P21 and a New View of Education

I was surprised at first to discover that The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (http://www.p21.org) has been in existence since 2002, yet has only fourteen states involved in its state leadership initiative. On reflection, however, I realized that the numbers shouldn’t surprise me. Thornburg shows us that our educational system is still based on the agricultural and industrial models described by Toffler (Laureate Education, Inc., 2007b); as a country we have been slow to adopt the realities of the information age.

And that’s a shame, because technology is increasing at such a rapid rate that we are steadily losing ground. We are still struggling to find the time and resources to help our students achieve fluency in basic Internet use when we should be immersing them in the possibilities provided by the Read/Write Web.

It is encouraging to see that P21 not only advocates for technology issues, but strives to integrate core curriculum with emerging content areas; new literacies; and learning, thinking, and life skills. P21 President Ken Kay states that this approach is “the only way we can assure twenty-first century readiness for every student” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2010). Additionally, it calls for balanced assessment to determine student proficiency (recognizing that standardized testing alone is an insufficient measure) and promoting the use of modern technologies in assessment.

In P21's 2009 response to the Draft English Language Arts Standards, I was pleased to find emphasis placed on the need to provide clarification of the specific literacies expected in this content area. This is a critical component for success; if standards are unclear, educators will have difficulty adopting them effectively. There is reference made to the need for “fewer clearer higher standards,” echoing the issue of “trying to address too much content” put forth by Robert Marzano (Laureate Education, 2007a).

Perhaps P21 will be the driving force needed to bring about the changes our educational system needs to stay globally competitive. The emphasis on the importance of professional development alone is a strong indication of the dedication to its mission; in order to bring about the sweeping changes proposed there must be commitment to first educating the educators.

References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2007a). Program Two. Making sense of standards. [Motion picture]. Designing Curriculum and Instruction. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2007b). The Third Wave. [Motion picture]. Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society. Baltimore: Author.
Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2010). Fusing the Three Rs and Four Cs for 21st Century Readiness. [Motion picture]. United States: Partnership for 21st Century Skills.

Blogs in the Classroom

In my eighth grade reading and language arts class, one of our classroom objectives is writing for an authentic audience. A blog could provide the means to do so, beginning on a small scale as students make their writing available to classmates. However, I anticipate that this effort could expand to include a larger audience: other students, administrators, parents, and interested individuals beyond the school community. Students' understanding that they are writing for an expanded audience would encourage more thoughtful response. The critical element to impart to students, however, would be the fact that "blogging is a genre that engages students and adults in a process of thinking in words, not simply an accounting of the day's events or feelings" (Richardson, 2006). The purpose of the blog would be analysis and critique--skills that promote close interaction with ideas and words--not simply a surface reaction. Seeing others' responses to one's ideas would provide motivation and create a sense of collaboration among class members. In addition, a blog would help students develop an understanding of the power of professional learning networks, which will serve them well in college and career.

Today, as I reveiwed the documentation for the Junior Great Books program I will begin implementing in several weeks, I realized that a blog would provide a perfect opportunity to support students as they embark upon discovering a very different approach to literature, one that focuses on interpretive questioning and shared inquiry. Initially, it could offer a place to view supporting materials and post questions. Later, as students become proficient in the methodology of the course, a blog would allow them to share their own interpretive questions prior to class discussion and to reflect on the text outside of the classroom. It would also allow a forum for ancillary discussions or assignment postings during times when the schedule requires us to compress the suggested five-day format of the program. On an expanded scale, a blog could offer a way to interact with other schools that are implementing Junior Great Books.

References
Richardson, W. (2006) Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classroms (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Welcome

This is my first blog, set up for a technology course at Walden University. I look forward to using this medium to interact with my classmates, and, ultimately, to learning how to bring blogging into the classroom.