sing your life
 
Picture
 “I'm calling on our nation's governors and state education chiefs to develop standards and assessments that don't simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity,” said President Barack Obama on March 9, 2009, in an address to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Twenty-first century skills are of the utmost importance in today’s public educational setting. Yet, as a public school educator in a socioeconomically depressed area, it feels as though each year, fewer and fewer leaders are taking steps towards establishing critical thinking and problem solving educational settings.

With mandates for higher standardized test scores, schools that do not perform at required levels must use state-approved programs that flush out teacher and student ingenuity. Creativity and innovation are no longer harnessed in early grades, while communication and collaboration are shunned for teacher-concentrated lessons in higher grades. The lack of student involvement in personal education goals must be remedied with more options than just paper and pencil activities. America’s public schools are stifling, not only current students, but also future cultural and economic growth.

To address the issue of the lack of 21st century skills throughout American public school students, the following questions must be addressed:

How can public school curricula help students become:

• Critical thinkers?

• Effective communicators?

• Superior collaborators?

• Information and technology literate?

• Flexible and adaptable?

• Globally competent?

• Financially literate?

An educator-based taskforce must guide governors and state education chiefs to move forward, offer students options in education, and pilot the U. S. global consciousness. Brain-growth experts, literacy proponents, and education leaders that are not part of the political machine must be appointed to work in the best interest of all students side by side with lawmakers. Public curriculum that uses Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and multiple intelligences must be made available to all students, not just those whose schools achieve specified levels of standardized tests. All American students should have access to current technology, must be guided by superior educators, and need to be held to high standards.

Students must leave the American public school system with specific interpersonal and intrapersonal capabilities. Effective interactions with other humans are critical to success, and can only be achieved with adequate communication, collaborative, and leadership skills. Making sense of such interactions requires logical, analytical, and evaluation skills. Personal growth necessitates self-assessment, goal-setting, and metacognitive skills. Allowing students to leave the public school system with anything less is an injustice to society, nationally and globally.

Challenge-based learning must replace the standardized testing norm. Students must be taught to guide their own learning initiatives, while educators and parents must be taught how to fully support students in such endeavors. All parties must be ready to invest time, patience, and effort into what is considerably the most important part of America’s cultural and financial future— 21st century skills.




Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Share/Bookmark
    Picture

    cristina

    educator, student, yoga enthusiast, roller derby girl

    View my profile on LinkedIn
    The views expressed in this blog are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employers, colleagues, friends, family, or pets. Thanks for visiting!

    Archives

    December 2010
    November 2010
    September 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    December 2009

    Categories

    All
    21st Century Journalism
    21st Century Skills
    Censorship
    Ed Tech
    Education
    Eld
    Fb
    Google Wave
    Literacy
    Media Literacy
    Modernity
    Music
    Nclb
    Ocd
    Patriotism
    Pe
    Plc
    Ple
    Pln
    Social Media
    Viral Media

    Picture