The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, or P21 as it is known, is an advocacy organization whose mission is to bring together leaders in education, business, community, and government for the purpose of bringing twenty-first century skills to our nation’s students.
Through exploration of its well-organized Web site (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/), I was quickly able to learn its history, mission, framework, and how to become involved as an advocate. The site contains links to related news and events, publications, and specific information about the states affiliated with P21. The Route 21 link allowed me to create a membership with the organization where users can download P21 documents and access a multitude of resources covering standards, assessments, professional development, curriculum and instruction, and learning environments related to teaching twenty-first century skills. As an educator, I was pleased with the utility and format of the Web site, which tend to be strong determining factors in whether or not I will return to a site. Overall, I was impressed with what I viewed.
The most surprising piece of information to me was that since 2002, the year of the birth of P21, only 13 states have become affiliated with the organization. There is no cost to join; however, there is a commitment to implementing a P21 strategy within the educational system of the partner state. Because of the serious nature of educating our students to compete in a global workforce, I expected there to be more states in partnership with P21. Bates and Phelan (2002) do a thorough job of bringing together the results of several employable skills studies. The research is consistent and shows that desired employable skills can be categorized within four common themes, all of which have been included in the framework of P21. It is puzzling that only 13 of 50 of our United States have partnered with P21 to take advantage of its resources for promoting necessary skills.
There was nothing on the P21 site with which I found myself disagreeing. Exploring the 21st century work environment during the past two weeks has been rejuvenating for me as an educator. In the mid-1990’s, the SCANS (Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills) report was a tool I became familiar with and used throughout the following decade as a business educator. I am very much on board with the mission of P21, and pleased to know that Walden University is arming its education students with this critical knowledge.
It does concern me that 21st century skills are something I rarely hear mentioned in my educational networks outside of business education. Such critical skills need to be addressed at administrative, school board, and state government levels where all students are concerned—not just those in vocational and technical education programs. After this week’s exploration of twenty-first century skills, I would like to discuss P21 with our local administrators as a potential professional development topic for our K–12 staff. It might also make for an excellent informational blog entry for parents to read in my classroom blog.
References
Bates, R., & Phelan, K. (2002). Characteristics of a globally competitive workforce. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 4(2), 121. Retrieved July 22, 2009 from http://adh.sagepub.com.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/cgi/reprint/4/2/121.
Department of Labor. (1991). What work requires of schools: A SCANS report for America 2000. Springfield, VA: National Technical Information Service.
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Susan, I must say that I am equally disappointed in the fact that only 13 of the 50 states are involved in the partnership and that as a Walden University student I too will be discussing this with my administrator. I think that as educators we might be able to do more by writing letters and expressing our concern to our actual state governors. It explains on the website that, “To become a P21 Leadership State, a state demonstrates commitment from the governor and chief state school officer and submits an application to P21 that describes the state’s plan to revise standards, create assessments and implement 21st century skills professional development programs”. This goes to show that the state in which I reside and teach has no concern for the 21st century skills we have been discussing in class. I know that in our district, the computer technology class has been eliminated from our curriculum and is no longer offered at our school. This disappoints me and leads me to believe the funding for 21st century skills must be addressed immediately. I will definitely refer to this website for additional support in trying to advocate for teaching 21st century skills.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised as well at the fact that only 13 out of 50 states are involved with the Partnership.
ReplyDeleteAs I have stated in previous posts, my administrators frequently use the phrase "21st century skills", but I have to wonder how many staff members really understand what 21st century skills are. As the administration does use that phrase often, they have never defined it for us. I did not have a clear understanding of what 21st century skills were until delving into the resources for this class. I feel it would be advantageous to have a district-wide professional development class on the subject in order to outline and define 21st century skills and to give teachers strategies and resources at which to utilize with their students. We must be constantly thinking about ways to prepare our students for the expectations of the 21st century workplace.
I am going to suggest to my administrators that we post the link to the Partnership's website on our sharepoint site, so all teachers have easy access to it. I think it is important for all educators to be aware of the information contained on the Partnership's site.
I found the web site equally interesting. I hope that more districts begin to look at these standards and skills. I personally found the career skills to be of upmost importance. The thing I like about them is that they seem to be skills I can begin including in my lessons I teach currently.
ReplyDeleteSusan -
ReplyDeleteI do not hear much of the lingo, that was mentioned on this website, either. Although, I have a feeling that it is going to start becoming our new lingo. Right now in CT it is "data driven decision making" maybe the new lingo will include information about technology literacy. Educator's push on incorporating technology, will determine how quickly it becomes the new lingo!! Is your state involved in this initiative?
Christine
Susan,
ReplyDeleteYou are the perfect blend of both worlds being an educator in the business department. You have heard of the 21st century skills in the business world but not the educational world. This is a great time to put your experience to work for you and talk to the administrators and school board about their focus on 21st century skills. By using the website( http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/ ) as a resource, you can certainly show them some good strategies to follow. Good luck with your endeavors.
Christine, unfortunately, my state (Montana) is not an official P21 partner either. We do have strong CTE (Career and Technical Ed) leadership at the state level, however, and the key philosophies of P21 are shared by that leadership. We have seen some CTE work trickle down to many of our state's local school districts, but there are schools that have a bubble of comfort in which they reside and where they tend to ignore key changes/trends in education.
ReplyDeleteKerry, I'm sorry if my post was a bit misleading...I do still have a network of business education colleagues although I am currently teaching math. It has been interesting to view education from a core curriculum perspective since I switched positions a year ago. Yes, you are right! The P21 Web site will be a valuable resource when I take the idea for professional development in P21 to my adminstrators. Thanks for your comments!
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