Created via collaboration by Partnership for 21st Century Skills and FableVision, Above & Beyond is a story about what is possible when communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity transform learning opportunities for all kids.
The 3 R's are now the 4 C's
Depending on your age, you may recall hearing that schools were focused on the 3 R's - Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic [Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic]. While these curriculum areas are still important today and measured on many standardized tests, the drumbeat of change has long been beating. Long before Thomas L. Friedman published his international bestseller, The World is Flat (2005), educators across the country were calling for a closer look at the skills, knowledge, and abilities students were going to need in our ever-changing global society.
In order to understand education today in the United States, citizens really need to have a strong working knowledge of the way in which our country is organized. Sadly, the average citizen still struggles in this area. It is probably worth mentioning that Social Studies is paid little attention in education (past and present). The Federal Government can and does promote initiatives and provide funding to support those initiatives but, education is considered a power reserved for the states through the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution. With 50 states in the country, we have 50 different approaches.
In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, we began to see more international data that has called into question the way in which we prepare students in the United States. The 21st century skills movement began and more discussion and research has emerged on the 4 C's - Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking. One of the leading organizations has become The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. If you click on the image, you can read more into their work.
In order to understand education today in the United States, citizens really need to have a strong working knowledge of the way in which our country is organized. Sadly, the average citizen still struggles in this area. It is probably worth mentioning that Social Studies is paid little attention in education (past and present). The Federal Government can and does promote initiatives and provide funding to support those initiatives but, education is considered a power reserved for the states through the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution. With 50 states in the country, we have 50 different approaches.
In the late 1980s and into the 1990s, we began to see more international data that has called into question the way in which we prepare students in the United States. The 21st century skills movement began and more discussion and research has emerged on the 4 C's - Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, and Critical Thinking. One of the leading organizations has become The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. If you click on the image, you can read more into their work.
CREATIVITY
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COMMUNICATION
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COLLABORATION
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CRITICAL THINKING
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Good reads21st Century Skills: Learning for Life in Our Times by Bernie Trilling & Charles Fadel
Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner Who Owns the Learning by Alan November Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die by Chip Heath and Dan Heath How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character by Paul Trough The Smartest Kids in the World & How They Got That Way by Amanda Ripley Who Owns the Learning: Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age by Alan November |