One of my assignments for grad school this week is to check out The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Basically, this is an organization whose goal is to re-focus K-12 curriculum to accentuate skills that will benefit students most in the 21st century. My initial reaction to this site (and the organization) was this that it had a righteous goal, but they probably would not influence any real change. I read through their framework that included traditional subjects (language, math, science, history, civics, and the arts) and supplemental subjects like economics, geography. Economics and geography are topics that are usually covered in some kind of history or social studies class, but the partnerships identifies these two as stand-alone subjects.
Something that surprised me about the curriculum was the absence of rigorous technological training. I assumed that a 21st century skill-set would be filled with computer and technical classes. The biggest surprise I experienced was the impressive list of strategic council members the partnership has. This is what changed my view of this organization from a fly-by-night group of educators trying to create change to a true partnership capable of revamping the US curriculum. The list of council members includes: Apple, Dell, Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, Ford, Hp, Verizon, and Disney. These companies are considered (at least by me) to be big players in the field of technology and add validity to the partnership's goals. With the support of these companies, I believe the partnership may have the ability to create real change in the education field.
The only issue I have with the partnership is that I am not seeing the effects of their work. I have never heard of 21st century skills until now. I feel like there must be more they could do to get their name/cause out to the educational community. It seems like teachers, principals, and school administrators would have to stubble across this website in order to know about it. I think the partnership should take a more aggressive approach to get their message heard. A direct mailing (or emailing) would help spread the word. Because they are not proposing radical changes to curriculum, I believe that most people in the education community would be likely to listen to the partnership.
Based on the mission statement from the site, I feel like any changes the partnership would make would be very beneficial to students. I agree with them that we need to start teaching students the skills and mindsets that they will need to be successful in a global future. Students would have no trouble at all adapting to more relevant instruction. Teachers, on the other hand, would most likely resist any type of change. I try to be flexible in my classroom and use a variety of methods of instruction. In my own instruction, I have made an effort to focus on using current technologies and methods of communicating. Hopefully the ideas of the Partnership for 21st century skills will catch on in schools across the US and our students will thrive in the future.
Check out the site for yourself:
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
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Matt,
ReplyDeleteI first heard about the Partnership for 21st Century skills about a year ago, and that's just because our state joined it. Even with that, I have caught no mention of it locally since then. I,like you,am trying to figure out what is missing in this initiative and why word of it seems, ironically, to be missing a larger audience. It seems to me, that with such a mighty group of business and education members, the Partnership's mission and efforts should be spreading faster and with a louder voice.
Did you notice the news feature, "The Partnership to Host the 2009 National Education Summit on 21st Century Skills", on the site? If not, check it out here: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=696&Itemid=64 Ken Kay, president of the Partnership is quoted as calling the summit's participants " . . . luminaries . . . policymakers, business leaders and educators . . ." who "will be credited for being . . . major reform catalyst[s] in the months to come" (Partnership, 2009). This was in June. I hope that Kay is right. I hope the Summit was more than a glorified gathering of people who like to gripe while they party.
Reference
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009, June 12). The Partnership to Host the 2009 National Education Summit on 21st Century Skills (events & news). Retrieved October 3, 2009, from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=696&Itemid=64
This is driving me crazy. Is there no way for us to edit our own comments on blogs? I don't know why my links in the previous post don't work, and I can't figure out how to edit in an attempt to fix things. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteIt would be stupendous of Partnership for 21 Century Skills to be conspicuous and influential in spreading its mission to all school districts. Maybe it can send out information about its plans through educational associations such as the National Education Association, or any one of the state associations. All local and state deparments of education should be informed of the digital direction our future is moving towards. I just do not understand why not more is being said or mentioned to all teachers. Are we purposely being left in the dark? Sometimes I have to wonder if location and status are contributing factors.
ReplyDeleteThe National Education Association was one of the founding partners of the coalition in 2002 and remains involved (at least in name) today. They are joined now by other recognizable names in education such as the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) and ASCD. (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2004)The U.S. Department of Education has been with the group from the beginning as well, so to question why so few of us have heard much about them and their mission is a question that needs to be answered. I fear that, for whatever reason, little is getting done besides some conferences, the occassional publication, and a heap of bureaucratic back patting.
ReplyDeleteReference
Partnership for 21st Century Skills.(2004)Our History (about us). Retrieved October 4, 2009, from http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=508&Itemid=192