Analysis of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills Website:Colorful sites with lovely visuals and difficult concepts simplified into graphics are always going to attract my attention. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills certainly got my attention in that manner with their rainbow framework of student outcomes and support systems for the 21st century. (See the framework here,
http://www.p21.org/) This organization, which began in 2002 as a joint effort between the U.S. Department of Education and corporations such as Microsoft and AOL Time Warner, seeks to promote 21st century readiness in education. The partnership between those charged with educating children and those who will soon be employing them is one that makes this organization stand out from others. In the book,
Stopping at Every Lemonade Stand, James Vollbracht contends that in order to raise healthy children the larger community must be a part of their lives (2001). This means that businesses have just as much responsibility in helping to raise the next generation as parents and teachers. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills embraces this ideal as evidenced by the partnership between businesses and educational stakeholders. I must admit that I was surprised my state, Washington, was not one of the states working with the organization, especially with Microsoft as one of the founding corporate sponsors. Microsoft does so much locally for education that it seems they would be advocating for a commitment to the initiative from our government.
As I dug deeper into the framework graphic I began to appreciate the completeness of their picture of how to boost 21st century skills in American schools. The organization realizes the importance of standards and acknowledges the accountability portion of NCLB, while pushing for a “broader vision […] to meet our nation’s challenges” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills). They seem to be arguing for a more balanced system where standards promote learning improvements and provide for a more educated workforce. (This is clearly opposed to the current training of a workforce with the ability to sit quietly and take a test for 2 or more hours!) They also discuss the importance of professional development as a support system for student success. This is very similar to the new draft of the
National Educational Technology Plan which was just published (Department of Education, 2010).
To determine where my school is in implementing the facets of the 21st century framework and the Department of Education goals, I took the self-assessment survey provided on the site. My school is in the “early” category of implementation in all areas. (To see these results click
here). The recommendations provided help me see where my school needs to go in order to meet the needs of the 21st century.
Ultimately, though, the site disappointed me because it did not provide anything immediately relevant for the classroom. (I do plan to look at the
Video 21 section during spring break. Perhaps I will find something applicable to my instruction there.) While I appreciate the need for system-wide change, as a teacher it is hard to find the energy to promote such a massive undertaking when the demands of the classroom claim so much attention. For teachers it is important to be aware of and include 21st century skills in instruction where possible, but until educational systems and governments wholeheartedly embrace the initiative, I fear not much will change. Thomas Friedman shares that this lack of change could spell problems for America as other nations catch up and exceed us in training for the 21st century work place (2005). This holds dire implications for the children of our education system who need to compete in the global marketplace. These children need the rainbow framework to be a real working movement throughout education, not just an impressive graphic on a webpage.
References
Department of Education. (2010, March).
National Educational Technology Plan-Draft. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved March 20, 2010, from
http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/os/technology/netp.pdf Friedman, T. (2005, April 3). "It's a flat world, after all."
The New York Times. Retrieved March 15, 2010, from
http://www.nytimes.comPartnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.).
A report and mile guide for 21st century skills. Washington DC: Author. Retrieved March 22, 2010, from
http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/downloads/P21_Report.pdfVollbracht, J. (2001).
Stopping at Every Lemonade Stand. New York: Penguin Group.