Now that we have a better understanding about what 21st century education is, and the importance that it holds for young people and the world at large, many may be wondering how this hands on, student driven, type of education can be assessed, and done so in a way that still encourages student growth and achievement. The assumption, that this form of education is impossible to grade, is in fact false and can be managed in many different ways. Firstly, diverse forms of assessment, such as high-quality standardized testing, along with formative and summative classroom assessments, can be used as a starting point for educators. Additionally, a major aspect in assessing 21st century education is the use of teacher feedback. This is where the relationship between the teacher and the student becomes very important. Using feedback as a way of assessing, is meant to be utilized throughout all facets of education on a daily basis, and works as a major form of encouragement and reassurance for student success. Twenty first century education also requires a mix of technology-enhanced, formative and summative assessment, along with the use of portfolios. Portfolios are a manageable way to track the progress of a student's work, while providing them with the opportunity to stay engaged with their personal growth and success. Through these types of assessments, in many cases, the focus and comparison of grades falls to the back burner and student success is driven by their own passion and excitement to learn. This plays a large role in the actualization of 21st century education. Finally, while adjusting to these forms of assessment may be new and intimidating to some, there are many resources that can be valuable in terms of research and convenience. Supportive links are listed below:
http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework/27-21st-century-assessment http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/21st_Century_Skills_Assessment_e-paper.pdf http://www.p21.org/storage/documents/p21-stateimp_assessment.pdf
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In my previous blog I spoke about a Ted Talk video (which can be found under Additional Resources) that focused on the 21st century classroom and what it means to adapt education for today’s learners. The video by Kayla Scheer gave examples of how to incorporate digital and media literacy into the classroom by using skills that students already possess and adapting it into the curriculum. Her argument, that teachers should challenge themselves to not simply give students an education, but to “make them want to take it,” summarizes, in my opinion, the outcome that 21st century education can have on students. But what is digital and media literacy? Being digital and media literate can be defined as a student’s ability to access, analyze, evaluate and create media. For example, this type of literacy can be incorporated into the classroom by creating lessons and assignments that showcase curriculum through the use of radio, internet, newspaper, magazines, books, billboards, video games and music, just to name a few (Laura Lane, Brock University, Personal Communication, 2017). The importance of this literacy falls in the fact that within today’s reality, as students become active members within their society, they will be encouraged to use these skills within all facets of their everyday lives. While this is just one example of a specific form of 21st century literacy, the objectives can span across all types of modern day education. Overall, the goal is to produce students who are able to participate as active members of their society, under many different focuses, while creating character rich of well-being, perseverance, grit, tenacity and growth mindset.
In my first blog, I spoke about education, the ways in which it has been evolving, and I began to touch upon how these changes can be connected to my own philosophy of teaching. In short, I demonstrated the importance of being aware of differences in the classroom and using these differences to support students in their own individual, educational journey. The question now is, how are we able to adapt the given curriculum in order to ensure that it is relevant for all of our students. Additionally, while guaranteeing that our students all have what they need to succeed, how can we be sure that we are successfully preparing them for their future? The answer to this question, in my opinion, falls within the notion of 21st century education. Preparing our students to be 21st century literate surpasses the traditional way of teaching and it is more than just reading, writing and arithmetic (although still very important facets of education). Twenty first century education is providing our students with the tools and information that they need in order to properly engage in an array of different literacy practices. With this, students will have the ability to draw on different sets of skills and processes specific to particular practices (Laura Lane, Brock University, Personal Communication, 2017).
Nowadays, as many people can contest to, graduating from high school is often not enough to obtain a career. In the past this was not the case, and high school was a sufficient amount of education to secure a job. Today, expectations in the world of work have grown from the requirement of having a post-secondary diploma, to having a masters, and even as far as needing a PHD. Even so, this does not always guarantee a job. Employers in this modern age are looking for people who surpass the minimal expectations and possess character traits and skills that benefit a wide range of practices. To meet these societal needs, education needs to be reformed, and teachers need to prepare their students to be literate in focuses beyond traditional education. The Ontario curriculum has identified that students need to see themselves in what is being taught, how it is taught, and how it applies to the world at large. Since the needs of learners are diverse, it is imperative to incorporate literacies that support subjects of globalization, environment, morality, finances, media, technology, mental health and multiculturalism, to name a few, into our classrooms (Government of Ontario, 2016) . Amidst the subject of 21st century literacy, falls the notion of the “Four C’s.” The Four C’s can be described as the desired traits to emerge from this type of education. Through cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal domains, students are able to develop critical thinking skills, communication, collaboration and creativity, on a personal and social level. These skills work to engage students and allow them to gain the tools needed to benefit them as lifelong learners. A Ted Talk that I watched recently, by Kayla Scheer, entitled “On Demand Learning in the 21st Century Classroom,” (which can be found under 'Additional Resources') raised these same questions surrounding the needs of our students in today’s classrooms, and addressed the importance of media and technology literacies. I will speak more about this video in my next post, however in short, it explains that in order to keep our students engaged we need to spice up education by incorporating 21st century literacies. This can be done by managing our resources and balancing our lesson plans to comprise these modern day, educational expectations. At the end of the video, Kayla poses a certain challenge to her audience, and her words resonated deeply with my passion, philosophy and goals as a teacher, both on a personal and broad scale. She said, “Don’t give students an education, make them want to take it!” If you take a moment to truly allow yourself to grasp her intentions in saying this, it will become clear what role we encompass as teachers. Furthermore, how does this relate to 21st century literacies? I will be exploring this in my next blog. In today’s day in age, education is no longer the same as what it once was. The teacher’s role is not to spoon feed students information, or to test them with multiplication drills. Education has grown an exponential amount since the days when a “one size fits all” model was a sufficient form of teaching. Today, the classroom has become a terrain of equal partnership between teacher and student, a place where the student learns from the teacher, and the teacher learns from the student. In my opinion, the only way that knowledge has the ability to grow and evolve is if a teacher maintains a sense of humility throughout their teaching career. By this, I mean that as an educator, the moment you allow the role you hold to silence the social and moral aspects that come with the job, and get caught up in the authority of teaching, you lose sight of the underlying importance that falls beyond the textbook. When this happens, the needs of the students also get lost, and in turn students begin to fall through the cracks. No more can we expect that striving for equality will have the ability to stitch together the holes within the fabric of education. Instead, we as educators must identify, acknowledge and accept all of the differences in our students in order to truly provide them with what they need. A cherished educator of mine once said that “the most unequal treatment, is the equal treatment of unequals.” In other words, it is not beneficial to be blind to colour, race, religion, gender or class, instead, by accepting these differences educators will have the ability to provide valuable education to all. This ideology has grown into the roots of my educational philosophy. Furthermore, to attain this goal, teachers must always be asking “What are the competencies students need to succeed now and in the future?” "How are we able to accomplish these tasks within the classroom and do so successfully?" The goal of this website is to explore these questions and work together as educators to create a classroom where all students are able to learn and benefit from 21st century education.
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