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Congratulations to the Peel District School Board! Recipients of the C21 Canada Shifting Minds National Award for distinctive achievement in the field of 21st Century Learning and Innovation System Award category.
Pictured left to right: Robert Martellacci, MSL/C21 Canada; Tony Pontes, Director, Peel DSB; Mark Keating, CIO, Peel DSB and John Kershaw, president, C21 Canada
By John Kershaw, President of C21 Canada, and the former Deputy Minister of Education for New Brunswick
Today’s C21 Canada’s spotlight is on the Ontario Public School Board Association. And in this context C21 Canada celebrates OPSBA’s contribution to the 21st century learning movement in Canada with an enthusiastic high five!
The OPSBA released their inspiring new document Vision for Learning and Teaching in a Digital Age http://www.opsba.org/files/OPSBA_AVisionForLearning.pdf. The OPSBA document is a testament to progressive thinking and a welcome contribution to the call for 21st century models of learning in public education in Canada. The fact that a key education leader in Canada’s largest province is actively engaging on the need for 21st century competencies and technology rich learning environments in public education can only be seen as positive to Canada’s 21st century learning movement.
The OPSBA’s new document is a call for change to position Ontario’s learners in the digital age. Rather than paraphrase the OPSBA latest document we highlight a few key passages that capture the essence of the OPSBA message on what must change.
Our Vision… requires a purposeful cultural shift in our education system that focuses on engaging and inspiring our students, that fosters creative and innovative minds and embraces the enabling role of technology on expanding how, when and where learning takes place.
The new role of education is to ensure all students have the opportunity to use their interests and passions to connect to all areas of knowledge.
The challenge for schools is to be open to adapting to and adopting the technology used by students. It represents a relevant way to empower students and engage them in taking responsibility for their own learning. It leads to building relationships in the classroom as the teacher engages with the students about the skills they bring, helps students refine those skills and encourages students to make productive and relevant use of technology in their everyday lives.
The document’s specific recommendations are high level and set the stage for real action on the path to transforming Ontario’s public education system to the reality of the knowledge and digital era.
The OPSBA vision statement is not just an important contribution to the future design of Ontario’s public education system; it is a complementary call for national action to C21 Canada’s own Shifting Minds vision and framework for change (see www.c21canada.org).
The authors are to be congratulated for a visionary document; the OPSBA is to be praised for endorsing and championing the vision; and the Ontario government will hopefully embrace the call for change on an urgent basis. The good news is that Ontario boasts many excellent examples of innovation in schools and in classrooms, and in a few instances at the district level itself. The challenge is to accelerate the pace of making these innovations systemic and transforming education to be innovative by design. Public education in Canada is rooted in the agrarian and industrial age and in today’s innovation driven society and economy we need an education system where innovation is celebrated, nurtured and rewarded.
A final word from the authors of the document: The challenge to be overcome is ensuring the readiness of our students to take their place in a world of rapid technological change and increased globalization. We need to start with an articulate Vision that will engage all our educators, all our learners, all our parents and all our communities.
Our collective and fervent wish is that one day soon the Ontario Ministry of Education and CMEC Ministers collectively issue a similar statement.
John Kershaw, president of C21 and former deputy minister of education in New Brunswick, discusses what future learning should look like, and where technology fits in with TVOparents.com.
CTV Toronto explores Peel Districts School Board’s innovative teaching practices as a result of their 21st century learning mandate.
Toronto, Ontario CANADA, Tuesday, October 8, 2013: Today’s release of an international survey on adult competencies in the 21st century is a wake-up call for Canadians. Although Canada scored well relative to many participating countries, Canada is not in the top group of performing nations.
The Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) was conducted by the OECD and focused on three primary areas of adult competency (ages 16 to 65): literacy, numeracy and digital literacy. The specific findings can be found on the website of the Council of Ministers of Education Canada (CMEC) at http://www.cmec.ca/. CMEC is comprised of Ministers responsible for learning, skills and labour development and provinces are the constitutional lead for education in Canada.
The Honourable Jeff Johnson, Minister of Alberta Education inherited the Chair of CMEC a mere week ago. In a meeting today with education and industry stakeholders he listened carefully to the opportunities and challenges identified as a result of the PIAAC findings. “He is clearly a leader who is focused on moving the 21st century learning agenda ahead in Canada, in partnership and collaboration with all stakeholders.” says John Kershaw, President, C21 Canada. The fact that C21 Canada was invited to a special briefing session with Minister on the PIAAC findings speaks well to his interest in reaching out to groups and organizations who are actively engaged in and supportive of the call for changes in Canada’s learning systems.
Although the real work of deciphering the data from the OECD survey now begins, the key messages C21 Canada takes away from the PIAAC findings and the Ministers briefing session this morning include:
1) Although Canada’s ranking is relatively positive, we have much work to do to position Canadians with the competencies they need for success in the 21st century;
2) Canada is not in the top group of performing nations, and there is wide regional variation in performance across the country.
3) There is a direct link between highly skilled people with 21st competencies and future economic prosperity and social progress;
4) CMEC and Minister Johnson are committed to leading a national discussion on how to ensure Canadians achieve the competencies they need for success and will be model collaborators in this process;
5) OECD’s PISA results, to be released December, will continue to fuel the national discussion on learning and skills development;
6) The call for change is emanating from many quarters, both internationally (OECD) and nationally (Equinox Summit in Waterloo http://wgsi.org/).
C21 Canada advised Minister Johnson and CMEC officials that our organization is committed to supporting their efforts to convene educators, business leaders and other societal stakeholders and promote a national dialogue on the need for 21st century models of learning and skills development in Canada.
About C21 Canada
C21 Canada is a unique blend of national education associations and knowledge sector businesses united in their belief that 21st century models of learning must be adopted in public education on an
urgent basis to position Canadians for economic, social and personal success in the high skills, knowledge and innovation based economy.www.c21canada.org
C21 Canada Founding Members: Canadian Education Association, Calgary Board of Education, Canadian School Boards Association, Dell, EF Educational Tours, IBM, Microsoft, Nelson Education, Oxford University Press, Pearson, Scholastic Education, SMART Technologies.
Secretariat: 21st Century Learning Associates, MindShare Learning
For media inquiries, please contact:
John Kershaw, President, C21 Canada
Phone: (506) 470-4985
E-mail: John.Kershaw@c21canada.org
Website: www.c21canada.org
Robert Martellacci, Vice-President, C21 Canada
Phone: (416) 569-2106
E-mail: Robert.Martellacci@c21canada.org
Website: www.c21canada.org
