In our first post we advocated that Canada needs a national vision for 21st Century learning models of public education. We are pleased to provide an update on some recent events that are signalling a positive trend in this direction.

On February 25^th 21^stCentury Learning Associates convened a group of education and business representatives in Toronto on the periphery of the ABEL Leadership Summit held at York University. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the merits of establishing a Canadian coalition similar to Partnership for 21^stCentury Skills (P21) in the United States. Our company organized the meeting in partnership with MindShare Learning in Ontario. Attendees included representatives from Microsoft, Cisco, Smart Technologies, Pearson, Nelson and McGraw Hill, as well as a number of education organizations.

In preparing for the February 25^th meeting, we benefitted greatly from advice received from Ken Kay, one of the original architects of P21. Ken not only shared important insights on the genesis of P21 but generously offered to be an external advisor to P21 Canada as it develops. Kathy Hurley, a senior executive at Pearson in the United States, and a former Chair of P21, also offered advice to us during our attendance at the BETT Show in London, England in January.  Charles Fadel, Global Education Research lead with Cisco, a successful author and a member of the P21 governing board, not only shared his insights on P21 with 21^st Century Learning Associates, but also attended the February 25^th meeting.

All attendees expressed support for the P21 Canada concept and agreed to act as a Steering Committee until such time as a governance board is structured. The participants noted the need for the P21 Canada organization to have a broad membership base drawn from both the education and economic sectors.  A number of exciting ideas on how to customize the P21 model to the Canadian reality were also discussed.

We agreed to develop an investment prospectus outlining various scenarios on the potential scope and scale of P21 Canada. In addition, other potential founding members will be identified and contacted prior to the meeting in May. The Steering Committee also endorsed a proposal by the Smart Technologies representative to hold its next meeting in conjunction with the Global Education Technology Summit (GETS) in Toronto, May 12th and 13th, 2011.

In a related development, 21^st Century Learning Associates has discussed the P21 Canada concept with a representative of Canada’s National Research Council. NRC’s mandate is to foster innovation in Canada and the federal agency recognizes the role of learning in building a creative and innovative workforce. NRC is seeking new models of collaboration between the business and education sectors to address Canada’s productivity and employment challenges. The interests of P21 Canada and NRC’s new Centre of Excellence in Advanced Learning and Technology (CEALT) appear aligned and the opportunity for collaboration and partnership will be further explored in the weeks ahead.

It is also important to highlight that CMEC Ministers included 21^st Century learning skills on their February 23 agenda. It is imperative that CMEC Ministers take a leadership role in promoting 21^st Century learning models in public education. A P21 Canada coalition will work with CMEC Ministers to support this goal.

If your organization is interested in the P21 Canada initiative, or if you would like to offer suggestions regarding an inaugural P21 Canada business plan, please respond to this blog, send an email to  or twitter @21CLearnAssoc. We welcome your ideas and advice.

Canada needs a national vision for 21st Century learning models of public education. There is an urgent need for Canadians to understand the economic and social imperative underlining this debate. The world is shifting to a knowledge economy, fuelled largely by digital technologies. Wealth creation is and will continue to be generated by highly creative and innovative people. Failure to impart 21st Century competencies and skills to a nation’s youth will make that country economically vulnerable to those that do.

The OECD, European Union, UNESCO, and numerous other international agencies and authors have identified the competencies and skills deemed essential to positioning societies for success in the 21st Century. And all are calling for these competencies to be core outcomes of public education.

So where do Canadians stand on this debate? The fact is, while the issue is fundamental to the future sustainability of the nation’s economy, it has received scant attention.

In the United States, a coalition of concerned citizens and corporate entities established the Partnership for 21st Century Learning (P21). P21 advocates for 21st Century models of learning to become the norm in America’s public education systems. The organization also facilitates forums on best practices. In a few instances private sector members have even partnered to advance a particular aspect of the model, such as Intel, Microsoft and Cisco joining forces to explore 21st Century assessment models and tools.

It is interesting that the U.S. Department of Education recently released Learning Powered by Technology which calls on America’s public education systems to embrace technology in the transformation of that country’s public education system.

Internationally, a number of countries are actively pursuing the creation of 21st Century models of learning in their public education systems. A study by the British Government’s Department for Education and Skills concludes that living and working in Thomas Friedman’s ‘flat’ world will require that a strong global dimension be instilled into the learning experience of all youth.

In Canada, in September 2010 the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) publicly declared the intent of provinces and territories to begin working together to explore how to implement 21st Century learning models across Canada.

Subsequently, in a report released December 2010 by British Columbia’s Premiers Technology Council, entitled A Vision for 21st Century Education, calls on the province to create a 21st Century learning model in that province’s public education system.

Canada’s leaders at all levels of society, from the parent school support committee to the boardrooms of the nation’s largest and wealthiest corporations, need to become actively engaged in this discussion, less other nation’s position their societies to be more creative and innovative, and thus more productive in the knowledge economy of the 21st Century.
A national vision for 21st Century learning would be a good beginning. A pan-Canadian coalition, similar to P21 in the United States, to advocate for and support the changes required would also be of value. A “P21 Canada” has the opportunity to learn from the U.S. coalition’s experience. Advice received from some of the original architects of and current players in P21 in the U.S. suggest a broader and more internationally inclusive membership base would be important considerations for Canada. A P21 Canada, customized to the Canadian reality, must ensure all sectors of society are engaged in this important debate, and that governments across Canada are held accountable for progress.