skills to compete in the global market.
Concurrently, teachers have to be familiar with all of these skills. Teachers
will they need to know how to help students learn and what tools to use to help
their students learn these skills. After exploring The Partnership for 21st Century Skills
website, also known as P21, I was able to learn more about their initiatives with
the 21st century skills movement. I was able to determine that this
organization is working towards the awareness of 21st century skills and the
importance of technology associated with the skills. This organization is an advocate for "21st
century readiness for every student". (Partnership, 2011) Their mission
statement is "to serve as a catalyst to position 21st century readiness at
the center of US K12 education by building collaborative partnerships among
education, business, community and government leaders."(Partnership, 2011)
After reading their mission and further exploring this website I came across
many publications, curriculum maps, and even blogs all providing information
correlating with 21st century skills. Each one of these tools offer deeper
explanations and examples of what is needed in order to successfully prepare
educators to teach these skills in their classrooms.
The maps presented by this organization outline the
skills and technologies that can be used to help teach these skills. "The maps will enable
educators, administrators and policymakers to gain concrete examples of how
21st Century Skills can be integrated into core subjects."(Partnership,
2011) Earlier this week I watched an educational video by Dr.
David Thornburg, who spoke about 21st century skills and their significance
to the learner today. The following list of skills presented by Dr. Thornburg in this video:
critical thinking, problem solving,
communication, teamwork and collaboration, information technology and leadership.(Laureate Inc., 2010)
One portion of the website that surprised me in a very positive
way was the importance of incorporating the subjects of geography, history, government
and civics. "Mastery of core subjects and 21st century themes is essential
for students in the 21st century," geography, history, government and
civics were all included in this list of core subjects. (Partnership, 2011) In many instances these
subjects have gotten pushed to the side because literacy has been seen as more
important, without literacy students would not be able to learn and comprehend
the other subjects. Although literacy is important that does not mean that the
other subjects are not. As a Social Studies teacher I have heard educators say that
social studies is not an important subject and that it will not help students
in the future, especially because it is not a tested subject. However, this
organization points out that history,
geography, government and civics all subjects which are a part of social
studies are important for 21st century
students to master. Along with the incorporation of different technologies and
21st century skills these subjects will help students become well educated and
competitive citizens.
There are many ways that the classroom will change with
the use of the 21st century skills and the Common Core Standards. The use of
technology will be imperative in order to develop proficiency in the 21st
century skills. As educators we must become adaptable to all of the changes in
the field of education. Technology will become a part of everyday life in the
21st century classroom and the sooner we embrace the technological tools that
are now available to us the more proficient our students will become. We need
to prepare them for the ever changing work force and teach them how to succeed
in a global economy through these skills.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2010). Skills for the 21st Century [video]. Available from Walden University.
The partnership for 21st century skills-http://www.p21.org/
Hi Aneta,
ReplyDeleteIt is important that all core subjects are held in high regard and not considered to be the lesser siblings of 'real' subjects. Even in my science department, the physicists and chemists are constantly making fun of the biologists because it is an 'inferior' science. It is all in good fun, but it is tiring at times.
P21 lists their 6 key elements of 21st century learning and the very first one is to emphasize core subjects. Clearly, it is very important that students are able to understand subjects, like civics, if we hope for them to participate in the democratic society they live in. However their mission goes beyond this.
Another important aspect from P21 that should be mentioned is that they "believe 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" (http://www.p21.org/overview/skills-framework/57). They have chosen the following interdisciplinary themes: global awareness, Financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy, civic literacy, health literacy, and environmental literacy. These interdisciplinary themes transcend subjects and provide a means for students to truly grapple with critical thinking and creating new meanings from different content areas. These are the skills they will need in their futures.
I have tried some interdisciplinary work at my school. In the beginning it is quite messy and difficult. However, once everyone gets on board and knows what is happening, it does create some excellent opportunities to promote 21st century skills. Especially when you include ICT into the mix.
Thanks for your ideas.
Ben
Ben,
DeleteThanks for your post. Civics, geography, and economy are all important subjects for students to know in order to become successful working citizens. Civics will enable students to become a part of the democratic process, vote in elections, or be active in politics. Geography is a subject that will allow for students to understand regions. Through this they will be more successful in their jobs because they will understand who they are talking to, what part of the world they are in, and might be able to make smarter business decisions based on geography. Understanding how economy works will also benefit students in the 21st century. Therefore, all of these subjects and more are necessary and important subjects to teach students. The fact that the P21 website mentions them shows how important they really are. P21 had partnered with businesses in the common goal of teaching students these skills, in turn the businesses invested in this initiative hope to get well educated and skilled workers.
At times I feel a little scared that our future will depend on so much technology. I am not technology savvy and am uncomfortable with using it. I am, however, trying to learn. That is why I am taking a technology class. I realize that I need to use as much technology in my classroom as possible to prepare my students for the work force. Granted, I teach elementary, but the sooner students start learning, the easier technology will become for them. I too believe that the common core subjects must still be focused on. I disagree with the naysayers that comment that Social Studies is not important. For those students that choose to go into international business, for instance, the knowledge they learn from Social Studies courses will be invaluable. Educators must adapt to the new 21st century skills and incorporate technology into the way they teach these.
ReplyDeleteChris,
DeleteIt is excellent that you are trying to become more technologically savvy for the benefit of your students.
Regardless of whether or not we use technology in our classes, the students will be using technology outside of them.
Thus, it is very important that we teach them how to use it responsibly and critically.
Cheers,
Ben
Chris,
DeleteIt is scary and overwhelming when thinking about all the technology now available out there. Thinking of which technology would be best to use and knowing that technology yourself is a lot to take on. However, like Ben said it will benefit the students. It will also create experiences for them within the classroom that they will in turn be able to use outside of the classroom.
Hi Aneta,
ReplyDeleteI agree that technology usage will play an imperative role in the successful of students being prepared for the implementation of learned skills in the 21st century. Changes that are taking place in the business world and in the classroom, include but are not limited to: text messaging, webinars (web-based seminars), skyping, on-line evaluation tools, and interactive Internet games to name a few. As teachers becoming increasingly aware of various learning styles of students, through technology advances (data collection and analysis) they will be able to provide instruction to meet the individual needs of the students.
Hi there Aneta,
ReplyDeleteI too loved the fact that 21st century skills put emphasize on Social studies. I am a World Geography teacher and I am fortunate that I love this subject and I get to teach it all day everyday. I too have felt by administrators that my content area wasn't as important as reading or math. A few years ago a new principal was hired and decided that he wanted to take our World Geography for 9th graders and replace it with a reading class. After much uproar, we convinced him that World Geography was an important subject and that we indeed did teaching reading skills. We did step it up a bit and started working with a reading specialist, who taught us some very specific reading strategies to help improve reading scores. And over the last two years we have seen our reading scores go up.
Every year I have a student or two who, for whatever reason does not like Geography and asks "why do I need to take this class, it's not like I need to know where (insert a random country) is located" and I always reply that today you must know about the world, you may be asked to work in another country, work with people from other cultures or you just might hear about it in the news some day and it will help if you have an idea of what it might be like in that area of the world. 21 century skills website help articulate these ideas much clearer by using the term "Global Awareness". Our students MUST be more aware. We are no longer isolated in this world we live in and they must be more aware of the world around them.
Looking to next school year, I feel a renewed focus on this concept of Global Awareness and I plan on making that my big goal/concept when I start revamping my curriculum for next school year.
Enjoy your summer.
Layla
Aneta,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned the interest of social studies in schools today and the importance via the website. I too agree that many teachers rarely teach social studies because it is not a tested area. However, it is essential that students learn about history and the impact of the pioneers who paved the way for us today. I agree that no one subject should mean more than another, such as literacy. Yes reading is important, but we need to have a balanced educational program. The implementation of the Common Core in our school next year (July) makes me nervous, but at the same time I am excited to see how the new areas and technology change the we teach and how students learn.