Recently I was given the privilege to participate in an application of the "fact finding" phase for developing a framework for 21st century learning. This tool for developing an entirely re-thought approach to education was created by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (www.21stcenturyskills.org).
I was intrigued for several reasons. First, Connecticut is known (and rated) as the top state for "delivery" on education in the United States. Additionally, our high school (Staples High) was recently rated as the best high school in the state. I don't really care about being "the best", as who can really tell? What is important is that a very "zipped up" school system which places 99% of its students into "preferred" universities and colleges was realizing that it must, as an institution, make true systemic changes to prepare kids for the future.
A quick sidebar ... what is happening around us today is systemic, not cyclical. Fifteen years ago, this is what I wrote about where "we" (society are heading in The 500 Year Delta):
It's nice to see that somebody is remembering this in its effort on educational preparedness.
The framework begins with a look at the critical core subjects and the expected thematics that will develop over the next 90 years. The core subjects seem somewhat standard to me ... English ... reading, arts and sciences, math, economics, geography, history, government, civics and world languages. However the idea of weaving four critical thematics into the core subjects was interesting (as well as made sense) to me. The thematics are ...global awareness, civic literacy (different than studying civics?) health literacy and financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy. It's incredible how many students go forward into life (today) without the skills to balance a checkbook.
What I found the most interesting was the additional three "support areas" surrounding the core curriculum. I was delighted to see that innovation, invention and creation skills were a category. There is a burgeoning recognition that the complexity of the future life and work environment demands these skills to be able to cope at all.
The second support area is based upon the convergences of information technology and media literacy. Communication theory is the crux of geography. Geography is not how weather gets over the mountain but how laws get over the mountains. The generation being born as we speak ... the digital natives, will have a steady stream of "inherent obsolescence" in hardware, software and networking adaptability. These subjects will, perhaps, be a critical indicator of an individual's ability to sustain a (any) lifestyle thirty plus years from now.
The third, and final support area to the core thematics in primary and secondary education appears to be based upon understanding one's behavioral motivation. Self direction, flexibility, adaptability, social skills and finally accountability and responsibility comprise this section. They did not make as much of an imprint on my kids in high school as will be needed going forward.
My biggest concern to re-making an appropriate educational curriculum for the future has more to do with the parents. While I was in my breakout group with eleven other individuals I referenced how children today play collaborative vs. competitive games. You and I played Monopoly, Clue, The Game of Life, Sorry ... and my favorite, Yahtzee!! The objective of each game is to beat the other players. Today, children play games as a group that, only together, can bet the game. Even M.I.T. has recognized this phenomenon and introduced collaboration into its approach to introductory physics. One of my small group members, a hedge fund manager (of course) "pushed back" on my comment stating ... "second place is only the first loser". He continued by saying we should stop giving every kid a trophy on the 6-year old soccer teams. I'm glad my kids will never be in a class with his kids.
Have a great month.
W2
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