What do we need to teach our students to be successful in the 21st Century? Take a look the Partnership for 21st Century Skills Framework. How could these be implemented in your classroom? What are the benefits of implementing these skills for your students?
Helping our students develop 21st Century Skills is an integral part of the educational profession. We are preparing our students for jobs that have not been created yet. Therefore, it is imperative that we arm them with the critical and creative thinking skills to be successful in this technological era. We need to teach our students how to make judgments and decisions, solve problems, and think outside the box. In the classroom, students need to collaborativly work with one another, learn how to communicate effectivley and utilize a variety of creative techniques to demonstrate what they know. Students also need to learn how to access, manipulate, and evaluate information from a variety of sources. In order to do this they need to be taught how to evaluate different media sources. By the time students leave our building they should be able to create content using various technology tools. Beyond teaching students content and how to create content, students need to learn life and career skills that will enable them to excel in the workforce. Students need to learn the importance of being flexible and how to adapt. We need to teach students how to be metacognitive and empower them to take initiative in the learning process. Due to technology our world is becoming increasingly interconnected. Exposing students to various perspectives is key to helping our students keep an open mind. Respecting and being able to effectively work with people from various backgrounds will prepare our students for the type of work environments they will encounter.
In our classrooms we can teach these skills through employing Bloom’s taxonomy in order to ensure students are being asked to think at a higher level. We can use problem based learning and ask students to be innovative in order to find solutions. In my classroom I can use various types of grouping that enforce working collaboratively and utilize cooperative learning to teach proper social and life skills. I can involve my students in the process of creating assessments and allow them to guide their own learning. This will facilitate their ability to learn metacognitive skills and will hopefully be more meaningful. The content I teach takes multiple perspectives into consideration and asks the students to look at issues from multiple perspectives. Finally, I can hold all of my students to a high standard and help them reach their potential. The benefits are that our students will be prepared to compete in the 21st century. They will have the skills necessary to be successful, contributing citizens. Hopefully, through making learning meaningful and student-centered we will teach our students how to be life-long learners.
