As I read through the P21 website, I felt that it was a worthwhile effort. Please let me try and explain.
My overall impression of the website was that it really was a good idea. The idea behind preparing students to be ready for the 21st century is something that national corporations have been asking for quite some time. My favorite aspect of the P21 philosophy is the "4 Cs" approach to learning. This approach is used to develop curriculum that focuses on the skills of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. For most teachers, if a student develops these skills to a proficient level while in their classroom, the teacher will have done a great job. This is especially true when you look at the desired student outcomes of the program, specifically life skills, learning skills, technology skills and proficiency in the core subjects (the 3 "Rs").
As I consider this approach to educating our students, I think it all looks really great on paper. It makes perfect sense to educate our children with the intention of preparing them for successful careers. However, there are a couple of potential pitfalls that I see that could prove difficult to overcome.
1. NCLB- The No Child Left Behind initiative has put a premium on standardized testing, most of which is based on the core subjects, including math and science and language arts. Of these three testing areas, all rely somewhat heavily on reading comprehension and thinking skills. When you consider it that way, it seems that the P21 would be beneficial. My concern would be in whether teachers would have enough faith in the P21 initiative programming to be willing to use it as a replacement for their NCLB preparations. It would make sense to do so, but the potential for backfiring is certainly there.
2. Expense- While it is obvious that there are many major backers of this program (including Apple, HP,Oracle and Verizon just to name a few), it still costs money to run a program like this. In addition to training for teachers, the technology necessary to make this program worthwhile to students is a factor that schools will have to consider when looking into this program. I am curious to know how much a school would have to put out in order to be a part of the program.
As teachers and students, the implications for such a program are real. This is the direction education is going, should be going, and the sooner it happens the better. This style of learning flies in the face of traditional education in all but the most advanced classrooms and best teachers. Still, in order to best prepare our students, this needs to happen.
Teacher Bill,
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading the rest of your post because I already agree with you!
Deanna
TeacherBill,
ReplyDeleteYour point number 2 really stood out to me. Living in Ohio, we have seen numerous unfunded mandates over the past decade that have caused school districts to have to make tough decisions. Like you, I think that the ideas and framework outlined on the P21 website are really great. I also agree with you that translating something from paper into action is a formidable task. When all we hear about are budget cuts and a lack of funding, how can we expect to implement these new ideas? I don't know where the money will come from, but hopefully those in charge - the federal government, state governments, local administrations - will see the need to develop these 21st century skills in our students. And hopefully they will make the decisions necessary to help us as teachers implement a P21 framework.
On a side not, I would encourage you to check out grants. There are a lot out there and many of them are for technology. Approximately a dozen teachers in my building received tech grants last year and more of us are applying this year. Maybe if those in power start to see us implementing new technologies and skills into our classes, they will buy into the concept.