21st Century
Skills: Education’s Future or Latest
Fad?
In the
summer of 2000, I remember flying out to California with my family for my
sister’s graduation from dental school.
The particular airport escapes me, but I remember my family and I having
to rush to make a connecting flight that was far across the airport in a
distant terminal. I ran across several
movators in efforts to get the plain to wait while my family caught up to
me. Sure enough, I arrived and informed
the flight personnel at the gate that my family was on their way. Each member of my family came rushing one by
one, but we noticed that my now late great Aunty Angela and her husband were
nowhere to be found. After moments of
waiting, I headed back only to find them walking solely on foot, walking BESIDE
the movator, instead of walking on it. When
I asked them why didn’t they walk on the movator, my aunt simply stated, “Well
it didn’t seem much faster than walking to me!”
What does all
this have to do with 21st century skills? Well, I marveled at the fact that my aunt
considered “walking” and using the “movator” as two mutually exclusive
activities, and that’s what I believe in essence is happening in the 21st
century skills debate. To better prepare
today’s students to make tangible contributions and compete in the global
marketplace, an education system based on 21st century skills would
intentionally focus on:
- thinking critically and making judgments
- solving complex, multidisciplinary, open-ended problems
- creativity and entrepreneurial thinking
- communicating and collaborating
- making innovative use of knowledge, information, and opportunities
- and taking charge of financial, health, and civic responsibilities[1]
Greater detail can be found below as articulated by Partnership for 21st Century Skills president Ken Kay:
The 21st
century skills movement does have skeptics such as Jay Matthews who questions if
the whole movement will be doomed from the onset, if it is phased in with an “all-at-once”
mindset?[2]
He also wonders if the 21st century
skills movement reduce a wealth of knowledge and diversity of perspectives to a
simple, business-minded set of skills at the expense of literature, art, music,
and the like?[3] This sentiment is echoed by Andrew J.
Rotherham, who observes that some proponents believe that students should focus
on critical thinking instead of content, thus pitting the two against each
other.[4]
And thus, we're back to the movator! Even detractors acknowledge that 21st century skills and current content need not be mutually exclusive, nor should they be. In fact, the many times the inclusion of critical thinking, collaboration and the like are simply recognized as good teaching practices that many so-called pioneers have already incorporated. Take, for example, this TED Talk by Dan Meyer:
I would personally argue that he was a proponent of the 21st century skills movement, but he does not mention that "buzzword" even once! Much of the paranoia that exists surrounds the fact that it the education system might run into this movement without fully understanding and appreciating or understanding the core issues (which would be QUITE ironic, I would think).
Labels and buzzwords aside, this can and should work, and should not be feared, but carried out with understanding. Let's get on the movator and MOVE!!!
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