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(More customer reviews)21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn is a valuable contribution to the dialogue about the education of children and youth in the United States today. As longtime proponents of cognitive approaches to education, editors Jim Bellanca and Ron Brandt understand the importance of schools where students are engaged in important learning, becoming ever more self-directed. Their way of thinking about education connects well with the goals of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, which partnership president Ken Kay articulates in his foreword to this book as preparing students for citizenship, college and career. In addition to emphasizing core content knowledge taught in schools, he discusses the partnership's perspective for the need for students to become globally aware and literate about financial, civic, health, and environmental issues. Furthermore, Kay discusses the need for youth today to be masters of the 4 Cs--Critical Thinking, Creativity and Innovation, Cooperation, and Communication--to prepare for adulthood.
This book does not suggest one road to implementation in schools today, nor is the intent to limit discussion only to the book's contents; rather it aims to give educational leaders and those who create policy food for thought. For thirty years my career has been focused on helping more students reach their potential through motivational and cognitive approaches to learning. Therefore, through the years my work has been informed by many of the fine educators who contributed to this book.
The first chapter by Howard Gardner is a great way to set the stage for a dialogue about 21st century education. In what I consider to be some of his best work, Gardner discusses five types of minds that students today need to develop: disciplined, synthesizing, creating, respectful, and ethical. To frame this discussion, it seems timely to consider respectful and ethical character development as essential to the future of our country and world. Gardner offers a human framework as the driving energy for education rather than a more limited approach (i.e., what technology should schools apply, how should we test, which curricula pass muster?) to nurture our national treasure, our youth.
Within a human framework, we can then begin to discuss implementation, or how we provide a 21st century education for all our youth. In Chapter 2 Linda Darling-Hammond makes the case for policy that supports effective teachers and leaders and provides opportunities for professional learning. Understanding that effective instruction (including leadership and policy support) has been found to be the most important factor for increasing student learning is central as leaders rethink education today.
Personally, I found Bob Pearlman's insights on designing new learning environments and Cheryl Lemke's work on innovating through technology to be novel and informative. Both authors discuss the importance of reaching youth today through the use of technology, a strength for many students. Lemke discusses technology as a means to further (1) multimodal learning and critical and creative thinking, (2) democratization of knowledge so that online learning activities are available to individuals and groups without regard to where they are located geographically, and (3) participatory learning through social networking systems already familiar to many youth today.
In Chapter 6, Bob Pearlman shares frameworks for designing modern schools that provide spaces for various aspects of learning, including individual and small and large group learning spaces rather than the usual teacher desk at the front of the room with rows of desks for students. Pearlman gives examples of models in the United States and England where communities have put a high priority on education and educators have thoughtfully designed schools around student learning in the 21st century. As the author puts it, the aim is an integration of form and function. I think this chapter is important not only because it addresses an interesting topic, but also because when we are discussing new buildings, it brings front and center the need for the community to support courageous educational leaders in the re-creation of schools.
I believe now is a critical time for educational change, just as it was when leaders in the mid-nineteenth century developed a system to educate the masses in a way that would be appropriate in the Industrial Age. Today, we are long past that era, and our youth, as well as our effective educators, need support of policy makers, leaders, and the local community. It is unfair to students and to all of us as the American taxpayers to settle for less. It is critical (1) that effective teachers and administrators have opportunities to share what has been found to work, (2) that educators have a chance to participate in cutting-edge professional learning that may include a variety of experiences, one of which might be learning how to teach with new technologies, and (3) that local community leaders work hand in hand with school leaders and policy makers to re-create our educational system.
In terms of Amazon's goal to reach both educators and others in the community who are supportive stakeholders in education, this book is a useful introduction to some ideas that can help inform those interested in using their influence, from inside or outside education, to support institutions for learning. The time is now. Our children and youth deserve the best, and with the predisposition that many millennials have to embrace key issues today and to use social networks, with the right educational and community experiences, they may be better equipped than any generation before them to make our world a better place!
Donna Wilson, Ph.D.
President, 21st Century Skills, LLC &
BrainSMART, Inc.
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21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn is the fifth book in the Leading EdgeTM series. The Leading Edge series unites education authorities from around the globe and asks them to confront the important issues that affect teachers and administrators the issues that profoundly impact student success. The experts contributing to this anthology do not prescribe one method to transact change. They embrace the mission, trusting that teachers and administrators the true change leaders will venture to the Leading Edge to embrace the challenges and opportunities that will guarantee the success of their students. 21st Century Skills examines a daunting challenge today s educators face: how to equip students with the skills to succeed in the twenty-first century. Many critics oppose the idea of teaching 21st century skills on the grounds that emphasizing skills such as critical thinking and problem solving will erode the teaching of important content. The contributors to this volume contend that both knowledge and skills are needed, and they are interdependent. The authors of this book know from experience that effective teaching involves having students use skills to acquire knowledge. 21st Century Skills introduces the 21st century skills movement, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and the Framework for 21st Century Learning. The chapters seek to flesh out the vision established by the Partnership by identifying key issues that contribute to the dialogue. The contributors explore three overarching questions: 1.Why are the skills listed in the Framework for 21st Century Learning needed for learning in the future?2.Which skills are most important?3.What can be done to help schools include these skills in their repertoire so that twenty-first century learning results?
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