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Teaching 21st Century Skills

I recently visited http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/. I found a lot of resources regarding what skills students should be taught in order to succeed in the 21st century. There were also several states listed that have initiatives to implement policies and standards that will ensure students are presented with opportunities to learn these skills.

I liked the recent news events of businesses partnering with schools to help further the students' education, but I was disappointed that there were not more states or businesses listed.

I was also looking for suggestions as to how to implement teaching these skills in my class, and did not find them. Did anyone else find good ideas here?

Comments

  1. Todd SeipJanuary 29, 2009 at 10:39 PM

    One of my favorite questions to ask my students is "What are you going to be when you grow up?" We often talk in class that the average adult has over 10 different jobs in 4 different careers. How is what they are learning in my science class going to help them as a welder? or chemical engineer, or as a mother or father? Just as classrooms are becoming non-traditional in nature, workplaces are also undergoing change. I recently read that Google allows employees to create their own schedules, design and decorate their cubicles, and give input on company decisions. How can we as teachers beging to prepare students to work at a job that more resembles a middle school lunchroom environment rather than a Fortune 500 company. Let us not forget that our students will one day soon be working in the stores and shops we frequent. They will be CEO's and politicans, and scientists. They will be wives and husbands and moms and dads. One of the best resources we can give them is a role model.

    Todd Seip

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  2. The Stere FamilyJanuary 29, 2009 at 11:46 PM

    I think you are right that there are many pieces to the organization's puzzle that are missing. I would be interested in knowing if they have approached all states and how they were able to get some, but not nearly all, states to buy into their mission. I would also be interested in knowing how they selected the companies that are involved currently and how, or if, they plan to recruit more companies and states in the future. They seem to have some great ideas to share but you are correct that they need to be able to offer resources to enable their vision to be accomplished.

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  3. Susanna RobertsonJanuary 31, 2009 at 12:12 PM

    I am also curious to know if these corporate sponsors believe that students who graduate from states committed to the partnership will be better prepared for jobs within their organizations. If Fortune 100 corporations begin to focus their recruiting efforts on state partners, perhaps that would encourage more states and school systems to participate.

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