SMUMN - 21st Century Learning

Cross-Post for St. Mary's University Master's Program:

It's a little absurd, isn't it? We're over a tenth of the way into the 21st Century and we're still talking about what a 21st Century education is and should look like. Shouldn't we be there already? Shouldn't these have been conversations taking place decades ago? Shouldn't massive changes have already taken place? Why are we still talking about the whats and the hows of a 21st Century education? The talk needs to stop, the action needs to begin.

We live in a world that is constantly changing and growing, it is becoming more and more complex by the day. The rise of the internet and mobile communication has created many challenges. Tackling these new challenges will require critical thinkers to be able to identify and solve these problems. The students of today need to be equipped with the tools to think critically, to collaborate efficiently, and to understand the world around them. Our students need to master the 21st century knowledge and skills required to thrive as effective citizens.

The 21st century citizen must be proficient in the "Four Cs": Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity. Strong critical thinkers will not only be problem solvers, but problem identifiers as well. The master collaborator will have no problems reaching out to those around him or her to accomplish the tasks at hand. Of course, none of this collaboration will be possible without clear communication between all parties. Lastly, creativity means that students will be able to examine the world to find new innovative solutions.

The Four Cs will not be all that is needed, but they will be at the heart of being a 21st Century Citizen. They will also need the support to develop transferable skills that will prepare them for everyday life and future careers that don’t yet exist. These skills include the ability to quickly adapt to new environments, to take risks and rise to challenges, and to learn from failure.

This generation is the first in the history of the world to have nearly instant access to an almost limitless source of information. However, this access is useless unless we have the skills necessary to find what we’re seeking. We live in an age of instant news and information and our students will need the ability to identify the difference between bias and objectivity. The ubiquitous access to technology and mobile devices opens a world of opportunity, and problems. We need to make sure that our students know how to responsibly use this technology for good, and not evil.

What we need are students that are products of a new educational system. Our educational system needs to reflect the expectations and challenges of a 21st century citizen and needs to keep its eyes steadily fixed toward the future, rather than leave its feet firmly planted in the past.

So far I would say that my learning with St. Mary's has begun to reflect the expectations that we have for our students and the 21st century learning environment. We are asked to challenge ourselves and to really use the "Four Cs". However, so far I'm we haven't had to do much in the way of identifying problems and creating solutions. I suppose to an extent we are doing that with our action research. As we go forward it looks like we'll be doing more investigating and collaborating with the world around us.

Personally, I feel as if I know enough to teach and understand the challenges of 21st Century education. What I really feel I am lacking are two key components. One, is that my students and I aren't fully equipped to learn and teach in this new environment. For example, we currently lack even basic things like WiFi in our schools and our students are still prohibited from using their own personal mobile devices in the classroom. I know that both of these limits/policies are changing, but not fast enough for me or my students.

The other big limitation is the current educational system. We are still stuck in an archaic 19th Century (let alone 20th Century!) factory model where your age determines your grade, and you are essentially learning the same core material that generations gone by have learned. Sure, we jazzed it up by putting an iPad in our student's hands and a SmartBoard in every classroom...but really, what has changed? A couple of years back I had the chance to hear Ken Robinson speak at the TIES Conference in Minneapolis...he does a great job explaining this dilemma. If you haven't already, take a moment and watch the video below.

When Fair Must Always Mean Equal

You and I live in a world that is constantly changing and growing; our world is becoming more and more complex by the day.  The rise of the internet and other forms of communication, coupled with the inter-connectedness of our world’s nations has created many complex dilemmas. Solving these challenges will require critical thinkers with creativity and a deep understanding of their world. Our job, which is to prepare the problem solvers of the future, is equally as important to the problems they will be solving.  The preparation of the world’s future leaders – our students – is a task not to be taken lightly or approached softly. It is our duty to rid the inequalities that plague our schools so we can ensure a first-class education for each and every student, regardless of where they are born or where they live.  The students of today need to be equipped with the tools to think critically, to collaborate efficiently, and to understand the world that surrounds them.  None of this will be possible without these students receiving an equitable, thorough, and engaging global education that prepares them for a world that we, nor they, can possibly envision.

The state of American education and the teaching profession has received much attention from local and national media. Many issues swirl around our profession today – standardized testing, NCLB waivers, Race to the Top, the erosion of collective bargaining rights, whether or not to institute merit pay, tenure reform…I could go on. However, the single most pressing issue that confronts our profession today is a total lack of equality among our schools. The root of this inequality is a lack of equitable funding, which invariably leads to a lack of equality in schools, resources, and education for our students. If we are to prepare our students and our nation for an uncertain future, we must remove all uncertainty and inequality from our schools.

Numerous politicians, business leaders, pundits, and so-called “reformers” would have you believe that the panacea to the ills of our current educational system would be to look to the business world for answers. They advocate for changes that would bring about choice and vouchers, with the claim that choice in the market is a good thing. We’re told that competition between privately funded, often for profit, charter schools and public schools will force public schools to get their act together. Competition in the market is a wonderful thing. Except for when that market is our schools. Competition among schools does not, and will not, increase the quality of our schools. Competition creates winners and losers, successes and failures. We cannot afford to have losers when it comes to our children and our schools. We need collaboration and balance among our schools, not competition.

To combat this inequality, we must make sure that every public school is robustly and equitably funded. Your zip code should not determine the resources available to your school or the education your student receives. We must not turn a blind eye and act like poverty, home life, and the environment in which a student is raised has no impact on their education. Students from the poorest districts often find neighborhood schools with the fewest resources. Yet, these are the students and schools that need the resources the most. Make no mistake, I am not saying that we can throw a pile of money at our schools and expect magic to happen.  What I am saying is that we can no longer tolerate schools in one area having less than those in another, simply because of their tax base.

Once we solve the core problem of misguided per-pupil funding formulas and a lack of proper and equitable funding, our work will not be done.  Simply having money will not solve the problems; rather it will be in how the money will be used. We need schools equipped to prepare our students for the ambiguity of the future. Students must have access to the 21st century tools that they will be asked to use. It is of paramount importance that we teach our students how to think critically and solve problems. We need to have broadband internet access in every school, we need working modern computer labs for our students to connect to and collaborate with the outside world, we need to make sure that all our students have access to portable devices that will engage them and allow them to collaborate, capture, collect, and share their learning with others. If our students leave us without receiving the education they need and deserve, then we have failed.

Lastly, when it comes to teachers, we need to ensure that we have the best of the best in every classroom. Teachers are the single most important factor within a school on determining a student’s learning. We need to improve teacher quality by improving how we train and select our teachers, providing stronger mentor support, adopting higher salaries, and creating collaborative environments that are fully supportive of the teachers and students they advocate for. We must prepare our teachers for the difficult task of preparing our students. Teaching, and learning, in the 21st century will look different, but we must make certain that our teachers are practitioners of sound pedagogy and have the tools they will need to be successful.

We must remind ourselves, no matter our role in public education, it is all about our students. Every single decision we make must always be made, first and foremost, with the students in mind.  Most educators will rightly tell you that sometimes in an individual classroom, what’s fair for students is not always equal. However, when it comes to our schools, fair should, and must always be, equal. As it stands right now some schools can advance, while others are forced to stay behind. We cannot expect to prepare all our children, and our nation, for the future while only educating a segment of our children. We must ensure that we have schools buoyed with equality, rather than riddled with inequality. Education is a public good, and all of our children have a right to first-class education.