Reading+and+Reflection+3

21st Century Skills: Evidence, Relevance, and Effectiveness  by Scott Aronowitz   Date: April 8, 2010    Site: http://thejournal.com/articles/2010/04/08/21st-century-skills-evidence-relevance-and-effectiveness.aspx Summary This article discussed the implementation of 21st century skills in our schools. The framework the Partnership for 21st Century Learning was referenced. Are 21st Century Skills something that we can teach? Are they even considered "skills?" Aronowitz discussed a new method of instruction that is being used in the New Technology High School in Napa, California. At this school, the teachers are facilitators of problem-based learning. The students either identify a problem in the community or are given one to work with, and then the student problem solve to come up with a solution. The format of the classroom is very similar to that of a professional business environment: collaboration, in-depth projects, drafts of a plan, and using a complex entry question for the students to work with. Another component of New Tech is their 1:1 computer implementation.

Although problem-based learning is a great start, here is another opinion to help integrate 21st century skills into the curriculum.

"It's far more about the teachers," Mathews argued. "There are two things you have to have. You have to have really energetic, committed, talented, smart teachers, who are allowed to be creative and teach in ways that make sense to them, and that's the flame, and then you feed that flame with more time in the school day. If you have those two things, that is what has produced the most successful schools we have in the country at the moment."

 Reflection

 I think article is on the right track with problem-based learning being a key component in the development of the 21st century skills. I think it's imperative that more schools begin to adapt this approach to education. Students can go through school and maybe have things come easily to them so they may get all A's. What does that mean in the real world if they can't apply their knowledge and use it to create and discover new possibilities? So many students study to pass the test, but then that material is forgotten. The process of students actually researching and developing solutions to real problems shows them the application of their knowledge and can only inspire them to do better. I realize this is a much different approach than what most teachers are used to, but hopefully more and more teachers give it a chance. It's amazing what students do when you give them a little freedom to discover. I think the key is hiring (or training) teachers to be open-minded and let their students explore problems on their own.