This is an excellent and exciting website to become aware of the 21century agenda. The Mission statement and Goals of the organization are as follows:
MISSION STATEMENT
Serve as a catalyst to position 21st century skills at the center of US K-12 education by building collaborative partnerships among education, business, community and government leaders
TWENTY FIRST CENTURY CHILDREN
Every child in America needs 21st century knowledge and skills to succeed as effective citizens, workers and leaders in the 21st century.
There is a profound gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school and the knowledge and skills they need in typical 21st century communities and workplaces.
To successfully face rigorous higher education coursework, career challenges and a globally competitive workforce, U.S. schools must align classroom environments with real world environments by infusing 21st century skills.
This skills set includes:
* Information and communication skills (information and media literacy skills; communication skills)
* Thinking and problem-solving (critical thinking and systems thinking; problem identification, formulation and solution; creativity and intellectual curiosity)
* Interpersonal and self-direction skills (interpersonal and collaborative skills; self-direction; accountability and adaptability; social responsibility)
* Global awareness
* Financial, economic and business literacy, and developing entrepreneurial skills to enhance workplace productivity and career options
* Civic literacy
One of the areas which stood out for me was the global initiative. If this was taken up by school districts in Texas alone it would change the dynamics of education in the southern region as we know it.
Global Awareness
* Using 21st century skills to understand and address global issues
* Learning from and working collaboratively with individuals representing diverse cultures, religions and lifestyles in a spirit of mutual respect and open dialogue in personal, work and community contexts
* Understanding other nations and cultures, including the use of non-English languages
I am on board with this progressive program as I can see the vision of it founders and the importance it has on the 21 century learners. Please visit and place your comments to this blog.
Technology has indeed made the world a much smaller place than it used to be making global awareness a very important 21st century skill. Our students will be competing for jobs not just in their own backyards but in different hemispheres as well. Instead of blaming people from other countries for taking jobs out of the United States, we need to focus our energies on creating bright minds that will become responsible, productive citizens of our global society.
ReplyDeleteAlshaheed,
ReplyDeleteYou make some great points about the fact that the partnership is encouraging educators to teach global awareness. I would love to have a central website to which I could take or send my students on virtual "world tours". I noticed that Discovery Education is a partner with the program. If you have access to their United Streaming site, it is great for showing videos of different countries and cultures from an earlier to present historical point of view. Please, let me know if you see anything on The Partnership's website that can allow a teacher to take such virtual field trips with his/her students.
Charis