ow should education be
structured to meet the needs of students in this 21st century
world? How do we now define “School”, “Teacher” “Le
arner” and
"Curriculum"?
Schools in the 21st
century will be laced with a project-based curriculum for life aimed at
engaging students in addressing real-world problems, issues important to
humanity, and questions that matter
This is a dramatic
departure from the factory-model education of the past. It is
abandonment, finally, of textbook-driven, teacher-centered, paper and
pencil schooling. It means a new way of understanding the concept of
“knowledge”, a new definition of the “educated person”. A new way of
designing and delivering the curriculum is required.
We offer the following
new definitions for “School”, “Teacher” and “Learner” appropriate for
the 21st century
Schools will go from
‘buildings’ to 'nerve centers', with walls that are porous and
transparent, connecting teachers, students and the community to the
wealth of knowledge that exists in the world.
Teacher - From primary
role as a dispenser of information to orchestrator of learning and
helping students turn information into knowledge, and knowledge into
wisdom.
The 21st
century will require knowledge generation, not just information
delivery, and schools will need to create a “culture of inquiry”.
Learner -
In the past a learner was a young person who went to school, spent a
specified amount of time in certain courses, received passing grades and
graduated. Today we must see learners in a new context:
First – we must maintain student interest by helping them see how what
they are learning prepares them for life in the real world.
Second – we must instill curiosity, which is fundamental to lifelong
learning.
Third
– we must be flexible in how we teach.
ourth – we must excite learners to become even more resourceful so
that they will continue to learn outside the formal school day.”
So what will schools look
like, exactly? What will the curriculum look like? How will this 21st
century curriculum be organized, and how will it impact the way we
design and build schools, how we assess students, how we purchase
resources, how we acquire and utilize the new technologies, and what
does all this mean for us in an era of standardized testing and
accountability?
Imagine a school in which
the students – all of them – are so excited about school that they can
hardly wait to get there. Imagine having little or no “discipline
problems” because the students are so engaged in their studies that
those problems disappear. Imagine having parents calling, sending
notes, or coming up to the school to tell you about the dramatic changes
they are witnessing in their children: n
ewly found enthusiasm and
excitement for school, a desire to work on projects, research and write
after school and on
Imagine your students making nearly
exponential growth in their basic skills of reading, writing, speaking,
listening, researching
weekends
explorations, math, multimedia skills
and more!
scientific
0th Century Classroom
vs. the 21st Century Classroom