In a recent Education Week, ‘A ‘21st-Century Education’: What Does It Mean? Marion Brady writes:
What, exactly, is a “21st-century education”? The short answer, of course, is that it’s whatever those use the phrase happen to be selling. Sample the nearly 200,000 hits the words produce when Googled, and it’s obvious that current dialogue about the phrase has no particular meaning… There seem to be four schools of thought about what should be the main thrust of a general education in the 21st century. Each of the four asks a different question about what kids know or can do. School One: How many answers do students know? School Two: What do students do when they don’t know the answer? School Three: What can students actually do with their answers? School Four: What do students do when nobody knows the answers? More 124KB pdf
I’d have to pick School Four. Remember, Bloom's highest level of thinking is "creating." Students create when they find new combinations of old ideas. Now that most information is being digitized, that gets easier to do. Many school districts use the phrase "life-long learner" in their mission statements. What's that mean in the context of 21st century education?
Most routine work is now done by machines or low-wage workers. I can’t think of many meaningful professions based on the skill of being able to fill out a worksheet. We must find ways to give our students more responsibility for their learning or educational missions to create “life-long learner” will fail. As Mr. Brady accurately observes , the real challenge for students will be figuring out “What do to do when nobody knows the answers?”
21st-Century Education, Life-Long Learner.. Blah, Blah, Blah...
In a recent Education Week, ‘A ‘21st-Century Education’: What Does It Mean? Marion Brady writes:
I’d have to pick School Four. Remember, Bloom's highest level of thinking is "creating." Students create when they find new combinations of old ideas. Now that most information is being digitized, that gets easier to do. Many school districts use the phrase "life-long learner" in their mission statements. What's that mean in the context of 21st century education?
Most routine work is now done by machines or low-wage workers. I can’t think of many meaningful professions based on the skill of being able to fill out a worksheet. We must find ways to give our students more responsibility for their learning or educational missions to create “life-long learner” will fail. As Mr. Brady accurately observes , the real challenge for students will be figuring out “What do to do when nobody knows the answers?”
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