Teaching and Learning in the 21st century, has
always been something that others did. I now find myself engaged in the
conversation and asking the question, “What are the most important skills for
our students to know as they face a world that will be different from the one
that many of us have grown up in?”
Over the past three years, I have tried to understand what
the 21st century teacher would be like. More importantly, what is
the 21st century leaner like? I have come to this conclusion, we
must do more then we are now doing. We need to look at all systems around the
world and realize that we all need to increase our capacity to meet the needs
of our students. This link to Alberta Education's information page on Curriculum Redesign is helpful.
Alberta is committed to the development of 21st
Century Learners. A great quote by Dr. Richard Moniuszko rings true to me, “We
need to prepare kids for their future and not our past”. Inspiring Education is
a document that has been created from a dialogue with Albertans. This document
outlines the direction of education in Alberta and helps define what the educated
Albertan of 2030 looks like.
Inspiring Education, a document written in 2010, is the
collection of input through conversations with Albertans. Those conversations
led to the development of three E’s of education for the 21st
Century. The Three E’s are:
- Engaged Thinker
- Ethical Citizen
- Entrepreneurial Spirit
I would encourage parents to become familiar with this
document. You can find the PDF version at this link.
At Cardston Junior High School, we are working to increase
our capacity and meet the needs of our 21st century learners. Our
focus in the past three years has been to develop our skills in the areas of
high yield teaching strategies, student engagement and assessment.
The teaching staff at Cardston Junior High School have
worked closely with other professionals in the area of assessment. For the past
two years we have worked closely with the Alberta Assessment Consortium to
develop and improve our understanding of assessment. One area of focus for our
staff is providing the best assessment of student learning and reporting of that
learning to parents and students. We want our reporting to reflect the growth
of our students. Cardston Junior High is in the process of building a report
card that provides an adequate reflection of student learning.
I invite you to join with us on our journey as we work to
develop our capacity as teachers and better understand student learning to
produce productive citizen for the 21st century.
Additional video clips from some of the experts:
The staff at CJHS has received a copy of Dylan Wiliam's book, "Embedded Formative Assessment". As a researcher, his work is extremely impacting. As previously mentioned, we are working closely with the Alberta Assessment Consortium and that work is centred around Dylan Wiliam's Five Key Strategies. This clip is Dylan Wiliam explaining the book.
Damian Cooper is a leader in assessment and grading. His work spans across Canada, the United States, and internationally. His new book, "Redefining Fair: How to Plan, Assess, and Grade for Excellence in Mixed-Ability Classrooms" was also shared for with the staff at CJHS. Here is a clip of Damian Cooper explaining some of his ideas on 21st Century Learning.
