The figure displayed above is from Ohio Governor Ted Strickland’s 2009 budget proposal.
We thought former Illinois Governor Blagojevich was the most confused state leader in the Midwest. But this chart, which lumps the idea of core knowledge in with 21st century skills, clearly illustrates that the Ohio Governor and the folks who advise him on education are at best deeply confused themselves–about the content of education. No one who knows a lick about curriculum would put these two ideas together.
The organizations that represent these approaches-namely the Core Knowledge Foundation (CK) and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21)-could not have values that are more opposed. CK promotes, and helps to deliver to thousands of students every year, a comprehensive knowledge-based curriculum. CK believes that acquiring knowledge is the purpose of education. P21, on the other hand, promotes the idea that schooling should primarily focus on the acquisition of certain skills-such as ingenuity and media savvy–and that those skills are best learned when they are divorced from content.
For the sake of Ohio’s students we hope the Governor and his advisors learn the difference between knowledge and skills.
Lynne Munson
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February 2nd, 2009 at 3:11 pm
[...] Illinois Governor Blagojevich was the most confused state leader in the Midwest,” notes Common Core. “But this chart, which lumps the idea of core knowledge in with 21st century skills, clearly [...]