Shifting Minds: Our vision and framework for 21st Century learning in Canada (Pt 2)
C21 Canada is pleased to present our second blog in a series on Shifting Minds, our vision and framework for 21st Century learning in Canada. The document in its entirety can be downloaded here. Over the next few weeks we will be presenting a series of blogs that introduce the key elements of Shifting Minds. Our first blog focused on the nature of 21st Century models of learning and the principles that underlie Shifting Minds. This second blog focuses on 21st Century competencies.
First, it is important to emphasize that students will still require a firm foundation in literacy, numeracy and science to succeed and C21 Canada firmly believes that these areas of learning must remain a focal point for Canada’s education systems. The question is whether student achievement in literacy, numeracy and science can be substantially improved if Canadian schools adopt modern teaching and learning methodologies and technologies. The answer is yes, if we change what and how we teach. What we teach must be relevant to students and how we teach must engage them in their own learning. Adopting modern instructional practices will lead to higher levels of student engagement which in turn will lead to deeper levels of understanding and higher levels of achievement. Schools and teachers currently using 21st Century instructional practices and information and communication technologies are witnessing higher levels of student performance, increased levels of student engagement, and enhanced levels of teacher satisfaction.
However, in today’s world being highly skilled in literacy, numeracy, and science is merely a prerequisite for attaining the higher order thinking skills that world experts are calling for to meet growing economic, social and environmental requirements. A key element of 21st Century models of learning is the need to infuse 21st Century competencies into the mainstream curricula of Canada’s education systems. These higher order thinking skills are often referred to in modern education literature as 21st Century competencies. They are not entirely new learning concepts. However, two things have changed. First, they are profoundly different by definition and they are far more important than ever before.
What are these competencies?
C21 Canada has conducted extensive research on 21st Century competencies and the learning frameworks for these competencies that currently existing worldwide. While there is a high degree of consensus on the nature of these competencies, various jurisdictions and authors have depicted them in different ways, often to reflect local priorities and realities.
C21 Canada has consulted widely within Canada with a view toward offering Canadians a summary of the global work on 21st Century competencies but in a manner that reflects Canadian learning priorities and societal values.
C21 Canada has condensed this enormous body of knowledge into what Shifting Minds calls the 7 C’s of 21st Century learning. The 7 C’s are listed below, with brief descriptors. Readers will need to review the document in its entirety to benefit from a fuller description.
- Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: The ability to apply creative thought processes to create something of value. The capacity to create and apply new knowledge in innovative and entrepreneurial ways to create new products or solve complex problems.
- Critical Thinking: The ability to acquire, process, interpret, rationalize and critically analyze large volumes of often conflicting information to the point of making an informed decision and taking action in a timely fashion.
- Collaboration: The ability to interact positively and respectfully with others in creating new ideas and developing products;
- Communication: The capacity to communicate using a variety of media technologies and social networks and to access, analyze and managing large volumes of information.
- Character: The attainment of life skills, such as being a life-long and self directed learner proficient in managing personal relationships and resolving conflict.
- Culture and Ethical Citizenship: The capacity to comprehend Canada’s political, social, economic and financial systems in a global context, appreciate Canada’s cultural and societal diversity and understand society’s dependence on our natural systems.
- Computer and Digital Technologies: The capacity to use computers and digital resources to access information and create knowledge, solutions, products and services; the capacity to use social media for learning.
Although C21 Canada has identified Computer and Digital Technologies as a distinct competency, technology is quickly becoming ubiquitous in society and needs to be the same within Canada’s learning systems.
Imagine an education system focused on educators working with students to attain the above competencies. Imagine learning systems where students are encouraged to be as creative as they can be, and rewarded for using and creating knowledge in innovative and entrepreneurial new ways. Imagine a system where students are encouraged to collaborate and communicate with other students, educators and societal leaders located in other countries, virtually.
The reality is that this is where the world is going at an ever faster pace. It is essential that Canada’s learning systems begin to position our youth for success in a world we can only imagine.
John Kershaw
C21 Canada
Shifting Minds 2.0 New and Improved Thanks to your Support! Your Feedback Means the World to Us!
C21 Canada is pleased to present Shifting Minds 2.0, framework for 21st Century learning in Canada. The document in its entirety can be downloaded here. Over the next few weeks we will present a series of blogs that introduce the key elements of Shifting Minds. This blog focuses on the nature of 21st Century models of learning and innovation and the principles that underlie this relevant and engaging learning framework for Canada.
To begin, it is important to state that 21st Century learning is applicable to public and private sectors of education, and to Aboriginal band schools located on reserve.
This is the knowledge and digital era, characterized rapidly shifting economic and social landscapes and the need for highly skilled, innovative and creative people. While digital technologies have touched on and transformed virtually every facet of the economy and society in general, most education systems remain rooted in the agrarian and industrial education models of past generations.
The OECD, EU, UNESCO and many global learning experts are citing the need for highly skilled people to meet the demands of this new era. A report recently released by the OECD re-emphasizes the need for highly skilled people to position people and societies for success (see: http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/education/better-skills-better-jobs-better-lives_9789264177338-en)
Global leaders in education and other sectors of society have identified a number of competencies and skills that are now critical for personal and societal success in the knowledge and digital era. These competencies and skills are global in nature, and as such are critical for both Canadians and Canada as a whole. C21 Canada has summarized these competencies in Shifting Minds as follows:
- Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- Critical Thinking
- Collaboration
- Communication
- Character
- Culture and Ethical Citizenship
- Computer and Digital Technologies
Each of the above competencies will be explained further in our next blog. However, by way of example two important elements of the competencies are creativity and innovation. In this context creativity means the ability to create something of value, and innovation means the ability to extract economic and social value from knowledge.
At the same time, Canada’s public education systems are witnessing a crisis of disengagement. The results of the Canadian Education Association’s report on student engagement in learning, entitled What Did You Do In School Today http://www.cea-ace.ca/programs-initiatives/wdydist should serve as a clarion call for action from educators, parents and governments. The CEA surveyed over 60,000 Canadian students to obtain their views on the level of their intellectual engagement in school. Less than half of all high school students surveyed reported that they felt intellectually engaged in school.
In the above context, the goal of C21 Canada, as reflected in Shifting Minds, is to witness an accelerated pace of 21st competencies, instructional practices, and digital resources and services being integrated into Canada’s learning systems.
Shifting Minds provides an in depth overview of the nature of 21st Century models of learning. However, in the interest of brevity we will identify four key elements: 1) Relevancy: This means re-designing curriculum to ensure learning outcomes are relevant to positioning student for success in the 21st Century knowledge and digital era; 2) 21C Instructional Practices: This means ensuring teachers are trained in teaching 21st Century competencies and integrating technology with pedagogy; 3) ICT Rich Learning Environments: This means ensuring schools have high quality connectivity capacity and both students and teachers have access to a variety of classroom technologies; and 4) Global: This means students are provided opportunities to connect with the world around them, from a local, regional and international perspective.
The principles underlying 21st Century models of learning and C21 Canada’s Shifting Minds framework are:
Principle 1
All Canadians have a universal right to reach their full learning potential and to have a voice in their learning needs.
Principle 2
The primary focus of Canadian education is to position learners for fulfillment and success in the modern world.
Principle 3
Literacy, numeracy, science, life skills and 21st Century competencies must now be the foundational learning outcomes of Canada’s public education systems.
Principle 4
Instructional, assessment practices and learning environments must be modernized to personalize the learning experience and better engage Canadian students.
Principle 5
Personalized access to teachers highly skilled in 21st Century learning skills and research-based learning environments is a universal right of every Canadian learner.
Principle 6
Public education is a community and societal enterprise where all Canadians share both the responsibility for and benefits of providing high quality and modern learning opportunities.
Principle 7
Canadians must engage in and support their education leaders in offering today’s students – creative, innovative, authentic, dynamic and modern learning experiences and environments.
In schools where 21st Century models of learning have been introduced student engagement, student achievement and teacher satisfaction increase. Most importantly, the students are being positioned for success in a world where the ability to create and use knowledge and connect with the world are the driving forces of success for individuals, companies, governments and virtually every facet of global society.
In Canada we are already witnessing excellent examples of 21st Century models of learning and teaching within our education systems. Unfortunately, these inspiring examples exist only as pockets of innovation when we need a systemic transformation of our education systems.
Shifting Minds is offered as a framework for Canadians to follow in creating 21st models of learning in our education systems. Our next blog will outline in more detail the seven 21st Century competencies identified in Shifting Minds and the rationale for infusing them into education curriculum outcomes for our youth.
Best!
John Kershaw
President
C21 Canada
Shifting Minds: 21st Century Learning Summit
C21 Canada successfully hosted their inaugural forum on 21st Century learning February 15th at the Kingbridge Centre in King City, Ontario. The event allowed the founding members of Canadians for 21st Century Learning and Innovation Summit (C21 Canada) to benefit from the advice of 50 education and business leaders from across Canada. The delegates discussed and provided feedback on C21 Canada’s draft position paper on 21st Century, entitled Shifting Minds and also identified the key actions C21 Canada should pursue to further the 21st Century learning agenda in Canada.
The Summit commenced with an introductory presentation on global economic, social and learning trends in by Charles Fadel, author of 21st Century Skills and founder of the Centre for Curriculum Re-Design located at Harvard University. The delegates also discussed the Canadian Education Association’s recent findings relating to how Canadian students were disengaging from learning and how new evidence on how people learn combined with modern instructional practices will improve student engagement and performance.
C21 Canada also took the opportunity to officially launch their organization and unveil their new website www.c21canada.org.
C21 Canada’s Shifting Minds draft document identifies the key elements of a 21st Century learning framework, including the need for today’s students to be highly skilled in literacy and numeracy, as well as learning competencies such as creative and innovative thinking, collaboration, communication and other skills that world leaders in learning have determined to be of increasing importance in the knowledge economy and era. Modern instructional practices designed to better engage students and help them improve their levels of understanding and achievement are also identified in the draft position paper while building on the relevancy of local content and themes from core ccurriula. Delegates supported C21 Canada’s position that while the global movement toward 21st Century models of learning in public education is a positive development for students, it was important to have a framework and model that reflects Canadian values and culture.
C21 Canada welcomes feedback on the Shifting Minds draft document, posted on this website. The document will then be revised based on the advice received and eventually form the base for C21 Canada’s efforts to see an accelerated pace of 21st Century competencies, instructional practices and digital resources being integrated into Canada’s learning systems. Anyone interested in commenting to C21 Canada on the draft Shifting Minds document is encouraged to send their remarks to feedback @ c21canada.org or below in the comment section.
The feedback from the delegates on the event was very positive and the members of C21 Canada were very pleased with the level of engagement and quality of advice received.
To that end….would selected participants be invited to submit a short blog or statements about their feedback to provide a hint of flavour as to the culture present…and to capture an authentic positive voice…..some of the comments made by participants during the lightening round provided optimisn and a positive voice to the process.
– John Kershaw, President, C21 Canada
