Partnership for 21st Century Skills
This site has a lot of support to offer educators, which is very nice to know. I am impressed with this site. I am most impressed with the mission statement which sums up perfectly what the organization is all about. The website’s mission statement says that it serves “as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2004).
I was surprised by a few things when I perused through the website. What surprised me about this organization is that it is the leading organization in incorporating the 21st century skills with the US K-12 education. I had not heard of it before reading this week’s resources, and I am surprised to see how many other areas of work are involved with this organization. It is not just teachers; there are many others such as businesses and policy makers who are together with educators, trying to make this incorporation of 21st century skills and education come together!
What I did notice that was not positive about the site, is that not all the US states are following this organization’s mission. Only a handful of the states are in the drop down menu. My state, Washington, is not on their. That makes sense now why I have not heard of this organization before. It has been going on since 2004 according to the organization’s website, so for five years what have the other states been doing? Is this organization trying hard enough to get the nation on board? I wonder about this, and whether there will be more states following in the future.
The implications for myself as an educator are to become knowledgeable about these 21st century skills, and teach them daily in the classroom. Strive to help develop these skills in each student so they can thrive in the workplace. Teachers need to give their students the tools they will need for the future (which will develop in them the 21st century skills). Another implication is to try to get my state on board with the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
The implications for my students are to embrace technology and use it to enhance learning. Students need to take the tools that teachers give them to help develop these skills and use them to help prepare themselves for the world after high school.
References:
Partnership for 21st Century Skills
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/
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All states not participating was a concern I had also. The state I live in was not listed as following the mission either. I wonder where the process starts in getting everyone working together to educate all students in America for the challenges of work and life in the 21st century. As educators, we must have the support from our states to incorporate these skills into our curriculum. The higher level (states, districts) must recognize the need and vision the outcome in order for the schools to bring New Literacies into the classrooms. Developing a comprehensive framework for the 21st century is not something that can be done overnight but it is something that has to be done.
ReplyDeleteMarie-
ReplyDeleteI did notice that all states are not following, I wonder why this is? You would think that everyone would notice the need for change in education. Before this week, I had never even heard of the 21st skills website, I found it to be very interesting and encouraging.
I feel that this website would be a great way for schools to open their eyes and notice that things do need to change and that the skills needed now are different than before. We need to evolve as educators.
My state of Colorado wasn't in there either. If there is no legislation that says the schools need to include it, and no state or federal mandated testing to insure it is being incorporated, it won't happen in Colorado. We're just trying to get our reading, writing and math scores up to speed. Technology and Civic are, unfortunately, pretty far down on the list.
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