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21st-Century Skills Are Not a New Education Trend but Could Be a Fad

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Recently The Partnership for 21st Century Skills defended its approach to educational reform by explaining, in essence, that the process was long, slow, and hard. While it may take years “to fully impact standards, assessments, and professional development,” the students now in middle and high school don’t have years to wait while we get all our ducks in a row. Lives are at stake. Are we going to write these kids off and wait to make sure that we can assess our rescue tactics before we rescue the next generation? Or can we exercise some 21st century skills to bring about rapid and effective change while developing the measures needed for long term sustainability?
If we attempt to do different things without changing how we go about them, we will end up where we always do when it comes to educational reform. What could be accomplished if, instead of long, slow, hard and too complicated for anyone but professionals, we embraced the very attitudes and behaviors that are the foundation for the critical skills we seek to teach, and took on the “can do” spirit of innovators, critical thinkers and problem-solvers to craft a solution that is easy, fast and effective? Successful implementation of educational reforms can occur rapidly when the need is urgent and the opportunity serves the interests of those on whom it depends for success. Isn’t this the essence of collaboration, problem-solving, and innovation?
Likewise, students can learn and develop these skills rapidly and effectively when they have a reason to. Since 2004, EntrepreneursNOW, a Connecticut non-profit, has proven repeatedly that lasting change can be brought about quickly when students are engaged in learning experiences that are relevant to them with adults who model the behaviors, attitudes and skills being taught. It took weeks, not years, for this group of committed entrepreneurs, business people and educators to develop a program that causes profound behavioral and attitudinal changes in youngsters. In only nine-weeks, randomly-assigned teams of students launch real money-generating businesses, and in the process become innovative, collaborative problem-solvers able to develop and effectively communicate their ideas and move themselves and others into action to fulfill on a common goal. Fast, easy, effective, and very 21st century.
To transform the educational experience we need to “be” the transformation. When we walk the walk, not just talk the talk, students have no trouble learning these important skills from us.

Barbara Osach of CT 11:53PM January 23, 2009

Andy Rotherham sets forth a number of valid points here. I would make the case, however, for promotion of 21st century skills for two reasons. The first is that there is a need for a specific skill set for students and workers in the digital age. The second is that in the absence of a conceptual framework for the instruction and assessment of those skills, they will never be given the credibility and attention necessary for their implementation.
While higher-order thinking skills have been crucial to survival and advancement since the dawn of time, specific iterations of those skills as related to technological, economic, cultural and political contexts are equally as critical. Technology now gives us the historically unique circumstance of being able to immediately access a wealth of content and to communicate, collaborate, and create with breath-taking speed. The need for our students to use these resources constructively, appropriately and effectively requires us to be deliberate about the teaching of critical skills that are not often recognized (and are even more rarely taught) in schools today.
If, as Mike Schmoker has emphasized, "What gets measured gets done," then what we "get done" most in public education is to prepare our students to choose the best answer out of 4. A world in which colleges, corporations, countries and citizens must all be adaptive and innovative demands more. As noted, measurement of these skills is neither easy nor cheap - but if we want to see that the teaching and learning of these skills gets done, we will have to measure them. Technology gives us new opportunities to teach, practice and assess these skills, but in order to do so, there has to be buy-in and implementation at all levels, and, most importantly, in the classroom.
That said, educators need compelling reasons to adjust their practice. The tendency of public education to do nothing quite so well as maintain status quo has created the need for the kind of compulsory change exemplified by NCLB. In the absence of a clear, understandable picture of the future, along with relevant instructional goals and practices, many teachers have yet to adapt instruction and assessment to the needs of that future. As noted by Ken Kay, we need a coherent framework for design and implementation of relevant instruction and assessment - and "21st Century Skills" is a valid title for that framework.
While there is certainly a danger, as Andy notes, that promotion of 21st century skills might become a "fad," threatening to displace core content, I would argue that these skills are as important for our students as “cultural literacy." The pendulum has swung very hard in the direction of content in recent years, and the movement to promote 21st century skills arises from the recognition that content without skills is as meaningless as skills without content. In order to create the best opportunities for all students, we need to provide them with both.

Marc Carraway of VA 12:00PM January 13, 2009

Andy Rotherham uncovers an important concern about the re-introduction of critical thinking and other "21st Century Skills" into the education dialogue. Will U.S schools get serious about helping all kids develop these skills, or will it be just another American fad for the affluent?. We are notorious for such fads.
That these skills need to be reintroduced into daily instruction for all students should not be a question. Or do those who raise the question not know what has been going on in schools, especially schools filled with students with low income because of NCLB's minimalism? How many of the defenders of "knowing the facts" really understand how the current administration's educational policy and practice, reinforced with big dollars to the big publishing/testing corporations, have attempted to squeeze anything but measureable, memorizable facts out of the curriculum. Not so? Check with your children. Go visit an urban classroom. Where have essay exams with thought provoking questions as the norm gone? Why are there more 'circle the right answer" worksheets more prevalent? Why has the number of short answer tests come to dominate how teachers determine what students know not only in crowded city classrooms, but also in most low-class size suburban schools.
The issue here is not that students shouldn't know the facts. It is how they are forced to learn them, even in AP classes where memory becomes the be-all and end all day in and day out, rather than a start down the pathway of understanding, of questioning and of learning how to use information.
In the late nineties, strong research identified those teaching strategies that have the highest impact on student achievement. Among these were asking questions, cooperative learing, hypoothesis testing, summarizing and comparing. These are not what visitors will see in most classrooms. What visitors will see in an increasing number of classrooms is teachers forced to read instructions from scripts that focus on covering facts, facts and more facts with little on no understanding by the students. Instead of worrying about a false war between facts and thinking, it might be more appropriate for the fact-lovers to do a little fact checking about what is really happening in classrooms.
If the business community, through its partnership, has finally discovered that students coming to the workplace lack both content knowledge and complex thinking skills and wants to push the education community and politicians to catch up to the rest of the world, that is all for the good. Perhaps, by reviving interest for 21st Century Skills, the partnership can establish the inclusion of these skills with deeper and richer content that will be a trend, not another fad for every child in every school.

James Bellanca of IL 12:14PM January 06, 2009

This debate is at best spurious and at worst entirely misleading. No one in the push to empower 21st Century skills teaching and development in schools seriously believes that these skills and content learning are mutually exclusive or even in competition with each other. However there are more serious and crucial forces driving these questions than just the educational community. For example, the issue of lifeskills and vocational training for the 60% of HS students that cannot go to university for whatever reasons. As well, the increasing focus of industry and business on what skills they need HS and University graduates to obtain is likely to impact the debate. In particular, the 21st Century skills paradigm is an evolutionary step above the strictly content based teaching we all grew up with. It compliments this teaching and carries it forward, combining the knowledge learnt with the skills needed to apply that knowledge to life and work.
The real debate should not be centered on which paradigm is best but rather on how both philosophies can be integrated with the future needs of social and corporate America. Other countries in the world like Finland, Canada, China and India, are developing a balanced and skills driven but content-based educational vision that if ignored by the US, will leave America in the dust. This debate in the US is too charged with both political and moral/religious overtones. It isn't important whether faith positions be " taught" in schools or whether conservative or liberal values be promoted. It is crucial that kids be encouraged and prepared to develop the knowledge and the skills to make intelligent, life appropriate choices that respect diverse values while strengthening social responsibility and personal groundedness in constructive, positive engagements, nationally and locally.

Don McMahon 10:47AM January 06, 2009

This story opens a vital dialogue concerning where 21st century skills need to sit inside core subject classrooms and within education reform. The intent of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills is, in part, “to make [the American] system of schooling more equitable by giving more students both content and advanced skills.” It isn’t just about equitable access to schooling, though, but ensuring students are equipped with the skills required to be successful 21st century workers and citizens.
It is great to see the conversation surrounding 21st century skills elevated, yet some stakeholders mistakenly see these skills in competition with core subjects. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has never advocated for an “either-or” strategy. In fact, the Partnership has created 21st Century Skills and Core Subject Maps, which provide educators with teacher-created models of how 21st century skills can be infused into core classes. NCTE, NCSS, NCTM and NSTA have partnered with us to show how these skills are embedded into curriculum.
The 21st century skills movement has been building for six years. From the very beginning we were told we would just be a fad. Yet at this moment, we are experiencing continued and significant momentum.
I would argue that we have articulated a powerful vision for the future of education, one which Rotherham’s thought-provoking piece supports. Critical thinking, problem solving, communications skills, innovation skills, technology skills and global awareness skills will be around 92 years from now, yet our nation is not currently on a concerted track to find the best ways to teach and assess these skills. The winners of the global skills race will be the ones who invest in finding the best ways to do this. That is why the 21st century skills movement won't be a flash in the pan.

Ken Kay of AZ 9:46AM January 05, 2009

Good article. But I don't agree with the flat out denial that these should be labeled "21st century" skills. Yes they were important and written about previously but just because they existed before doesn't make them implemented or known on as wide a scale. Demonstrating against war, experimenting with drugs, and free sex occurred before the Sixties but they are still thought of as becoming wide-spread throughout a generation then. I think the argument for critical thinking, problem solving and global awareness being attributed to the present is that they are increasingly being seen outside of academic works and policy statements. You have the explosion of the Internet and online tools forcing a global awareness, and more people finding their entertainment in virtual worlds (MMORPGs) where the rules aren't merely listed before playing but rather tested and discovered through play. But even now these skills/attitudes/perspectives aren't universally practiced. We are certainly NOT globally aware in sufficient quantities and situations. I mean, in entering this comment alone, I had to label myself as merely "International" because I'm currently in Canada, the USA's nearest neighbour. Whether a comment is coming from New Mexico or New Jersey is more valuable than whether it's from China or South Africa? Really?
To the previous commenters: I don't think this reopens the content vs. skills debate. There really should be any debate. The growth of teaching skills over content is (or rather should be anyway) merely adding skills to the mix. You CAN'T teach skills without content. It would be like teaching how to speak without using words, or teaching math without numbers. You need content. However, for many years content has been taught without the skill to use it. That's the improvement. Humans like learning new information but too often we're stuck learning sports statistics or reality TV drama because we're not taught how or why to learn more important pieces of information. Actually, to be more precise were often "taught" to actively disregard learning anything better (like science or history or philosophy or whatever). There has been an active dislike for anything academic in popular culture, but hopefully, with these skills sneaking into popular culture (e.g. linguistic play in urban music, creative expression being supported through sites like youtube, and again the teamwork and problem solving of so many online gaming) perhaps that trend is reversing.
Crossing my fingers...

Matthew Thomas 2:30PM December 23, 2008

The article, 21st-Century Skills Are Not a New Education Trend but Could Be a Fad, by Andrew J. Rotherham posted on December 15, 2008 poses a valid question about what creates equitable, effective education for students and reopens the content vs. student skills mastery debate. Articulated in this article is the premise that content without skills does not create learners and aptitudes without curriculum do not develop life long learners. There are many misconceptions about 21st century skills and Andrew J. Rotherham’s article touches on this reality. There is also more to learning than “content and critical thinking complementing each other.”
In 2007, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) released new learning standards that represent high expectations for learners. School library media specialists integrate the content (curriculum) required to succeed in the 21st Century and combine it with a demanding set of learning standards that require students to develop the skills, attitudes, behaviors, and responsibilities needed to succeed in the world today and in the future. I invite you to examine the AASL Standards for the 21st-Century Learner at http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/aasl/aaslproftools/learningstandards/standards.cfm. These learning standards emphasize the essential skills that enable students to not only access high-quality information but make sense of the information, draw conclusions, create new knowledge, and share their knowledge with others.
School library media specialists collaborate with teachers to infuse content with these essential skills. Every school that provides students with a strong library media program led by a certified school library media specialist provides “... strategies to make our system of schooling more equitable and effective by giving students, especially economically disadvantaged students, both content and various advanced skills.” Strong school library programs are the answer to the questions posed in this article. Check them out!

Ann M. Martin of VA 3:25PM December 22, 2008

You sound an important warning about the need for balance. There have been many fads in American education that have not served students well.
But don’t dismiss the importance of essential social and emotional skills that have the power to unleash and accelerate the motivation of students and their ability to learn the content-rich curriculum you value.
As someone who works with economically disadvantaged kids, teaching a carefully designed curriculum of social and emotional skills integrated into after school programming, what we find is that these skills play an important role in forming the relationships that affect how children learn. They govern whether a child experiences an active interest in learning and remains engaged.
Research demonstrates that effective programs developing what’s now known as emotional intelligence strengthen attachment to school and diminish self-defeating behavior – the two most significant predictors of academic success. Among these assessments are studies by Robert Blum of Johns Hopkins and Roger Weissberg of University of Illinois-Chicago.
We’ve got to have balance. Content and skills go hand-in-hand. It’s an encouraging sign that educators are rethinking the teaching of facts and content. Out in the field there is clear evidence that advancing social and emotional education will better equip students for success and happiness – both in the classroom, and in the world that awaits them in the 21st century.

Ginny Deerin of SC 6:09PM December 16, 2008

Thanks for saying what has to be said – and should be repeated until it sinks in! There is nothing wrong and plenty of good in highlighting the importance of so-called 21st-century skills. But we have had plenty of experience with education reforms that prioritize process at the expense of content. (Focusing on “how” while leaving the “what” and “why” too much behind is partly why the nation's big experiment with middle schools has produced discouraging results.)
21st-century skills -- teamwork, communicating, problem-solving and the like -- are learned best through an ancient method: practice. But as children and teenagers have become more and more disconnected from real work (aside of after school jobs in retail) and family responsibilities, we have tried to teach those skills with text materials and direct instruction. The holy grail lies in helping young people develop hard skills and content knowledge while at the same time affording them opportunities -- both in and out of school -- to apply those skills in meaningful ways. That statement carries lessons for advocates of 21st-century skill-building and for standards advocates alike. Leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving might well be best learned on a soccer field, in an orchestra or in student government, or through a credit-carrying community service project. All of these activities are at risk of getting squeezed out of students' days because of a justifiable priority on math, reading, and writing. Our schools need more time -- used creatively and well -- with students to accomplish everything we're asking of them.

Andy Calkins of MA 9:30AM December 16, 2008