“Perfection is reached not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” “La perfection est atteinte, non pas lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à ajouter, mais lorsqu'il n'y a plus rien à retirer.” —Antoine de Saint–Exupéry
It has become clear that teaching Skills requires answering “What should students learn in the 21st century?” on a deep and broad basis, so that teachers have the time and space necessary for the deep dives via project learning:
Knowledge (and what is relevant in an age of search and, soon, artificial intelligence)
Skills, as described in our book on this site
“Character” (attitudes, behaviors, values)
Meta-layer: learning how to learn, interdisciplinarity, etc
The Center for Curriculum Redesign is dedicated to answering the question above and propagating the answers. Follow its progress and contribute to improving education worldwide.
Springer-Verlag has just announced its 7-volume “Encyclopedia of the Sciences of Learning” which features an entry by Charles and Bernie on “21st Century Skills”. It also features an entry by Charles and Cheryl Lemke (Metiri Group) on “Multimodal Learning through Media”.
February 15: C21 conference, Kingbridge Center, Toronto Canada
March 3: Weston public school district, Weston MA
April 4: Fessenden School, Newton MA
April 30: AISNE seminar at Boston College, Boston MA
May 18: Corporate University Exchange conference at UPenn, Philadelphia PA
May 21: APEC International Minister’s Summit, Seoul Korea
May 24: NAWI conference, Boston MA
June 20: National Girl School Conference, Dallas TX
June 22: US News & World Report STEM conference, Dallas TX
October 2: British Council LATAM conference, Cartagena Colombia
November 22: ADIGECS conference, Quebec-city Canada
Bernie:
March 21: Association of California School Administrators Region 8, Conference Keynote, San Jose, CA
March 29: San Carlos School District, “Re-Designing a District” Keynote, San Carlos, CA
June 4th – Sonoma County Office of Education, Summer Institute Keynote, Santa Rosa, CA.
June 12-14: Utah State Department of Education, CTE Summer Conference Keynote, Park City, Utah
July 16-19: National Academies Foundation, NAF Next 2012 Conference Presentation, Washington, DC
2011
Charles:
January 11: Farmington NM via webconference
February 4: Oak Meadow Montessori, Littleton MA
February 15: Kingsley Montessori, Boston MA
February 18: Learning & the Brain conference, San Francisco: http://www.learningandthebrain.com/
February 25: ABEL, York University, Toronto Canada
February 28: World Bank, Washington DC: Human Development Forum
March 22: Brownell-Talbot school, Omaha NE: http://educationmattersblog.com/
April 21: Bellevue University via webconference http://www.corporatelearning.com/
April 26: Winsor School, Boston MA: http://www.winsor.edu/
May 2: Nobel conference, Fes, Morocco: http://fez-nobel.com/blog/category/education/
May 6: GELP, Seoul, Korea: http://pdf.joinsmsn.com/article/pdf_article_prv.asp?id=DY01201105100088
May 13: Federal Reserve Bank, St Louis MO (financial literacy conference)
May 17: UNESCO Global Forum on Rankings and Accountability in Higher Ed: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/all-events/?tx_browser_pi1[showUid]=3466&cHash=f48af1d016
May 17: Federation of Austrian Industries, Vienna, Austria: http://www.iv-net.at/b2475
May 26: Museum of Science, Boston, with Iceland delegation from http://www.fmos.is/
June 21: Eastern Suffolk BOCES, Oakdale NY via webconference
June 22: NYC, NY: ICDE Standing Committee of Presidents
August 25: Winsor school, Boston MA
September 22: New York Times Schools for Tomorrow Conference, New York, NY http://nytschoolsfortomorrow.com/speakers.html
September 28: McGraw Foundation Innovation in Education conference, New York, NY http://www.cvent.com/events/innovation-in-education-summit-2011/event-summary-b2f3ff307b424ffb8391bcf22bbfc99a.aspx
October 7: Icelandic Delegation, Harvard GSE, Gutman library, Cambridge MA
October 13: 21st Century Learning Leadership Forum, Banff Canada http://www.21centurylearning.ca/
October 14: Creating Minds symposium, Portland OR
October 18: Massachusetts STEM Summit, Newton MA
October 21: Educational Records Bureau 84th annual conference, NYC New York http://www.kinsleymeetings.com/erb/
October 24: AISNE Program 1, St Mark’s School, Southborough Massachusetts
November 4: ISACS annual conference, Detroit MI http://www.isacs.org/resources/calendar/detail.asp?id=212
November 19: Learning & the Brain, Boston MA http://www.learningandthebrain.com/Event/Preparing-21st-Century-Minds/Program
November 28: Fessenden School, Newton MA
December 1: AISNE Program 2, St Mark’s School, Southborough MA
December 5: IMHE Higher Ed conference webcast, Mexicali, Mexico
Bernie:
March 24: Scottish Council Summit, St. Andrews, Scotland
March 25: MacKay Hanah conference, Linlithgow, Scotland
August 3-4: ShiftEd Conference, Silicon Valley Education Foundation, Foothill College, Los Altos CA
October 3-4: National Governors Association Forum, Philadelphia PA
October 5: Resource Area For Teachers, Showcase of Creativity Event, San Jose CA
October 10: SingTel and Apple, Learning Journey Conference, Singapore
October 13-14: MetroArts, Creating Minds Symposium, Portland OR
As posted on School Leadership 2.0: http://www.schoolleadership20.com/group/21stcenturylearning/forum/topics/charles-fadel-coauthor-of
“Yesterday, Charles Fadel gave a great webinar to our teachers on 21st Century Skills. The staff enjoyed hearing his take on education and how it fits into a global marketplace. It affirmed and validated for us that Career and Technical Education prepares students for the workforce and college simultaneously.
His price was very reasonable and I highly recommend him to any district.”
On May 21, Austria’s Kurier published an interview of Charles discussing the importance of 21st century skills, and STEM, at the Federation of Austrian Industries http://www.iv-net.at/bm50.
“The 21st Century Skills Movement seeks to reform education to better prepare students for success in the modern workplace. Those skills include creativity, innovation, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. We’ll talk to some Silicon Valley veterans who are working to help students attain these skills. And we’ll find out why the movement has encountered opposition from some education leaders, who favor an emphasis on core content and knowledge.
Host: Michael Krasny
Guest: Bernie Trilling, author of “21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times” and former global director of the Oracle Education Foundation
The need to teach 21st-century skills has emerged in our collective consciousness as a key paradigm in education. For the first time since the advent of public education, there is growing consensus for the need for K-12 schools to teach for skills[1], not merely for knowledge. This has been prompted and amplified by changing economic pressures at both the macro level (globalization, thus increased competition) and the micro level (the dissolution of workforce stability).
When we explore 21st-century skills, I must state emphatically the need to also lend a watchful eye to curriculum design. It’s not enough simply to add 21st-century skills to the already-burdened curriculum; we must reprioritize our core curriculum based on what is relevant to society today to produce career- and college-ready graduates. Relevance means applicability and significance of what is taught. Today’s students are sophisticated learners who are best served by subject-matter content that applies real-world, everyday needs. Using real-world applicability as a benchmark, many current core disciplines have too much of a theoretical bias.
For example, we continue to insist on geometry and algebra as core curriculum subjects, but perhaps there are other disciplines that should be taught more universally. Consider statistics and probability: In the modern world, statistics and probability are a branch of mathematics that has perhaps the most daily-life applicability—nearly everyone requires a basic understanding of data to be successful, from doctors to journalists to lawyers to politicians … to the person on the street—but it’s not taught until high school, and even then only if students select the course as an elective. The same situation persists in college.
Looking beyond math, why is there so little focus on technology and engineering? Given the current socioeconomic climate, this can only be described as an oversight that runs counter to common sense, given the crying demand for science and engineering talent worldwide.
But perhaps historical inertia is the deciding factor when it comes to curriculum design. Decisions are made by subject-matter experts; e.g., math decisions are made by math experts in near isolation from the demands of the real-world—and tend to take an incremental approach – which often involves abstract concepts rather than practical topics – weighed by history and poorly informed of modern needs. There is also no process in place to ensure that curriculum is tied to real-world needs of learners, let alone to 21st-century skills.
If we really want to see positive change, we need to defuse resistance to change and redesign the curriculum from the ground up. Academia needs to look beyond its ivory tower into the real world, to design curriculum that, in addition to educating citizens, fits practical socioeconomic realities, as well as the learning styles of the growing population of digital natives.
As an education leader, what disciplines do you feel could best benefit from reprioritization and rebalancing? What would your ideal curriculum program look like?
[1] “21st Century Skills – Learning for Life in our Times” by Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel, Wiley/Jossey-Bass 2009
The Journal of General Education, Volume 59 Number 1, 2010 E-ISSN: 1527-2060 Print ISSN: 0021-3667
By Benjamin T. Brauer
“… Lehmann states that “there should be whole new schools where kids are accomplishing things that no one ever dreamed possible” (2009, p. 19). This concept was not lost on the Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel 2009 publication Twenty-first Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times. Trilling and Fadel make the case that just as the face of education changed during the industrial age, we are now at the crossroads of the knowledge age and a shift in instructional delivery and curriculum must occur. Through the course of their book, these two scholars describe what this change should look like and how to accomplish such a sweeping overhaul of the American educational system. Furthermore, this book provides suggestions and applicability for classroom teachers and administrators at the K-12 level. Trilling and Fadel also discuss the change needed among the ranks of higher education. In doing so, they discuss not only the training programs for future educators and administrators but also what the college classroom of the future should look like across all fields of study, not just those in the field of education. Finally, Trilling and Fadel take a holistic approach to their call for change, by examining the role that community members, business leaders, and policy makers will take in changing the educational landscape in the twenty-first [century]…”
“A book? A resource? A movie? 21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times by Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel is all of that.
In their book and compelling DVD with teachers in action, authors Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel do a first-rate job of laying out what 21st century skills are all about.
The Book
The book makes clear why education must change: to help prepare students to meet complex challenges, fulfill their civic responsibilities, and live fulfilling lives. The authors carefully draw from studies, experiences, and leading education thinkers, such as Daniel Pink (writer), Howard Gardner (Harvard), and Edgar Morin (UNESCO), to portray fresh, engaging approaches to teaching and learning in America’s schools.
The authors underscore that 21st century learning begins with rich core content. This provides the basis for the knowledge students need to apply skills. Additionally, new content, such as digital literacy, is needed for students to succeed in the 21st century.
Too often policy discussions about learning stop with content, say the authors. Instead, educators should have more opportunities to focus on what students should know and be able to do. It is the application of knowledge – the doing – that describes much of 21st century skills. Trilling and Fadel say 21st century learning requires critical thinking, problem-solving, communications skills, and career and life skills.
The DVD
In the DVD, the authors provide brilliant video examples of interdisciplinary learning in classrooms across the country, showcasing the talent teachers need to infuse 21st century skills in their classroom practices.
Trilling and Fadel acknowledge that educators have long-recognized the important interrelationship of knowledge with skills – the value of the lively application of learning to truly master knowledge – but unfortunately schools are not structured to routinely integrate the two.
The authors’ respect for teachers contrasts with their frustration of a system that has yet to cultivate the skills students need. Many teachers have clever ways of bending the system to bring engaging practices into the classroom, but such worthy efforts demand support. Trilling and Fadel level this book as a volley to change an educational system in order to help teachers teach and students learn.”
