Dr. Wagner shared with us his “Seven Survival Skills for the New Economy” which he discusses in length (with examples from interviews with business leaders and from his weekly classroom observations):
Critical thinking and problem-solving
Collaboration across networks (across distance, time, space) and leadership by influence (as opposed to “by position”)
Adaptability and agility
Initiative and entrepreneurialship
Effective oral and written communication skills
Accessing and analyzing information — information is constantly changing & growing exponentially (here he really criticized our current testing curriculum and gave examples of countries who outperform us on exams, but who use performance assessment or portfolios or oral/written exams rather than multiple choice.)
Curiosity and imagination — innovation and creativity — we can’t continue to produce innovators randomly or by chance, we must produce them intentionally (AMEN!)
Susan Lister on 22 Jun 08Tharp, Estrada, Dalton, and Yamauchi (2000) propose the Five Standards for Effective Pedagogy as critical for improving learning outcomes for all students, and especially those of diverse ethnic, cultural, linguistic, or economic backgrounds. The Five Standards are: * Standard I - Teachers and Students Producing Together Facilitate learning through joint productive activity among teacher and students. * Standard II - Developing Language and Literacy Across the Curriculum Develop competence in the language and literacy of instruction across the curriculum. * Standard III - Making Meaning; Connecting School to Students' Lives Contextualize teaching and curriculum in the experiences and skills of students' homes and communities. * Standard IV - Teaching Complex Thinking Challenge students toward cognitive complexity. * Standard V - Teaching Through Conversation Engage students through dialogue, especially the Instructional Conversation. These standards are discussed extensively in Teaching Transformed: Achieving Excel