The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a public-private organization focused on preparing students to succeed in the 21st century by learning important 21st century skills. This website provides an overview of the mission, 21st century skills, partnership members, and cooperating states, as well as tools and resources for teachers to use to integrate 21st century skill learning in the classroom. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website is full of information and resources aimed at helping teachers teach their students necessary skills they will need in 21st century workplaces and communities (http://www.p21.org/).
My overall impression of the website is positive, though I find it a little difficult to sort through the masses of information. One piece of information I find quite useful is the "Skills Framework" page. This page of the website provides a very specific visual representation of how the 21st century skills and core subjects should be taught simultaneously. It also addresses the individual skills a student must possess for life, career, learning, innovation, information, media and also technology (“Skills Framework”, 2011).
There is one thing that I find surprising about this site. On the “Strategic Council Members” page of the website, all of the Strategic Council Members are listed. They include big name companies such as Ford, Adobe, Apple, and Dell to name a few (“Strategic Council Members”, 2011). With such a large base of supporters, why are so few states participating in this initiative?
Teaching 21st century skills are a must! Students need to possess such skills in order to succeed and thrive in the future global market. Without these skills, employers will look to other sources, such as foreign countries, for skilled workers. In the highly competitive global economy, our students will be competing against the world. As teachers, we need to consider this and prepare them for success.
References:
Strategic Council Members. (2011). Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Retrieved March 20, 2012 , from http://www.p21.org/about-us/strategic-council-members
Skills Framework. (2011). Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Retrieved March 20, 2012, from http://www.p21.org/overview
Thomas -- I commented on the Skills Framework page also. I like the way it gives a clear visual of the FourC's and the Core Subjects all working together.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you personally think so few states are involved with this initiative? It seems like a no-brainer; yet my state of Minnesota has not joined. ANy thoughts?
Upon investigating that question I found that the governor of each state has to sign on to the initiative. With so much controversy in today's schools over budgets I am sure that most states are worried about the financial aspect of it. It just like the government to expect teachers and schools to produce, but pull away when money has to be spent on completing a goal!
DeleteThomas,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more on wondering why only 16 states are currently taking part in this initiative. This made me wonder what I could do to get my state involved. It also made me wonder what a state must do to become part of this initiative. Do you have any ideas on this? Is your state included on this list? Maybe there is something we can do as part of a collaborative team? Your thoughts would be appreciated!
Stacy
Tom, Stacy, Mary-
DeleteI agree, this is a great site and the framework is well put together and thought out. Like you Tom I found the site a little overwhelming to navigate because it was so abundant with information. I was impressed by all that the state involved and companies involved are trying to accomplish but I am a little uncertain as to how they are accomplishing their goals. My state is one of the state involved in this movement and knowing this makes me wonder why I had never heard of this site before. If we are supposed to on board shouldn't we have been given this site and been using it to plan our lessons and for professional development or even simply as a resource? I will definitely be turn keying this site to my colleagues and suggest that my administrator review it and discuss it our next faculty meeting.
Thank you for your well written informative post!
Daniela
I am from Ohio, and yes we are part of this movement. However, Ohio has only joined in the past couple of years. I think the reason that we have not heard of this in our local districts is because of the financial implications. Districts, Superintendents, and School Boards might be worried about the financial aspect of incorporating so much technology into their schools. Funny thought is it not! Let's teach 21st Century skills and methods to our students, but find someone else to help fund it! At least that’s how I feel this is being looked at in my state.
DeleteThomas,
ReplyDeleteI also do not understand why so few states are participating in integrating ICT literacy into schools. I just heard about The Partnership for 21st Century Skills this week. Could it be possible that they haven't heard about it either?
Janet Bissett
That’s very possible! So much is changing in education that it is hard to see and experience everything that is available to us. I am glad to say that my state is part of this partnership, however I hope to see more being done with it down the road.
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