A Necessity—Building Skills for the 21st Century

Bruce Johnson, CDL / QS2 Director

In my recent work in districts as a facilitator for strategic plans and AASB-Consortium for Digital Learning performance contracts, I have heard growing interest on the part of districts to expand their education focus beyond the framework currently outlined as essential skills. Teachers, principals, superintendents, parents, and board members are increasingly referencing 21st century skills, knowing that the teaching of these skills is becoming more urgent.  Many of us grasp the general concept of what constitutes 21st century skills, but lack a deep understanding. In an effort to gain a better understanding of 21st century skills, I pursued several discussions with staff members associated with Apple, Inc., our current AASB-CDL partner. These colleagues directed me to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a coalition of corporations and organizations that serves as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of America’s education.

The Partnership professes that students must acquire complex skills beyond just core subjects if they are to compete successfully in our ever-changing and complex world following high school. To support this assumption, the Partnership has identified three major reasons for this necessity.

•Education is changing. America’s education results are no longer unparalleled as students around the world outperform our students on assessments that measure 21st century skills.

•Competition is changing internationally. America’s education is no longer producing the most creative innovators as worldwide competition increases.

•The workplace, jobs, and skills are changing. Workers around the globe are now successfully competing with American workers, demanding that our workers become increasingly better qualified.

Moreover, the Partnership concluded that the high school diploma, as we know it today, continues to lose some of its value because it no longer reflects sufficient content and skill mastery for graduates to compete successfully beyond high school. To appreciate these concerns and the critical need for change, we must first understand how 21st century skills are defined. The Partnership broadly defines these skills as:

•Core subjects required by No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

•21st century content outlined as global awareness, financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy, civic literacy, and health and wellness awareness

•Learning and thinking skills identified as critical thinking and problem-solving, communication, creativity and innovation, collaboration, contextual learning, and information and literacy

•Technology literacy including communication and information

•Life skills determined as leadership, ethics, accountability, adaptability, personal productivity, personal responsibility, people skills, self-direction, and social responsibility

Many highly respected American leaders strongly believe that our young people need these skills to be taught intentionally, not haphazardly or by chance. If left to chance, many current and future high school graduates won’t be in a position to function as informed and successful members of the global community. Our educational programs must begin to incorporate these skills, not as discrete subjects, but interfaced within current day-to-day learning and updated course/program requirements. To make such a change will require greater intentionality on the part of both teachers and administrators to ensure that these skills are taught and received in a meaningful way.  In other words, the vision for the importance of 21st century skills must be embraced by students, parents, community members, staff, and board members.  Such a vision, if acted upon, will require an unparalleled commitment, and the emotional and physical energy to get it done so that our graduates are not shortchanged.

Our world is changing, and if Alaska’s public education system is to continue to produce graduates who are prepared for the future, we will need to continually adapt. Let’s not wait for new laws to dictate direction, but as existing curricula are revised and updated, let us instead take the lead by including identified 21st century skills. As new materials are purchased and staff development is offered, let’s be mindful of the importance of these skills so that our teachers and administrators become increasingly knowledgeable and comfortable.