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 21^st 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 21^st 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 21^st century competencies and technology rich learning environments in public education can only be seen as positive to Canada’s 21^st 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.

By John Kershaw, President of C21 Canada, President of 21st Century Learning Associates, and the former Deputy Minister of Education for New Brunswick

When hosting a booth at the recent CONNECT conference in Niagara (May 6/7) C21 Canada was encouraged by the number of education leaders who advised us they are using our Shifting Minds strategy to guide their strategic planning efforts. The Peel County School Board and Mohawk College are two examples of those who are using C21 Canada’s vision and framework in their  own planning efforts. As this trend continues C21 Canada wishes to hear from those educators who use Shifting Minds to guide their planning efforts. Contact us via our website and share your Shifting Minds stories.

The Skills Gap issue in Canada is gaining national profile, with numerous business and education groups highlighting the need for both short and long term remedies. Cited in some instances as “the  21st Century skills race” the global scope of the skills challenge is to ensure Canadians share in the wealth creation and employment opportunities arising from the knowledge and digital era.  The Canadian Chambers of Commerce’s document entitled the Top Ten Barriers to Competitiveness is a case in point. The Canadian Council of Chief Executives is also showing leadership in this area, convening a recent forum on the role of public education in addressing the issue. C21 Canada is actively engaging these organizations in recognition of the direct relationship between the skills gap issue and the 21st century learning movement. Education and business leaders across Canada need to better communicate and coordinate their respective efforts on these two inter-related fronts.

A potential bright light on the Canadian 21st Century learning horizon is  Alberta Education assuming the Chair of CMEC in the fall. Alberta is a leader in transforming its education system to the 21st century reality.  C21 Canada is hopeful that the Honourable Jeff Johnson, Alberta’s Minister of Education, and his newly appointed Deputy Minister, Greg Bass, will lead CMEC into infusing a  21st Century learning vision and into its pan Canadian education strategy, Learn Canada 2020. In the absence of a federal education agency, CMEC must seize the “national” leadership mantle and signal its support for the 21st century learning movement as the single most priority for all Canadian learners, and Canadian society as a whole.