As a 2001 graduate of high school, I have only taught in the 21st century, yet most of my general education took place in the 20th century. The term "21st Century Learner" was part of my vocabulary from the day I entered an undergraduate education course. The "skills" associated with these "learners" have been the focus of my training from my first days on the job.
I'm no closer to understanding who the heck this 21st Century Learner is.
Am I a 21st century learner because I went to college and began my professinal life in the 21st century? Is my brother? He graduated in 2005 so he was in high school only in the 21st century. Were my second grade students, most of whom were born in the 21st century, the earliest members of this group?
Ultimately, the question is pointless, because, really what is different in the 21st century? How is school that much different for students today than it was when I was in school? The internet and computers already existed. Social networks did not, but instant messaging and email did. Cell phones did (although they certainly did a lot less then!). My teachers forbade all of these things. We still mostly do.
One could argue that school is different, I suppose, but how is curriculum different? Are kids learning different things in different ways?
I suppose these questions led me to purchase only one book at this years' ASCD conference in Boston:
I agreed and disagreed with much in the book, but I noticed a pattern as I was highlighting away: I was highlighting an awful lot of provacative questions. I decided to begin compiling a list of items to contemplate later, including:
- Is the use of technology an "event"?
- Do (the students) feel as if they are entering a simulation of life in the 1980's?
- How are millions of students still struggling to acquire 19th-century skills in reading, writing, and math supposed to learn this stuff?
- Do our students know what addition is, or only what it looks like?
- What if students are expected to demonstrate their readiness to graduate with independence? What if it takes whatever time it takes, with reasonable guidelines?
- What is the difference between the test we give students in formal learning settings, versus the work portfolios that we discover in the informal learning spaces on the Web?
- What is global competence?
- What values, lifestyles, points of view are included or excluded and why? Where can I get more information, different perspectives, or verify the information? (research, critical thinking)
- How will (our) students be different from how they were on the first day of school?
- Can we change our traditional culture of teaching and learning so that students are empowered to take more responsibility for making important contributions to their own learning and to their learning community?
- Are we educating students for a life of tests or for tests of life?
Wow. Now these are some "curriculum mindshift" questions! When I took a position in the Office of Gifted Education and Curriculum Development, this was the first book assigned to my group of curriculum developers. It has been the topic of 3 formal professional conversations and countless informal conversations. Some key ideas I have taken away from these professional opportunities include the following:
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