Partnership for 21st Century Learning

The partnership for 21st Century learning web site was created by the US Dept of Education to team educators with hundreds of stakeholders in the business world. The list of collaborators is impressive and includes representatives from AOL, Apple, Cisco and Microsoft, to name a few. The intention of the partnership is to “serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders.”

As I browsed the site, I was confronted with the globally competitive work environment our students will face in the future. Technology has shrunk our world, and Americans are becoming less and less desirable as employees. The Partnership addresses this problem with a solution- let’s find out what businesses need and train our students to be successful competitors in this technology-driven world. The workforce is changing, and so must our teaching if we want our students to be successful. The site points out that beyond the core subjects, our students need to be taught a whole new skill set, including:
* Information media and communication skills
* Thinking and problem-solving skills
* Interpersonal and self-direction skills
* Global awareness
* Financial, economic and business literacy
* Civic literacy

According to this pedagogy, all American schools need to be not only teaching these skills, but also creating statewide standards and assessments around them. We need to change our professional development to focus around these skills, since they will help our students stay competitive with our increasingly global workforce. The site lists thirteen states that have already joined the program.

I was surprised by how many well-known companies took the time join and collaborate in effort. As I thought about it, though, it makes sense that if a business wants to in-source their employees in this increasingly competitive world, the best way to do that is to be clear about what they need. The frustrating part about the web site is that it’s not super useful unless your state has already joined the organization. Clicking on the resources link, I found many links to expensive programs, curriculums, pre-made assessments, and staff development sessions. To truly become a partner in this process, it looks like your governor, superintendent, and districts would need to get involved.

I think all educators need to check out this site, whether our states take the initiative or not. As individuals, educators need to begin to restructure classrooms. We need to pause and envision the world our students will be joining when they graduate. Then, we need to find ways to incorporate global awareness, critical thinking and complex collaboration into our lessons in order to successfully prepare our kids for a changing future.