Partnership for 21^st Century Skills

After looking through the web site I was in amazement do to the high standards and the alignment to the business world. I feel I could really stand behind the framework and the “21^st century student outcomes”.

Some of the things that surprised me were the intense focus on Information, Media, and Technology Skills starting at the kindergarten level up to high school. In most public schools we focus on Reading, Writing and Math we add technology here and there but there is no true focus. This make a huge gap between graduating high school students and the skills needed when applying for a job. Another thing that surprised me was the section on Life Skills. There are not many teachers that take the time to teach ethics, accountability, adaptability, personal productivity, personal responsibility, people skills, self-direction, and social responsibility. Teachers expect these skills in their students but usually do not take the time to teach these skills. I fully believe in teaching students life skills, I currently teach social skills and character education skills to my students 60 minutes a day. There are a few teachers in my school that take the time to teach some of the social skills their students are missing.

There really wasn’t anything I disagreed with on this site.

Some of the impacts for me as an educator would be the need for more professional development in the area’s of Information, Media, and Technology Skills, economics, and civic literacy. I currently try to teach the core subjects with a project-based viewpoint. This has really seemed to help my students focus on content instead of isolated skills.

If my school district adopted the frameworks it would mean that many more of our students would graduate being prepared for what is expected from them in the work place.