Last week, I began to investigate how 21st-century learning looks in other parts of the world. I have always had an interest in international affairs, and my specialization in the Professional Master of Education program is in education abroad. My conclusion in my last post was that 21st-century learning largely entails the same skills proposed at the beginning of this blog, but these are given different levels of priority based on each country's values and belief systems. However, I also noticed that, by and large, there was a large correlation between poverty and the ability to even read, which would be a necessary first-step before any 21st-century learning skills could be focused on. Personally, I could understand why this would have been the case prior to the internet's widespread adoption, when information came at a premium, but with all of the free content available, I am baffled that this continues to be the case. Since 1960, the global literacy rate has increased about 4% every five years, and we have now reached a point where over 85% of the world's population has developed the ability to read to some degree. However, "The poorest countries in the world, where basic education is most likely to be a binding constraint for development, still have very large segments of the population who are illiterate. In Niger, for example, the literacy rate of the youth (15-24 years) is only 36.5%" (Ortiz-Ospina & Roser, 2016). Therefore, even though 85% sounds like a successful amount, it's important to understand that, just like the world's financial wealth, this 85% is not evenly distributed. Ortiz-Ospina & Roser (2016) present their findings on the map below, where there is a clear lack of literacy ability on the African continent: On a list of the top 25 most illiterate countries (Cago, 2017), 17 out of the 25 (68%) of these countries are found on the African continent. Why is this disparity thus large? One reason is that in many African nations, education is traditionally done orally. "The background is that African societies traditionally rely on oral learning, with listening and speaking as crucial skills. Schools, in contrast, are associated with reading and writing. This cultural orientation persists, and people have a tendency to equate going to school with literacy" (Shiundu, 2018). This would challenge many ideas that we have about education, and even calls into question 21st-century learning's proposed top spot of the pedagogical hierarchy. From this perspective, wanting to "save" the African continent by introducing new learning ideas and technologies would put me in the position of a colonialist wanting to assimilate their culture into my own which is, of course, uncomfortable to put it lightly. Of course, others take on a more utilitarian stance as to why this might be the case. James Tasamba writes that "...the development of reading culture in Africa was not taken seriously enough" and that it is the lack of libraries and reading materials in many African nations that has been a barrier to the widespread adoption of literacy throughout (2019). And, quite on the contrary to the point of view mentioned in the previous paragraph, he mentions that "Promoting reading and writing is an important step in promoting national culture, according to experts" (Tasamba, 2019). Essentially, in order to both preserve and spread individual national identity and culture, it is essential for proponents of said culture to solidify it into a written form. In my own teaching experience, I can definitely speak to the fact that learning about specific cultures in Africa, outside of popular ones like Egypt, is an extremely difficult and even impossible task. I try to explain to my students that "Africa" is not just one place, but a diverse region comprised of many nations. However, during my social studies unit where we try to "experience" different cultures, the most difficult ones for me to research were Botswana and South Africa. When cultural activities and ideas are put forward about these places, they tend to be "African" activities, perpetuating the underlying assumption that all African nations have the same ideas and perspectives. Therefore, improving the reading and writing skills of these nations might be the only way to fully preserve these unique cultures through their own lens rather than a Western interpretation of said culture. What I am getting at is that even though literacy can be seen as a Western invention (even though it could much more easily be attributed to much older Eastern cultures), in a world where Western ideals still seem to dominate the conversation, reading and writing might be a necessary evil towards finding a place in that conversation, which is perhaps an unfortunate note to end this post on. However, as I mentioned, it is indeed an uncomfortable topic, but that does not mean it shouldn't be discussed altogether. Works CitedCago, L. (2017, April 25). 25 most illiterate countries. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-lowest-literacy-rates-in-the-world.html
Ortiz-Ospina, E., & Roser, M. (2016, August 13). Literacy. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://ourworldindata.org/literacy Shiundu, A. (2018, February 09). More must happen. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/literacy-rates-have-risen-sub-saharan-africa-reality-probably-worse-official-numbers-suggest Tasamba, J. (2019, October 18). African countries push for higher literacy. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/african-countries-push-for-higher-literacy/1618099
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Last week, I investigated some of the contrarian opinions related to 21st-century learning ideas and skills. It's clear to me now that even though there is a global attempt towards preparing students for a world where knowledge is no longer king and cognitive processes are, there is still a strong presence of educators who are not fully supportive of the changes being proposed. In this post, I wanted to look a little more into whether or not the definition of 21st-century learning is consensual among all parties; specifically, I have decided to take a look at the initiatives and perspectives with regards to 21st-century learning at an international level. As my current understanding of it is largely based on North American ideas, I wanted to include other perspectives to gain further insight, as "There is no single international definition of 21st century competencies, but there are common elements among countries' goals" (Stewart, 2015). Stewart goes on to write that the fundamental skills that seem to be omnipresent throughout most of the media I have been exposed to regarding 21st-century learning are more or less the same in these other cultures, however, "...countries put weight on different elements, based on their own cultures, traditions, and analyses of the social and economic challenges they are facing" (Stewart, 2015). A good example of this is what is happening in South Korea, where academic achievement is near the top of the scale, and yet student happiness and satisfaction is extremely low. In fact, The World Population Review indicated that "...students have higher-than-average suicide rates, at least partly because their families tend to put high levels of pressure on them to succeed academically" (2021). One initiative that is being introduced is that " Arts and humanities have been added to the traditional science and math-heavy curriculum to foster creativity and student engagement" (Stewart, 2015). Additionally, "...extracurricular activities, not just exam results, are now being reflected in university entrance procedures" (Stewart, 2015). During my own time in South Korea as an ELL teacher, I recall that the educational climate was extremely rigid, and that creativity was nowhere to be found in the classroom. I'm glad that some actions are being taken to rectify some of the dissatisfaction that students are feeling. Another interesting thing to note is the pre-existing disparities that exist between countries in terms of the skills that students already possess. In examining the information produced by the World Bank Income found here, there is a large disparity between different countries faculties in arts, science, and core competency skills, and there is a correlation between a country's GDP and their performance in these areas, with some exceptions existing. This graphic below highlights this effectively: In analyzing all of this information, the conclusions that I can draw are that 21st-century learning skills are more of a guide than a rigid set of rules that must be fully adhered to. Because each part of the world has a different starting point, it would be ridiculous for an educator with a North American context to dictate to someone from another part of the world as to how they should best implement these practices. Certain parts of the world, as can be shown by the graphic above, do not yet even possess sufficient enough literacy and numeracy skills to even consider introducing 21st-century learning skills on such a wide scale. Finally, I would also argue that certain schools within Canada that are located in an impoverished area may not be as well-prepared to engage in 21st-century learning as other parts of the country are. In some ways, this poses a problem, as there will likely be an inequality of information that will persist in our world and in our country for a long time. What can be done to more evenly spread information to parts of the world where it is limited?
I am having a hard time understanding why those who want to read in other countries are unable to in the age of the internet where YouTube and a plethora of other instructional materials exist. I will investigate this further in my next post. WORKS CITED Stewart, V. (2015, December 17). Preparing students for the 21st century. Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://asiasociety.org/global-cities-education-network/preparing-students-21st-century World Population Review. Suicide rate by country 2021. (2021). Retrieved February 22, 2021, from https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/suicide-rate-by-country Following up from last week's post, where I explored ways in which I am currently introducing what might be considered 21st Century learning skills (or at the very least innovative) into my classroom, I thought it might be interesting to play devil's advocate and look at some of the criticisms against this new educational paradigm shift. My rationale behind doing this is that it will give me greater insight into the potential pitfalls of trying to adopt a 21st-century approach in my classroom.
While it is far easier to locate material that displays 21st century learning in a positive light, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the other side of the coin. Some have called it, "...another doomed fad" (Matthews, 2009). In fact, many have argued that "...none of these skills are unique to the 21st century" (Rotherham, 2008). While I do not think that novelty is what makes the 21st-century approach useful in our changing world, it does call into question what could be perceived as a misnomer. By giving the greater umbrella for all of these skills a name that suggests it is on the cutting edge, the chief proponents of it are doing a great disservice to all of the many educational researchers who have come before them. Why not build upon the shoulders of giants instead of pretending they don't exist? I would argue, cynically though it may appear, that it is because there is money to be made from that which is considered "new." As mentioned previously, the focus of 21st-century skills are to teach students how to know instead of what to know. Many have said that "...some 21st-century skills proponents believe these skills should replace the teaching of content" (Rotherham, 2008). I do understand that there is a lot of sense to this; gone are the days of needing to memorize the periodic table of elements or even multiplication times tables up to 12, as many have argued the obsolescence of these with the introduction of the smartphone. However, as Rotherham continues, "While students should leave school with more than just facts in their head, facts do matter, too. Content undergirds critical thinking, analysis, and broader information literacy skills. To critically analyze various documents requires engagement with content and a framework within which to place the information" (2008). Essentially, there are still fundamentals that are required in order to even develop those higher-order skillsets in ours students. I had a discussion with a colleague the other day that related to the idea that there will be technology available to everyone that will read any piece of text anywhere and on demand. The discussion took us to a place of drawing a parallel between that future time and those times in history when only the clergy or nobles could read information. However, in the case of this future, people will believe that the information is being read to them accurately, but they would not possess adequate reading skills to actually assess that for themselves. In some cases, the question of the schools' ability to successfully implement these new skills into schools is frequently asked, in light of how lagging behind the literacy and numeracy scores are. Matthews states, "How are millions of students still struggling to acquire 19th-century skills in reading, writing and math supposed to learn this stuff?" (2009). I have asked this question before, although I have approached from the angle of whether or not the teachers in the public school system have sufficient training to instruct on these skills properly. It certainly was not a heavy focus of my education degree so far as I can recall. Another problem with the 21st-century movement is the expediency with which these changes are being pushed into schools. Matthews argues this, and said this would not be realistic, as "They say changes must be made all at once, or else. In this democracy, we never make changes all at once" (Matthews, 2009). In our district, there is a big push for us to use all of this newfangled software to help students develop all of these useful skills, and yet there are barely enough functioning laptops for one class to use at a time. From a theoretical perspective, it makes sense to be pushing all of these technologies, but the funding for actually putting them into place just isn't there. And it should go without saying that technology is not all it's cracked up to be, according to some. According to Bennett, "...worshipping at the altar of technology poses its own dangers" (2011). He feels that by not teaching students facts because they have ease of access to them whenever they want, they will end up forgetting them altogether. As Bennett writes, "...making way for the "knowledge-based economy" now seems to thrive on collective amnesia and a complete disregard for the wisdom bequeathed to us by past generations" (2011). This is something that I hadn't considered very thoroughly until I read through that article, and it is a very real problem. Because free-access to information will be considered a given, it will likely not be valued by society as much as it ought to be, and certain ideas might be forgotten. Sure, they might always be indexed somewhere on the internet (although this is not necessarily true either, as many websites expire and are no longer hosted online), but the desire to even consider that information will be long lost. It's not that this is any different to other great epochs of forgotten information that have occurred since the introduction of communication, but I can imagine that with a synthetic memory-bank in place, the rate at which this information is antiquated will increase dramatically. WORKS CITED Bennett, P. (2011, April 15). The case Against 21st-Century Schools. Retrieved February 16, 2021, from https://www.ourkids.net/school/the-case-against-21st-century-schools Matthews, J. (2009, January 05). The latest doomed pedagogical fad: 21st-century skills. Retrieved February 16, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/04/AR2009010401532.html Rotherham, A. J. (2008, December 15). 21st-Century skills are not a new education trend but could be a fad. Retrieved February 16, 2021, from https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2008/12/15/21st-century-skills-are-not-a-new-education-trend-but-could-be-a-fad I thought that this week's post would benefit from putting a little bit more of my own practice out there for people to dissect and possibly learn from. As I left off last week's post talking about ways that educators have advised to put some of these ideas into practice, I began to think of my own classroom and ways that I have attempted or succeeded in implementing 21st skills into it. I mentioned that I use technology quite effectively in my classroom, but I didn't mention the specifics. For one, I have a developing computer science course that I have been integrating into my class - while our district is pushing coding and related skills, it's typically not introduced in a primary setting, due to the difficulty involved with the subject matter, and the lack of instructors who feel comfortable with it. Luckily for me, working with computers is my strong suit. The course I have created simplifies the coding process, and is done using Microsoft Powerpoint. By creating a video game through this course, they learn simple shortcuts (such as copying and pasting, or selecting all), and there is a ot of room for them to be independent quite quickly. I've also introduced my students into 3D modelling and design, and they are using TinkerCAD to create a model that I will run through a 3D printer. This is teaching them about 3D space, and they are beginning to understand why the objects they create need to have a firm foundation. I also believe 3D printers are going to be a technology that is widely used in many different sectors (watch this video on 3D printers making houses below), and therefore giving them this understanding early on will make them more adaptable and receptible to this technology. This adaptability to new technologies is a big part of 21st century skills. In reference to the Driscoll (2021) article that I referenced last week, I also try to incorporate a heavy focus on international studies into my classroom. One of the ways that I do this is through my World Cultures unit in social studies. Each year, I choose 7 different countries from around the world that the students get to "visit." Instead of my just giving them a worksheet that asks students to explain the languages spoken, the currency used, some of the cultural activities done etc., I create a presentation that allows students to experience these things. For example, they meet different characters who speak the native language of the country, and instead of telling the students what the characters are saying, the students must use their critical thinking skills to gauge what they MIGHT be saying based on the context of the situations that arise. There are also 3 cultural activities that take place - it could be a traditional game from that country, a dance, some food or a craft - but they have no preparation for these activities in advance. They are expected to be adaptable and learn these skills on the fly, and it really engages parts of their brains that they are not used to using.
These are some of the highlights that I can think of. I have been more active in brainstorming ways that I can refine the subjects that I teach and incorporating 21st century learning ideals into them. WORKS CITED Driscoll, M. (2021, January 14). EDUCATION in the 21st century. Retrieved February 02, 2021, from https://thinkstrategicforschools.com/education-21st-century/ Now that I have made some headway in trying to identify which 21st-century learning skills I want to focus on, I know have begun to undertake the labyrinthine task of finding ways to implement them into my classroom and assess whether or not the students have learned these skills. It’s very clear that “…despite widespread agreement among parents, educators, employers and policymakers worldwide that students need skills like critical thinking, problem solving, teamwork and creativity, these skills are stubbornly difficult to teach and learn” (Opfer & Saavedra, 2012).
Therefore, I tried to find some practical and theoretical examples of successful teaching and learning of 21st century learning skills. Looking through a variety of sources, one of the more obvious ideas came up in my search, which is that “…digital integration is also fundamental to a thorough 21st century education, [although] it is not enough to simply add technology to existing teaching methods. Technology must be used strategically to benefit students” (Driscoll, 2021). It is fortunate in my case that I spent a lot of focused development time on computer-based technologies as a kid, and this is something that I am able to use easily in my classroom. Another interesting one that the same article brought up was the idea of introducing an international element to the classroom, which can be done through “… travel opportunities, exchange programs, school partnerships, international school leadership, and online communication” (Driscoll, 2021). While I think this is a great idea (I know from my own experience the learning benefits that travel can provide), I think that it limits access to the students who are typically deprived of 21st century skills – students whose parents have the money to send their child abroad to learn likely have the resources to instill 21st century learning into their learning. Another article states that an effective strategy might be one where “…teachers explicitly model the target learning strategy that the student should acquire, pointing out key processes (modeling)” (Peters-Burton & Stehle, 2019). This prompts me to go back to the question I posed in the first blog entry I submitted, which is essentially do the teachers of today have a thorough enough understanding of how these skills work to model them effectively for their students? As I continue to explore the ideas and skills behind 21st century learning, I am starting to realize my own limited understanding of what these skills really look like in practice. I think that to effectively model them, it is essential that teachers have an understanding of all the little intricacies and embellishments behind those skill. WORKS CITED Driscoll, M. (2021, January 14). EDUCATION in the 21st century. Retrieved February 02, 2021, from https://thinkstrategicforschools.com/education-21st-century/ Peters-Burton, E.E. & Stehle, S.M. (2019). Developing student 21st Century skills in selected exemplary inclusive STEM high schools. IJ STEM Ed 6 (39). doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-019-0192-1 Saavedra, A., & Opfer, V. (2012, October 19). Nine lessons on how to Teach 21st century skills and knowledge. Retrieved February 02, 2021, from https://www.rand.org/blog/2012/10/nine-lessons-on-how-to-teach-21st-century-skills-and.html |
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AuthorTim Raposo is a teacher of grades 3 & 4 at Cawston Primary School in BC. With a firm grasp of burgeoning technologies. he seeks to introduce students to new ideas and skills to produce a passion for 21st century learning as early as possible in their educational careers. ArchivesCategories |