Bill Gates and his Partnership for 21st Century Skills organization have identified key educational skills. These will be necessary for U.S. workers to keep the United States successful in an increasingly competitive world. As was said in this column last week, teaching to these new 21st Century requirements will force schools to rethink what and how they teach. Two key skill categories are Thinking and Learning Skills and Life Skills.
Thinking and Learning Skills include the ability to think critically and effectively problem solve. Along with this young people need strong communication. Also required is the ability to work collaboratively. Applying their learning within areas where the skills are utilized is essential. Proficiency in finding information and using it to make decisions is essential. Related to this they need the necessary ability to communicate these findings in various ways.
The Life Skills include leadership, ethics, accountability, adaptability, personal productivity, personal responsibility, people skills, self direction, and social responsibility.
Employers were asked to identify the skill areas in which recent high school grads were deficient. They said written communication (81%) and leadership (73%) were the weakest. From there they identified work ethic (70%), critical thinking and problem solving (70%) and self direction (58%).
According to the 21st Century Skills report, the challenge for schools will not be in teaching new subjects. They feel the core subjects of education should stay the same. The challenge they say is how to teach the new skill requirements within the traditional subjects of social studies, reading, math, science, foreign languages, and so forth.
The Partnership group would say that instruction in these core subjects must change to embed the teaching of the 21st Century Skills. Fortunately, models for this type of teaching have been around for a long time. These models have been used here in Columbus and across the country. The key will be making the application of these teaching strategies more universal.
In the classroom, this type of instruction causes young people to answer open-ended questions and support their answers with evidence from their research. It will also require young people to work in groups. Within teams they will solve problems using the math, science, and/ or social studies skills. Such classrooms do not teach skill and information in isolation. They teach them to be utilized in real world contexts.
Classrooms that help young people get ready for the 21st century work places will also stress inventiveness and creativity. Motivating innovative thinking will be more important than ever before. Being successful in the future requires people to do more than take orders. They also must understand how to add value to their workplaces. This is done by thinking critically about what they do and taking responsibility for making improvements in their areas of responsibility.
This leads us to the last essential skill for the future – self direction. People who are most valued in any workplace are those who do not sit around and wait to be told. Valued workers are those who need little, if any, direction. Such ability is developed through giving more say in the classroom to students. It is also done by expecting them to design and carry out their own projects. Giving young people more responsibility within their own classrooms helps them become self-directed. It also helps them see themselves as part of a bigger team to which they are answerable.
It is easy to see that the skills of the 21st century workplace are challenging. At the same time, it is clear that implementing the changes needed to meet these requirements is very possible for the teachers of today. The task at first seems daunting. However, when the classroom necessary to make these changes comes into focus, what we see is an exciting place to learn and develop.
|
