About Me

21st century skills are those that, ultimately, endeavor to educate students for a rapidly changing world. While different organizations classify them differently, the skills and components that are emphasized are core subjects, learning and innovation skills, life and career skills, and information, media, and technology skills. While these are summed up as skills for this century, they are not necessarily new and unique to our time and education systems. 

Definition of 21st Century Skills 

The first, and perhaps most well understood, section of any framework for 21st century learning are the core subjects. Frequently referred to as the 3 R’s, it includes reading, ‘righting [writing], and ‘rithmetic [arithmetic], these are what virtually every educational institution is built upon. Those can be expanded to include science, international awareness, and literacy in various forms (financial, heath, and visual) (Ledward & Hirata, 2011), as well as civics, economics, art, foreign languages, and so on. Critical learning and innovation skills include critical thinking and problem solving, creativity and innovation, communication, and collaboration (Fadel, 2008). Life and career skills involve those that are needed to be productive, independent, and responsible adults and employees. They include setting and meeting goals, planning and prioritizing work projects, multitasking, and ethics (Ledward & Hirata, 2011). Finally, information, media, and technology skills include how to use all of the information available to oneself, how to evaluate for media bias, and technological literacy (Ledward & Hirata, 2011). This can also be called “Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) literacy” (“21st Century Skills, n.d.). 

The Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) also includes life skills and assessments as components of 21st Century Skills (“21st Century Skills”, n.d.). This organization defines life skills as “leadership; ethics; accountability; adaptability; personal productivity; personal responsibility; people skills; self direction; and social responsibility” (“21st Century Skills,” n.d.). Assessments, as they fit in with 21st century learning, include effective classroom-based assessments, quality, inclusive standardized assessments, and authentic forms of assessment of all content as well as life skills. 

Impact of 21st Century Skills on Practice 

The 21st century skills outlined by multiple sources have impacted my teaching from day one. Students are given assignments that involve collaboration daily. I also endeavor to create lessons that are interdisciplinary, as well as incorporate many learning styles or modalities. Furthermore, I bring technology and creativity into my units as often as I can. Unfortunately, I am not able to get away from old-school standardized testing. My classroom test are meant to set students up for real-world success however. 

An epitome of a 21st century lesson that I have done with my students is one that involves Google Maps. When teaching about Ancient Egypt, I had students go on a virtual “walk” around the Great Pyramids of Giza. They had to read the information that was included with the Google page, and then answer questions. The questions included math questions, science questions, and prompted students to create either a journal entry or a magazine cover based on what they learned. 

Another type of 21st century lesson that I include in my class is a mock trial. Using resources that are put out by various legal associations, I create pretend trials that are based on historical events. In these trials, students must work in groups to determine everyone’s role, they must review facts and generate questions, and then ask their questions to the “witnesses.” The students must think on their feet, while being creative. Another 21st century skill this lesson reinforces is personal accountability and responsibility; each student must play their individual part in the group for a successful “trial.”  

I am fortunate to teach at a school with students from all around the world. Because of this, we naturally incorporate differing and opposing views of our topics. We also have a lot to compare and contrast with. For example, when we discuss the American Revolution, we can contrast it with the history of Kuwait, Brazil, and Ireland because we have students from there who learned about it in their home country. 

Critical Skills for Students to Learn 

Of all the 21st century skills, teachers and schools should emphasize learning and thinking.  In regards to learning and thinking, Ledward and Hirata (2011) point out that “Of particular significance are the abilities to articulate ideas clearly, to listen effectively, to utilize multiple media, and to work efficiently and respectfully in diverse teams.” Hallmarks of this skill, including communication, creativity, critical thinking, and collaboration, will make all other skills possible.

If a student learns how to articulate and present a question, and then listen to the responses, they are able to learn almost anything new. History is a prime example of this. In school, it is not possible to learn all of history, or even the history of a specific country or time period; there is always more to know. If students are taught how to examine the information they already have, compose a question, and ask that question to others, then they will be able to learn about whatever strikes their interest. If history teachers want to teach their students to study history in the 21st century, this is what they should be focusing on. The same can be said for almost any other discipline. 

Because of the sheer vastness of information that is available to people today, collaboration is a requirement of any subject. Students should understand how to collaborate and work with people of differing abilities and strengths. In the United States, when compared to Hong Kong, there is currently a deficit in our teaching of collaborative problem solving skills (NCEE1, 2019). We teach our most advantaged students better collaborative skills, but Hong Kong does better with students who are economically disadvantaged in any percentile but the top. NCEE1 also reports that, according to OECD, American adults are 9 points behind the international average in “problem-solving in technology-rich environments” (2019). Both of these reports showed that Americans are lacking in “vital to maintaining a globally competitive workforce” (NCEE1, 2019), and something must be done to better equip students for when they leave compulsory education. 

References

“21st Century Skills”, Ascd. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/policy-priorities/vol21/num02/21st-Century-Skills.aspx

Fadel, C. (2008, May). 21st Century Skills: How can you prepare students for the new Global Economy? Retrieved from 21st Century Skills: How can you prepare students for the new Global Economy?

Ledward, C., & Hirata, D. (2011). An Overview of 21st Century Skills. Retrieved October 23, 2019, from http://www.ksbe.edu/_assets/spi/pdfs/21st_Century_Skills_Brief.pdf

NCEE!. (2019, June 13). Building the Nation Builders: How Singapore Supports Its World-Class Teaching Profession. Retrieved from http://ncee.org/2019/06/21st-century-skills-for-all-students/.

NCEE1. (2019, August 15). Building the Nation Builders: How Singapore Supports Its World-Class Teaching Profession. Retrieved from http://ncee.org/2019/08/21st-century-skills-can-us-compete/.

Teachers need to maintain high expectations for their students. In order to do that, they need to create a classroom where learning is more important than grades. In the high stakes world of public education, this is difficult. Most teachers are evaluated based on the standardized test scores of their students, so there is not much room for students to enjoy the educational journey. That being said, if teachers focus on embedding a growth mindset in their classroom, they will teach students to adapt to challenges and encourage each other. In a classroom where all students can succeed, students want to be there. 

High expectations are essential to student success. Ritchhart (2015) presents five actions to keep in mind when setting these expectations: focusing students on the learning vs. the work, teaching for understanding vs. knowledge, encouraging deep vs. surface learning strategies, promoting independence vs. dependence, developing a growth vs. a fixed mindset. All of these have a place in curriculum design and lesson planning. In order to create students who succeed in class and beyond, a growth mindset is the most important. According to Edsurge, this growth mindset impacts business and athletic achievement (Finley 2018). With a growth mindset, students feel like they can learn and meet goals, but it must be done intentionally. 

One strategy that teachers can use to create a growth mindset in the classroom is to praise the process of learning, not student intelligence or aptitude. Dweck (2009) explains the downfalls of praising intelligence, “After praising their intelligence or talent, we found that students wanted a safe, easy task not a challenging one they could learn from.” When the teacher focuses on learning and acquiring skills tells students what they did to become successful; It gives them a roadmap of what to do to continue to be successful and recover from mistakes. Teachers must keep in mind the importance of celebrating the learning, not the effort (Dweck, 2015). A strategy that teachers can employ to make sure the process of learning is acknowledged and evaluated is to break learning down into achievable, measurable goals. Then, more importantly, there must be targeted, specific praise when students accomplish the goals (Margolis and Mccabe, 2006). 

Another important aspect to foster a growth mindset is teacher reflection. Teachers must be sure that they are supporting a genuine growth mindset through careful examination of their responses to student mistakes. A false growth mindset is characterized by teachers who claim to encourage mistakes and the process of learning, but still view them as harmful to learning. Teachers should reflect on their triggers, their own fixed mindset, and whether they praise the process or the effort (Dweck 2015). As teachers reflect, they can incorporate several tenants of growth-mindset. As part of their self reflection, teachers can develop a set of small, measurable goals, or request input from their students, or use peer models (Margolis and  Mccabe, 2006). In order to promote a positive classroom environment, teachers should be transparent about the process to model it for their students and show how it is an essential part of life. 

Finally, teachers need to intentionally teach the growth mindset to students. One simple search online will give hundreds of viable resources, with several provided by respected educational organizations. These can also be embedded into lessons and assessments. Since a key part of growth mindset is understanding how mistakes lead to more learning, part of an assignment can be a reflection sheet where students have to grade themselves according to a rubric and reflect on the grade they gave themselves, with suggestions on how they could have scored better. Another way that teachers can teach growth mindset is through creating or using brain-teasers or riddles that are aligned with the standards they are required to teach (“10 Ways to Promote a Growth Mindset,” 2019). 

The adaptability that students will develop with these strategies will help students excel beyond the classroom; the “grit” they develop will help them on their classwork, sports, or even the military (Hochanadel and Finamore, 2015). The growth mindset will ensure that students adapt to challenges. It will give students success if done properly and make sure they feel like they belong. 

Works Cited

“10 Ways to Promote a Growth Mindset.” The TpT Blog, 20 Jan. 2019, blog.teacherspayteachers.com/10-ways-promote-growth-mindset/.

Dweck, C. S. (2009). Developing Talent Through a Growth Mindset. Olympic Coach, 21(1).

Dweck, C. (2015). Carol Dweck revisits the growth mindset. Education Week, 35(5), 20-24.

Finley, Katie. “4 Ways to Encourage a Growth Mindset in the Classroom - EdSurge News.” EdSurge, EdSurge, 27 Dec. 2018, www.edsurge.com/news/2014-10-24-4-ways-to-encourage-a-growth-mindset-in-the-classroom.

Hochanadel, Aaron, and Dora Finamore. “Fixed And Growth Mindset In Education And How Grit Helps Students Persist In The Face Of Adversity.” Journal of International Education Research (JIER), vol. 11, no. 1, 2015, pp. 47–50., doi:10.19030/jier.v11i1.9099.

Margolis, Howard, and Patrick P. Mccabe. “Improving Self-Efficacy and Motivation.” Intervention in School and Clinic, vol. 41, no. 4, 2006, pp. 218–227., doi:10.1177/10534512060410040401.

“Self-Efficacy.” Affective Domain, 13 July 2019, serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/affective/efficacy.html.