7 Skills for 21st Century Learners

Teaching and Testing

While watching the videos for this week, I thought about how much testing we did this school year. Name the assessment, we did it, in kindergarten. We focus so much on test and lose so much time with our kids, and like Wagner says, the test does not measure things like communication skills, let alone, creativity (2009). A minimum of three weeks, but realistically it was more, were used to give a screener individually to all my students. Three weeks of missed opportunities for creativity or collaboration or direct teaching. The result of these tests? Those who test well were fine, others not so much. I have students that on paper look really bad or low academically, but if you talk to them or observe them, you would see they are so much more than just a score on a piece of paper.

Questions

This leads to important questions from this week’s videos. These questions are things I need to constantly ask myself. Wagner asks: Do we need to rethink or reimagine education for the 21st century learner? Are we preparing our students to get and keep the jobs of the 21st century? Are we educating to innovate? (2009). Galinsky asks: What can we do to keep the fire for learning burning in children’s eyes? (2013). At the end of the day, we are doing what the curriculum or district needs us to do, but at what cost?

7 vs 7

Both Wagner and Galinsky come up with 7 skills that will in the end, result in lifelong learners. I created table to compare the skills they listed and color coded them to help me see the similarities, I need visuals and colors to visualize it better.

They both emphasize the need for collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communicating, understanding each other, challenges, and ongoing learning.

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References

Galinsky, E. (2013). The seven essential life skills, with Ellen Galinsky. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/SdIkQnTy6jA

Wagner, T. (2009). 7 skills students need for their future. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/NS2PqTTxFFc