Last week, I looked at practical technologies that I could introduce into my classroom in order to foster the development of some of these 21st century skills. I even managed to brainstorm ways that I could create specific resources using some of these different technologies.
This will be my final post concerning 21st-century learning, but in many ways it is the beginning of my journey as an educator. Even though that is a cliche, I think it poignantly describes my feelings at the end of researching and exploring the questions that have come up in examining 21st-century learning. Looking back at the first one that I asked: is there a point to which inquiry has moved so far into the realms of the abstract and theoretical that it loses its pragmatic relevancy in this brave new world? And if that's true, are our current educators trained sufficiently to make that kind of distinction for their students? The answer: Probably to the first, and probably not for the second. While it's great to think that we are on the frontier of some great new idea that has never been explored in education, the reality is that the skills involved in 21st-century learning have been around for a long, long time. And in some parts of the world (specifically, impoverished nations), the idea of reading and writing are still to be widely adopted. It would be irresponsible as educators to assume that everyone will benefit equally from the same pedagogical approach. Just as all students in the classroom require different scaffolding and adaptations to be successful in the classroom, schools and even entire countries need to approach education in such a way that makes sense for the people involved. Because the macro-view of education is meant to gear students up for taking on practical roles within society, I would argue that there is indeed a point where going "too deep" and into the heavily philosophical would not be conducive to that goal most of the time. That being said, these are skills that students are deeply lacking, and incorporating time into the classroom to examine deeper questions can be an exercise in critical thinking. My attitude towards 21st-century learning is that it can have different meanings for different educators. For some, it is a set of tools that can be used to steer the pedagogical ship. For others, it's an ideal for what we can achieve in our profession, and ideals have value for keeping us motivated and generating ideas. True, for some, it is their gospel, and I personally view this as problematic for all the reasons I've explored in this blog. But just because some are fanatical about the latest trends does not mean that there is no value in them when tempered with a personal view on what one wants to achieve as an educator. From all that I have discovered from talking to my older colleagues in the profession, the trend will shift, and school curriculum will start to focus on knowledge and facts again and put less of an emphasis on the process. With technology going the direction it is, and Google bringing into question the need for such a shift, I'm not sure what to believe. What I do know is that the only thing I can bet on is that things will change in this profession again and again, and it's important to take what you can from different trends in education and make them relevant for you and your classroom.
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In my last post, I explored why there exists such a lagging degree of literary proficiency in poorer nations of the world. It was determined that 68% of the countries with the lowest literacy rates could be found on the African continent, and this was due to oral traditions being the staple of learning in many parts of this area, and a general lack of funding and focus on improving it. One area that I have yet to explore in this blog are the some specific examples of technologies that emerge which serve the 21st-century learning pedagogical shift. While I am of course familiar with all of the technologies that I have integrated into my own classroom, I thought it would be interesting to see what some of the other emergent ones are that I might be able to use myself. One of these ideas is using virtual reality in the classroom through services such as Nearpod VR, which allows students to take a virtual field trip to a number of historical sites and regions around the world. The obvious benefit is the high-level of engagement and learning that could be done - rather than simply looking at photos, students have a chance to explore entire rooms and look on as the world moves around them. Of course, to afford a class set of VR glasses would be out of the question for most schools (although it is possible to use old iPhones as 3D glasses apparently). It could be done where students take turns, but to me, this would be a management nightmare, and would really hamper the experience. There is also growing popularity with the use of artificial intelligence to help manage assessment and to create more personalized learning activities for students. Instead of the teacher having to create specific activities to meet different students at their levels, "machine learning" as it has been dubbed can generate these activities on a case-by-case basis to ensure that no student is working outside of the zone of proximal development. Biometrics have also been proposed as a means to deal with some of the more traditional teaching issues that come up surrounding student behavior. This kind of technology can track eye movements, heart rate and voice patterns to determine if children are remaining on task, if they are having difficulty with a concept, or even if they are sick. I found a video of them already implementing this technology in Chinese schools; I have to say, I find it to be a little invasive for my tastes, but this may be a case where "The future is coming, so get on board!" AR (Augmented Reality), is similar to VR, but instead of wearing glasses on the face, a smartphone is used to portray other objects as being in our own reality. For example, a 3D model of the Earth could be displayed on a desk right in front of a child's eyes, and they could get a closer view of it than if they simply had a picture to look at. It's kind of like a fledgling version of what a hologram might be in the future. We might even be on the verge of moving away from paper in the classroom. They now have flexible displays - essentially, phone screens which are thin enough to be rolled like a piece of paper, while also being incredibly tough and durable. Imagine if instead of printing off a worksheet for your students, they had just one piece of paper in front of them that was used for everything, and you could just email them the assignment to that device. One idea that I had when looking through this technology was that I would create some kind of a film set which I would capture with a 3D camera (this essentially takes an image of an entire room). This could then be entered by students at a later time via virtual reality technology. The advantage of this is that I could preserve this 3D room for as long as I wanted, and I could customize it to engender educational goals of my own choosing. Plus, the room I decided to build in this way could be turned back into whatever it was before!
It's definitely a huge idea that would take me years to get around to pulling off, but these are the kinds of directions that I feel we are heading to as educators. We are no longer just teachers, but the authors of our students' educational universe! 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 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 I ended my previous post by discussing how the big four skills of 21st-century learning often intermingle to create brand new skillsets, and I do believe that this is a useful direction to explore more practical ways that these skills can be broken down and taught in a school-context. I proposed a model which functionally worked fine – it successfully showed every possible combination of these skills simultaneously, even when three of the four skills are combined at once.
That said, upon further reflection, I wondered if there was a simpler graphical representation that would leave plenty of room for me to expand upon my thoughts and ideas regarding each combination. I will explore this and provide an update on it if and when a solution is found. For now, I have defined a series of roles that might be developed by looking at all possible combinations of these four skills. I am hoping that these roles can help in the creation of practical ways in which 21st century learning skills can be implemented and measured. CREATIVITY + COMMUNICATION = The Artist CREATIVITY + CRITICAL THINKING = The Reviewer CREATIVITY + COLLABORATION = The Performer COMMUNICATION + CRITICAL THINKING = The Debater COMMUNICATION + COLLABORATION = The Coordinator CRITICAL THINKING + COLLABORATION = The Brainstormer From putting all of these combinations, a couple of things seemed to stand out for me. The first one is that there is clearly a large difference between these different skills that was perhaps not as clear in my mind before. What I mean by this is that there is a big difference between, say, communication and collaboration, even though those two skills are both about giving and receiving messages. However, there is a big difference between a Performer and an Artist, or a Brainstormer versus a Debater, and for me, it shows how many professions tend to focus on two of the four big 21st century learning skills. Certainly adding those two other lagging skills could be an asset to those occupations, but they may not be wholly necessary. The second is that there is immediately an important skill missing from these four that jumps out for me, and interestingly it is not one that was included in the list that Stauffer (2020) provided. That skill is leadership, which is undoubtedly as important a skill as any of the ones previously mentioned in my mind. Without an intentional focus on what effective leadership looks like, there would be no one to direct any of the aforementioned roles that I mentioned, which is important if an organization of people are to have a focus. I would also state that leadership has the same level of flexibility that these other skills have, which fits in with the philosophy that "Students should be educated for jobs that have not yet been created, for new products that have not yet been invented..." (Lavonen & Korhonen, 2017 p. 13). I don't know that leadership would necessarily change the roles that I mentioned above, other than making the individual who possesses it a "Director of _____," but developing that skill in our students means that they will be more likely to take charge and take focus of a group of people when it is necessary. WORKS CITED Lavonen, J. & Korhonen, T. (2017). Towards Twenty-First Century Education: Success Factors, Challenges, and the Renewal of Finnish Education. In Choo, S., Sawch, D., Willanueva, A., Vinz, R. (Eds.), Educating for the 21st Century: Perspectives, Policies and Practicies from Around the World. (pp. 243-264). Singapore: Springer. Stauffer, B. (2020, March 19). What Are 21St Century Skills?. Applied Education Systems. https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/what-are-21st-century-skills As I investigated deeper into the discovery as to which skills are the ones that are considered 21st-century learning skills, I found that there were not a universally accepted set of skills or a comprehensive list of them. Rather, the idea of what constitutes 21st-century learning skills is largely still up for debate as it continues to evolve. In wanting to analyze these skills through the lens of how I can make them practical within my classroom setting, I found a blog which posits only four primary skills as opposed to the 12 I had discovered in my last post. I have adopted a depth-approach as opposed to a breadth-approach; the four skills that Timothy Mugabi (2019) puts forth as the keys to 21st-century learning (Communication, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, & Creativity) are by far the most complex skills that also appeared in the set discussed in my last post that Stauffer proposed (2020). These are also some of the most challenging to integrate effectively into a classroom. Communication, for me at least, comes across as a skill that is easy to underestimate in terms of its complexity as it's something that is performed nearly unconsciously every day by everyone. But what does effective communication look like? And does it look the same for every individual? Mugabi refers to communication simply as "a student's ability to deliver and receive messages" (2019), and from a purely empirical point of view, I agree. But what would it look like to deliver and receive messages well? What is the end goal or goals of effective conversation? Looking at my reasons for communicating effectively from a functional level, I know that do so to inform others of my needs or to be informed by their needs, to transmit or receive factual information, to inquire about things or provide expertise, to maintain relationships and for recreational purposes, among other things. Of course, function is not everything; when speaking effectively, I need to be aware of my volume and tone, I need to be considerate of the audience to whom I am speaking, and I need to have a pleasing cadence or rhythm that I follow to keep my listener's interested. As a good listener, it is important that I exhibit open body language, ask follow-up questions and steer the conversation in a way that is pleasing or beneficial to all parties involved. Needless to say, trying to pare all of this down into lessons that can be understood by students in the grade-level that I teach (grades 3 & 4) is a daunting task, eclipsed only by the difficulty in trying to assess the acquisition of these sub-skills effectively. It also appears that these four skills do not exist mutually exclusively from another. For example, coupling communication with critical thinking becomes the act of NOT giving or receiving messages that do not correspond with personal logic, which is a highly-prized skill - we often expect our students to use this approach to sift through news stories to determine which are merely sensational and which might be considered the "most true." Communication can also be combined effectively with collaboration, which becomes the act of communicating through the lens of a particular role that is beneficial to a team. For example, someone assigned to be the director of a group will communicate in a more exacting manner as opposed to someone assigned to be the mediator of a group. Finally, communication when paired with creativity becomes the realm of the actor, singer or performer. To become a successful wordsmith a degree of creativity must be woven in with good communication skills to create a silver tongue. To finish this post, I have created a draft of a potential model to describe the ways in which all of these different primary skills interact together in order to make more precise skills, which I have not labelled yet as this model still needs some refining. It allows for three skills to be paired together at once or even all four skills. The question that I posted at the end of my first post still rings true with the ideating of this model, however. Is taking these skills to this level of depth a pragmatic approach to using them in an educational setting? Works CitedMugabi, T. (2019, October 24). How to incorporate 21st-century skills into the classroom. Classcraft. https://www.classcraft.com/resources/blog/how-to-incorporate-21st-century-skills-into-the-classroom/
Stauffer, B. (2020, March 19). What Are 21St Century Skills?. Applied Education Systems. https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/what-are-21st-century-skills
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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 |