A lecture format is about as far as you can get from the dynamically collaborative, robustly interactive, self-directed project-based learning strategies touted by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. But a lecture is indeed what they delivered yesterday to a crowd of 75 or more at the National Education Association. The NEA hosted a panel to tout the virtues of learning, P21-style. The panel was a who’s who of P21 leadership: John Wilson, executive director of the NEA and former chairman of the board of P21, Intel’s Paige Kuni who currently chairs P21’s board, P21 president Ken Kay, and Barbara Pryor, a longtime legislative assistant to West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller. West Virginia was one of the first states to become a member of P21 and the Senator’s apparently a fan.
Suffice it to say that the event was not an example of critical thinking in action. There was no press there. The audience was comprised largely of NEA staff and representatives of DC’s alphabet soup of education associations. The question at hand was not whether the 21st century skills agenda was the right one for America’s schoolchildren, but rather how quickly more students can get signed on.
For those who are concerned, as we are, that P21’s approach to learning will fail students because it does not integrate the teaching of skills with the acquisition of content knowledge, there was much said at the NEA to worry you. Paige Kuni explained that in the “search, cut, and paste environment” students live in today, they only need to know “enough of the most crucial information.” She didn’t say who decides when enough is enough or what P21 considers crucial. Is it enough earth science to know that the earth is round? Enough literature to have heard of Shakespeare? Enough history to know that we once fought a civil war because the North and South disagreed about something?
John Wilson said that with P21 “students create the learning environment with their peers and their projects” and the “teacher becomes the facilitator.” Ken Kay is more selective in his choice of words but the upshot of his comments fall in line with the others: Skills are what is most important while content is optional. In their remarks, none of the panelists mentioned science, geography, foreign languages, history, literature, art, civics—the list goes on and on.
Lynne Munson
Wow, yet another bandwagon forming! I wonder if ANY of the participants have read Diane Ravitch’s book “Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms”?
Just as “success” of the economy over the last decade was a fraud, though few would believe it before last September, these reform schemes are a fraud and, it seems, few will believe it until we have some very palpable educational catastrophe analogous to this recession.
I have been teaching history for 29 years and 21 century skills are a huge fraud, the people pushing this should be tried for educational treason.
I sometime think it is a cabal by the elites to keep the majority in a state of ignorance. Skills are important yes but knowledge is power!
Unfortunately, the readers of this post are being no more critical than the P21 representatives they criticize. The need for 21st Century Skills is obvious, and teaching these skills does not mean neglecting content. I taught history for fifteen years, and the approach I favored was one where my students had to engage in primary sources texts, think critically about those texts within the historical context, and then communicate their understanding in a variety of ways. They demonstrated their understanding in various projects, and those projects created opportunities for me to teach 21st Century Skills and for learners to practice them… at the same time that they learned essential historical content. It’s not an either–or scenario.
I have taught for 7 years and just recently began integrating drama into my classroom instruction to teach behavior and to teach content. While teaching drama skills….such as cooperation and concentration, children were also learning content area skills. At times, drama became the HOW I taught the other content. Imbedded throughout my lessons was a focus on critical thinking, cooperative learning, creativity……the 21st century skills, basically. I think that that the P21 “skills” should be an integral part of every teacher’s pedagogy but I think sometimes teachers need to be reminded of the most effective ways to teach skills and content. Children do need to be taught through a scaffolded approach how to work cooperatively together, how to think more critically…this is absolutely necessary. So, I don’t understand why so many are staunchly opposed to P21. I think they are bringing to light something that needs to be emphasized in our schools.