The Web site for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a very detailed site including information on the importance of 21st century skills, tools and resources, states involved in the partnership, and an overview of the partnership. I would encourage any educator who is interested in implementing 21st century skills into their curriculum to visit this site.
The variety of businesses involved in the partnership is very impressive. They are large, truly global companies whose information I would value in regards to what employers are looking for in workers of the 21st century. Some of these entities include: Cisco, Dell, Lego, Ford, Adobe, and the NEA, just to name a few. I found a very informative PowerPoint presentation titled “21st Century Skills in Education: What does it look like in the states?” More disappointing than surprising to me was the statement that businesses felt recently hired high school students were deficient in written communication skills, followed by leadership, work ethic, critical thinking and problem solving, and self direction. This statement makes it clear that the current education system needs to further develop these skills in its students.
I was also surprised to see that Iowa is one of the ten states identified in the initiative. Iowa is currently working on a core curriculum where 21st century skills will be integrated. Implementing the Iowa Core Curriculum will be taking up the majority of our professional development time in the near future. Local school districts have not begun work with the Iowa Core but it is exciting that 21st century skills are being included.
The entities in the partnership point to skills in critical thinking, I.T., health and wellness, collaboration, innovation, and personal finance as areas that will be growing in importance in the next five years. This has direct implications for students and educators. It is clear that there is a growing need for teachers to utilize technology to enhance the critical thinking and decision making skills of our students so that they can be successful in the workplace.
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As you mentioned in your post The Partnership for 21st Century Skills offers various tools and resources to assist educators in integrating 21st century skills into education. The power point presentation you recommended on your blog mentions World Languages as one of the core subjects within the skills framework. Being a language teacher, I often refer to my students to statistics of English speakers in the world. It is reported by the Internet Coaching Library that the three top language in use by internet users are English, Spanish and Chinese and English is spoken by more than 2 billion people around the world. English proficiency essential for our students to be succesful professionals in a global economy. EFL/ESL teachers now must face the tasks of using internet technology and related resources to break down the language barrier.
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Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.). A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/otherdocs/p21up_Report.pdf
Jenny,
ReplyDeleteI feel that we have a unique opportunity in this class to collaborate with one another, not only through our required curriculum, but also, through our students. If we establish class wikis or blogs, on an experimental basis, couldn't we establish liasons between classrooms? It seems like it would be an excellent opportunity for us and our students to learn about 21st century skills. How could we organize this?
Kim Phillips
Glad to hear that Iowa is one of a few states that will be taking the initiative towards 21st century skills. My state was not listed which not only has me concerned for my students, but also my own child. A few of us at our school have brought up the topic, but it does not seem important to the leaders of our schools. It sounds like you will be quite busy during professional development. I think we will have to request more training sessions dealing with technology just to be prepared.
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