The partnership for 21st Century Skills is an organization that "brings together the business community, education leaders, and policymakers to define a powerful vision for 21st century education to ensure every child's success as citizens and workers in the 21st century. The Partnership encourages schools, districts and states to advocate for the infusion of 21st century skills into education and provides tools and resources to help facilitate and drive change". The website outlines the skills framework, the participating state initiatives, and online tools and resources.
I am always interested in finding more resources, and Route 21 does not disappoint. It has snapshots of examples and videos of 21st century skills put in action.
It is my responsibility as a contemporary educator to implement these new practices that engage and motivate more students so they are prepared for 21st jobs.
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Seven Mind Mapping Tools to Try This Year
1 year ago
I really enjoyed Route 21 also. It put things into a framework that helped me see how to implement these skills at the grade level that I teach. Do you think more states will join this partnership in the near future?
ReplyDeleteJust out of curiosity, what kinds of jobs do you think those jobs you reference will be? Do you have an idea?
ReplyDeleteWhat about the students who will be in service oriented jobs? Do they need the same skill set as other students?
I am just asking these questions because in a conversation with my students about these issues, these are the questions that they asked me. It was interesting to hear students who did not want to attend college offer their ideas about this topic. We were discussing the American education system and many of them were frustrated with the lack of opportunities for students interested in trades instead of college. They were asking if this way of teaching was really something that all students need. It is an interesting question and one I thought might be interesting to have with other teachers.
On August 31 the teachers in our district were lucky enough to be part of a presentation given by David Warlick on much of the same topics as those on the 21st century skills website. One of the things that I found very interesting was that many of the jobs will be centered around the long tail. The entire slide presentation is available at: http://davidwarlick.com/wiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RLPresentationSlides
ReplyDeleteSlide 20 of 33 begins his discussion of this topic. Jobs of the 21st century will allow people to make money selling things that do not make a lot of sales. They do not sell enough to be able to have them in a store, but can be made once ordered online.
I agree that not all students will be a job that necessarily uses all of these 21st century skills, but that's not to say that the industry or service won't eventually find a way that using technology can improve their service or product. I question the same thing with what is required for our students for graduation. Why does every student have to take Geometry and Algebra 2 if they have no intention of going on to college or even technical school. Some students need the skills for survival in the "real" world. What happened to consumer mathematics?
ReplyDeleteI do agree with your point that it is our responsibility to implement this these practices into our lessons. Our goal as educators is to prpare students for the real world and work force. However, I do believe not all students will chose the same bath. Therefore, I feel a variety of skills should be taught, included the skills needed to perform a trade. I do believe schools get too caught up on trying to send everyone to college. Not everyone wants to go to college and we all need the trades. So, I feel it is my responsibility to provide students with a well round education so they are prepared for numberous careers.
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