Page 71 - EdViewptsSpring2017

In recent decades we have experi- Leading the Shift: What are • Living in the World: citizenship, life
enced revolutionary changes prompted the Essentials? and career, and personal and so-
primarily by disruptive new technolo- cial responsibility, including cultural
gies. These changes hold enormous “The skills that our students will need awareness and competence (The
implications for the future of education to thrive in our 21st century global University of Melbourne, n.d.).
and have brought attention to an urgent economy are vastly different than that
need for educational reinvention. These of the Industrial Age — an age for which The Global Achievement Gap
disruptions have left us immersed in a our schools were built.” -Brian Chinni In his 2008 book The Global Achieve-
plethora of questions, including: What talents would we have possessed ment Gap, Tony Wagner identified
• What does the future hold for our had we been schooled differently, and seven essential skills that students
nation, for its citizens, and for our what do we mean by differently? Per- require to be adequately prepared
students? haps it is best to describe differently by for modern life, work, and citizenship.
• What is driving this urgent need first examining what we believe to be They were:
for educational change? the essential competencies needed to 1. Critical thinking and problem-
• What is our vision for modern thrive in life and work. Helping stu- solving
dents prepare for living, working, and
teaching, learning, and learning in the modern world is a great 2. Collaboration and leadership
assessment? challenge. A globalized economy, 3. Agility and adaptability
• What obstacles stand in the way emerging technologies, a changing 4. Initiative and entrepreneurialism
on our path toward this vision? workforce, and a new digital lifestyle 5. Effective oral and written
• How do we remove the many have created a sense of urgency for communication
obstacles that prevent essential the need to develop the “new basics” 6. Accessing and analyzing
change? - the essential skills, knowledge, and information
habits of mind needed for all students
Education in Modern Times to succeed in the modern world. Col- 7. Curiosity and imagination
For the most part, the educational lectively, these abilities have come to The Asia Society
system we continue to offer today was be known as 21st-century skills, HOTS The Asia Society (www.asiasociety.org),
designed for a time when we had a (higher order thinking skills), the 21st- a global non-profit organization and
very different economy, workplace, century fluencies, the new basics, a leading force in forging closer ties
and way of life. It was a world where and modern learning skills. For the between Asia and the West through
three-quarters of the workforce worked purpose of this resource, we will refer arts, education, policy, and business
in agriculture, natural resources, and to them as modern learning skills. outreach, specifies global competence
manufacturing. The skills needed as the core capacity students need for
were basic literacy skills: the ability What are Modern Learning the 21st century and define it as “the
to memorize, the capacity to follow Skills? capacity and disposition to understand
instructions, and, in many cases, There are any number of definitions and act on issues of global significance.”
physical labor skills. for modern learning. The following According to the Asia Society, globally
Today, we must help students prepare will attempt to summarize examples competent students do the following:
for a very different economy — one developed by organizations from 1. Investigate the world beyond their
where three-quarters of the workforce around the world that are identified as immediate environment
are in service class or creative class essential skills for modern learning.
jobs. By 2020, it is projected that 2. Recognize perspectives: others’
creative class jobs could be as much AT21CS and their own
as 50% of the workforce (Kaufman, For example, the University of Mel- 3. Communicate ideas effectively
2014). As such, we need to stop and bourne’s Assessment and Teaching of with diverse audiences
carefully consider what this picture of 21st Century Skills (AT21CS) consor- 4. Take action to improve conditions
the future workforce means relative to tium identify modern learning skills These and other definitions of mod-
what our students are learning right used the following categories: ern learning are cross-disciplinary
now. Our challenge is that while many and reflect the new skills needed to
of us recognize there is a problem, for • Ways of Thinking: creativity and live in complex and ever-changing
the most part, our current educational innovation, critical thinking, problem modern times. The challenge is that
system continues to promote tradition- solving, decision making, and most curricula — and, therefore,
al structures, traditional organizations, learning to learn (metacognition) classrooms — do not address many
traditional teaching, standardized con- • Ways of Working: communication of the skills identified above, or they
tent, and standardized testing at the and teamwork do so in rather contrived and super-
very same time that the economy has • Tools for Working: general ficial ways. Regardless of which of
almost eliminated traditional, repeti- knowledge and information these aforementioned skill sets you
tive, standardized jobs. communication technology prefer to embrace, they all typically

Educational Viewpoints -69- Spring 2017