Partnership for 21st Century Skills is an organization that advocates for 21st century readiness for every student. The strategic council members of this organization are from an impressive list of businesses. The site itself is well designed and easy to navigate.
When reviewing the framework, I was most interested in the 21st century interdisciplinary themes that P21 advocates should be woven into our curriculum. The five themes are: 1)global awareness, 2)financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy, 3)civic literacy, 4)health literacy, and 5)environmental literacy. These are very complex issues and at first I was overwhelmed about these from an elementary perspective, but I do think we can start incorporating these themes at a very early age.
Another aspect that I found interesting was the area of Life and Career Skills. In particular I was was struck by "initiative and self-direction." It seems that each year more students are coming to us displaying less initiative, less intrinsic motivation, and less self-direction. In light of the statistics regarding the number of jobs students will hold and the move toward an "anytime, anywhere" work environment, I think initiative and self-direction will be critical skills.
While I am glad there is an organization advocating for student readiness, I did not find the site helpful in terms of how teachers are to accomplish this. The information on the state initiatives and the implementation guide were very broad. In order to incorporate the global themes and various literacies, states and school districts will have to invest a great deal of time and resources to revamp current curriculum. Time and resources are always a problem in our field.
I agree with you about the motivation and self motivationbeing lacking more and more in today's students. What are we to do with students who don't show a desire to care? I have found that the only advice I get on dealing with this lack of motivation is "you must not be finding their source of motivation". There has never been a hint as to how to enegage them and work towards self motivation.
ReplyDeleteI have my own ideas but I think this is a much bigger problem than something each teacher needs to figure out on there own. I hear many teachers talking about how much effort they feel they are putting into their lesson plans only to have the students remaind unengaged and apathetic.
I have noticed a trend of externalizing anything that is even remotely difficult. So much so that my students have gotten to the point of not even making excuses for their lack of homework or lack of supplies or not having their work done. Instead they have started demanding that the teachers give them supplies, make homeworks easier, help them do anything and everything in class.
I agree that apathy is a severe problem for students today. Daily I am reminded about this issue as students make minimal or no attempt to due work in class, complete homework or even bring supplies to school. As Chris stated, students want teachers to give them supplies, make homework easier or in some cases non-existence, and want support every step of the way, not to be self-learners. Students seem to work when motivated by something external like food, pressure by parents to achieve certain grades, required GPA to participate in sports and activities, etc.
ReplyDeleteI think the big problem is to find a way to engage students and teach them to be self-motivated. I do not feel that it is the teachers responsibility alone but motivation needs to be the responsibility of the the teachers, administrators, schools, and districts. Everybody needs to work together to support student learning of not only academics but also 21st century skills to prepare students to be successful in the work force.
I feel frustrated by the fact that each year the apathy seems worse. Is society valuing education less? Are we raising a generation without intrinsic motivation? It seems we get more and more notes from home about the homework being too much or too hard. Kids are pulled out of school for activities and appointments with no regard to what learning experiences might be missed.
ReplyDeleteI do not know how to get kids to be more self motivated. Do you think technology is the answer? Do you think that students that spend so much time engaged on-line and interacting with technology outside of school are bored or frustrated that they have so little tech time in school? Could responding through blogs and posting writing pieces for larger audiences, collaborating on wikis, and creating podcasts be the motivating factor?
Do you think our students will hold so many jobs in their lifetime because it is the nature of work these days or the nature of our students? Do people job jump because the work is hard, or they are expected to be self-motivated, or because they are in constant search for more external motivation--higher pay and perks?
Apparently I am full of questions and no answers--must have been a bad week. :)
Those are all great questions. I am not full of answers either. Having teenagers myself, I wonder the same thing.....what happened to students who are intrinsically motivated? My one teenager is motivated to be successful academically but not motivated to get a job and prepare for life after high school. My other teenager is not motivated at all.....only successful academically due to being pushed and monitored by us, that parents.....not motivated to help around the house, get job, or anything. Luckily, we are involved parents. What about students who do not have involved parents? Who will motivate and encourage them?
ReplyDeleteChristina, I had similar reactions to the P21 initiative and website. While P21 offers an impressive framework and noble goals for preparing students for success in the 21st century workplace, it does not offer the strategies and resources for how these goals can be accomplished. P21 outlines a clear vision, yet does not offer a roadmap for attaining that vision. Perhaps once states and school districts adopt the P21 plan, practical strategy and clear direction will be revealed to them.
ReplyDeleteI was also struck by their list of 21st century Life Skills. Our job as educators continues to evolve into much more than merely teaching academics. We certainly feel equally responsible for teaching character education and life skills. A couple of reasons for this added role of a teacher are due to decreased parent involvment and lack of role models and positive influences. You raised some good questions about student motivation. If parents are not committed to motivating their students to do their best, what are some ways teachers can motivate students? I think you are right that technology can help, as it offers engaging, relevant learning experiences.