One of the most common catch phrases in education recently is 21st Century Skills. What does this phrase really mean? This week I explored the Partnership of 21st Century Skills website.
The first thing that caught my eye on this website was the graphic of two arches on top of each other and rings connecting the bottom of the arches. I have seen this image before, but always felt that I did not quite understand the importance of each part of the arches and rings on the bottom. After exploring the site more, I found that the arches represent student outcomes and the rings (or what they call pools) represent support systems where every part is working together and connected. This is the framework for 21st century learning. Being a visual learner, I thought this graphic would help me understand the complex components to 21st century learning. Honestly, I fount this graphic too complicated and confusing. Without further research, 21st century skills are not explained by this graphic. In my research, I found that the 3 Rs and 4 Cs represent 21st century skills. I knew the three Rs are the basics in school, like reading, writing and math. However, I never heard of the 4 Cs before. I learned from this site that the four Cs are: critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. For me, these words really helped express the core of what 21st century skills are to me much more then the arches and pools.
Even though these four Cs seem fairly simple, I found the website a bit overwhelming. As an elementary school teacher who is in charge of all of core content for my students learning, the vast list of skills students need to be prepared for the workplace is daunting. The main thought that ran through my mind when searching this site was, “How in the world am I going to fit all of this in?” The other part I personally felt disheartened about was Washington State (the state I work in), is not part of the leadership states creating new standards, assessments and professional development programs to commit to 21st century learning for all students. I then thought, “How long before my state gets on board? Or will we also be left behind?”
Having said this, I must say that I am impressed that headway is being made to help make sure all students have essential 21st century skills to be competitive and successful in the workplace. I also really like the collaborative development of these ideas from many corporations. I look forward to see how these ideas are embraced by all states and how this will actually affect the classroom. Project Based Learning and more access to technology will be essential to implement in schools to embody the 4 Cs effectively. Now the big question for me is, how do we do this effectively with our current resources? I think I need to do much more research to answer this question!
