The Partnership for 21st Century Skills appears to be a very proactive and visionary organisation. Its vision to ensure every child’s success as citizens and workers in the 21st century is truly noble. I am very impressed with the organizations approach to ensuring that this vision becomes a reality. The organisation clearly defined the skills that children today need to have to survive and to make maximum contribution to their self development and the development of their local and the global communities. In addition, the organisation engaged collaborative partners that include a wide cross section of civil society and government. It also sought a legislative framework on which its policies can be enforced and funded. It is also commendable that the organization provide funding and resources for the development of the skills in schools.
The skills identified by the Partnership for 21st Century are indeed relevant to the socioeconomic trends of the world today. The skills include creativity, innovation, critical thinking, problem solving collaborative and financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy. David B. Reeves, through the Partnership for 21st Century Skills web site, states that some professionals differ about the skills that are most relevant. He suggested that most professionals agree that communication, teamwork, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving are among the most common.
The challenge for educators is how these skills will be addressed at the classroom level. The Partnership for the 21st Century skills seems to propose that the skills development be combined with the core curriculum. The partnership’s web site provides a number of resources that educators can use to assist them to integrate the skills into the core curriculum. I wish the Partnership the best of success as they support efforts that will ensure that the 21st century skills are taught in all schools.
Reference
Partnership for the 21st Century Skills. (n.d.) A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/downloads/P21_Repor.pdf
I found that the site offered a bounty of resources but I wonder how to get it all into my classroom? Is it possible to add all the suggestions on top of the rigorous curriculum already expected from us? I did find that I discovered myself looking for ways of combining and teaching technology across the curriculum and integrating it as often as possible. I think teachers are already accustomed to doing this but now the pressure will really be on them to do it once districts invest all that money into the classrooms. Keep in mind, we must have our students remain successful on standardized test, too. Wow, a lot to teach in a shrinking school year.
ReplyDeleteKristyln- I think, as educators, when we learn to use these skills and resources ourselves in will be how we teach the curriculum. I think the trick will be to infuse these skills into every aspect of the curriculum, every subject, every lesson. Muliti-tasking. That is probably thev only way to efficently teach 21st century skills without comprising the basics.
ReplyDeleteWith all the requirements of teachers are the 21st century skills going to be an additional thing that is going to be a requirement of teachers to implement in the class? Not that I think that all teachers need to be getting students ready for the real world, but how much more can we do? I teach science and have been told that my formal evaluation will be based on student’s improvement in reading and math. My classroom is alive with many of the key strategies involved in the Partnership for the 21st Century Skills, yet I feel I am not doing enough.
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