The Partnership for 21st Century skills has established themselves as an organization with a mission to serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of K-12 education. Their web site is calling for the support of educators, businesses, communities and government leaders to transition learning in schools in order to address the gap between the knowledge and skills most of our students are learning and the skills they will need in tomorrow’s work place.
I reviewed the site information about the National Action Agenda which outlines eight principles that policy makers and stakeholders believe will help build this 21st century education system. It was encouraging to see that these principles included the need to provide educators with consistent access to tools and support systems both in their pre-service education and in-service professional development. The methods of learning and tools to achieving knowledge in this century are definitely changing and educators are playing catch up mainly because the systems around us do not provide the support these principles defined.
The Partnership for the 21st Century organization has also wisely acknowledged that success of their mission is greatly dependent on the support of government leaders. Their policy recommendations to the Obama administration, which are also available on the Partnership’s website, will require substantial funding increases for training and resources. I agree there is an urgent need to put an infrastructure in place that enables us to help students improve skills that support the needs of the 21st century work place but with so many costly changes pending under Obama’s new administration, is this investment possible? Too much move for simultaneous changes often results in sacrificing one thing for another. Therefore, will the educational evolution be lost due to other administration priorities such as health care reform? As educators we have a social obligation to make education the number one priority. So, let’s sharpen our own 21st century skills and start making daily changes toward helping our students do the same.
Kelly McCarty
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Kelly,
ReplyDeleteVery well written. I also agree that the lack of funds in this economy is going to be the biggest challenge for educators with this administrations priorities. It seems that bailing out failed companies and socialized health care is more important than funding education or increasing infrastructure as our President stated during his inaugural address. I dont think there is money for everyone in this economy, and of course, education will be effected the most.
Hi Kelly,
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with you and Mark on the funding issue, I still think that if we get creative and be persistant, we can get the resources we need. You see I have done bake sales, car washes, selling flowers, selling candy, got my department to use some of our monies to buy some things, pursued limited partnerships with businesses to get equipment, and shared the purchase of equipment with other departments to get what I need. www.donorschoose.org was a website some of my fellow teachers did get some things for their classrooms. So, I prefer to see the glass half full. What an exciting time to see the technology explode! :-0)
I wish I could be as positive as Sharon. 35% of my currents student's parents do not have jobs. There are no jobs available and many small businesses have closed. I have tried sales of various items only to find that the money is usually coming from other teachers. I have tried to partner up with a few companies and have had some success. I realize that the economy will get better, but currently, my students are starving. While it is an exciting time concerning the explosion of technology, the resources are not available to my students.
ReplyDeleteI agree that your post was very well written. You have clearly outlined the stance of the Partnership and the obstacles that face this initiative.
ReplyDeleteIt is very difficult to make changes without the funding to obtain the necessary resources. I don't teach in the United States, so I don't fully understand the ramifications of the current economic situation, but I do think that it's important to do what we can, with the resources that we have in order to prepare students.
Are you teaching in a state that has joined in the partnership?
I really enjoyed reading your post.