21st Century Skills: An Educator's Guide
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From GETideas.org - A Conversation on Global Education - a new vision for education transformation, Education 3.0. To view accompanying video go to www.getideas.org/coge
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21st Century Skills: An Educator's Guide
- 1. Conversations on Global Education Transformation A video series for education leaders on GETideas.org An online community for education leaders
- 2. 21 st Century Skills: An Educator’s Guide Richard Halkett Director of Strategy & Research Cisco Global Education March 17, 2009 This slide deck can be seen with the accompanying video on GETideas.org www.getideas.org/coge
- 3. A World of Change in Baseline Qualifications Approximated by percentage of persons with high school or equivalent qualifications in the age groups 55 – 64, 45 – 55, 45 – 44, and 25 – 34 years United States Czech Republic Estonia Germany Switzerland Denmark Canada Norway Sweden Russian Federation4 Austria3 Slovenia Israel Slovak Republic New Zealand Hungary Finland United Kingdom Netherlands Luxembourg EU19 average OECD average France Australia Iceland Belgium Poland Ireland Korea Chile2 Greece Italy Spain Turkey Portugal Mexico Brazil2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1. Excluding ISCED 3C short programmes 2. Year of reference 2004 3. Including some ISCED 3C short programmes 3. Year of reference 2003
- 4. A World of Change in Baseline Qualifications Approximated by percentage of persons with high school or equivalent qualifications in the age groups 55 – 64, 45 – 55, 45 – 44, and 25 – 34 years United States Czech Republic Estonia Germany Switzerland Denmark Canada Norway Sweden Russian Federation4 Austria3 Slovenia Israel Slovak Republic New Zealand Hungary Finland United Kingdom Netherlands Luxembourg EU19 average OECD average France Australia Iceland Belgium Poland Ireland Korea Chile2 Greece Italy Spain Turkey Portugal Mexico Brazil2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 27 1 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1. Excluding ISCED 3C short programmes 2. Year of reference 2004 3. Including some ISCED 3C short programmes 3. Year of reference 2003
- 5. A World of Change in Baseline Qualifications Approximated by percentage of persons with high school or equivalent qualifications in the age groups 55 – 64, 45 – 55, 45 – 44, and 25 – 34 years United States Czech Republic Estonia Germany Switzerland Denmark Canada Norway Sweden Russian Federation4 Austria3 Slovenia Israel Slovak Republic New Zealand Hungary Finland United Kingdom Netherlands Luxembourg EU19 average OECD average France Australia Iceland Belgium Poland Ireland Korea Chile2 Greece Italy Spain Turkey Portugal Mexico Brazil2 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 13 27 1 1 1990s 1980s 1970s 1960s 1. Excluding ISCED 3C short programmes 2. Year of reference 2004 3. Including some ISCED 3C short programmes 3. Year of reference 2003
- 7. The Three Benefits of Learning
- 8. The Three Benefits of Learning Learning £$¥ 元₨ Economic competitiveness
- 9. The Three Benefits of Learning Learning Social & environmental wellbeing
- 10. The Three Benefits of Learning Learning Lifelong personal prosperity
- 11. The Three Benefits of Learning Learning Lifelong personal prosperity £$¥ 元₨ Economic competitiveness Social & environmental wellbeing
- 12. The World Is Changing—Fast Globalization Sustainability Technology Demographic change Peace & security
- 13. How the Demand for Skills Has Changed Economy-wide measures of routine and non-routine task input (U.S.) Mean task input as percentiles of the 1960 task distribution. Non-Routine Interactive Non-Routine Analytic Routine Manual Routine Cognitive Non-Routine Manual 40 45 5 0 55 60 65 1960 1970 1980 1990 2002 The Dilemma of Schools The skills that are easiest to teach and test are also the ones that are easiest to digitize, automate, and outsource.
- 14. Education 3.0 Supported Through an Adapted Reform Agenda High-quality Infrastructure & Technology Leadership, People & Culture 21st Century Skills Curriculum, Pedagogy & Assessment Achieved in Holistic Transformation Education 3.0 21 st Century Learning Education 2.0 Education 1.0 Traditional Education Systems Curriculum Teachers Accountability Leadership
- 15. The Education 3.0 Framework Leading Transformation Holistic Change Pace and Urgency Building Ownership Routes to Scale Sustainable Delivered in Partnership 21 st Century Curriculum High Standard of Educational Technology Data-Driven Accountability and Decisionmaking Excellent Teachers, Principals and System-Leaders Infrastructure and Technology Policies, Procedures, and Management Leadership, People, and Culture Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Assessment Assessment for Learning Flexible Learning Spaces Integrated Ecosystem of Partners ‘ Next Practice’ Pedagogy Integrated Training —Technology and Pedagogy Innovation Management Ambitious, Collaborative, Innovative Culture Technology Vision Led From the Top Well-Governed and Managed System Visionary Leadership Student-Centred, Personalised Learning
- 16. Elements of a 21st Century Curriculum Core Subjects and Technical Skills Disciplinary Knowledge 21st Century Skills Ethics, History, and Citizenship Specialized Subjects Basic Skills
- 17. 21 st Century Skills: Many Perspectives
- 21. Partnership for 21 st Century Skills (P21)
- 27. 21 st Century Skills in Action
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Good morning, and welcome. Today, I’m going to discuss 21 st century skills – why we need them, what they are and what you can do (as an educator) about them. [More here from Diane]
- [Diane to add script]
- [This slide needs re-creating by Duarte] We all know that education is important, and increasingly so – more of that later BUT comparing international education performance is difficult. One of the best measures that we have are the OECD’s collections of statistics grouped according to internationally-comparable educational level (ISCED). This graph shows what has happened across OECD countries over the past four decades. Four things stand out: First, that all but the lowest countries have done well in catching-up; Second, that those countries at the top have improved relatively little; Third, from being 1 st , the United States is now 13 th ; finally, the gap at the top is increasingly narrowing: we are in an intensely competitive educational world.
- [This slide needs re-creating by Duarte] We all know that education is important, and increasingly so – more of that later BUT comparing international education performance is difficult. One of the best measures that we have are the OECD’s collections of statistics grouped according to internationally-comparable educational level (ISCED). This graph shows what has happened across OECD countries over the past four decades. Four things stand out: First, that all but the lowest countries have done well in catching-up; Second, that those countries at the top have improved relatively little; Third, from being 1 st , the United States is now 13 th ; finally, the gap at the top is increasingly narrowing: we are in an intensely competitive educational world.
- [This slide needs re-creating by Duarte] We all know that education is important, and increasingly so – more of that later BUT comparing international education performance is difficult. One of the best measures that we have are the OECD’s collections of statistics grouped according to internationally-comparable educational level (ISCED). This graph shows what has happened across OECD countries over the past four decades. Four things stand out: First, that all but the lowest countries have done well in catching-up; Second, that those countries at the top have improved relatively little; Third, from being 1 st , the United States is now 13 th ; finally, the gap at the top is increasingly narrowing: we are in an intensely competitive educational world.
- At Cisco, we think of there being three main benefits to learning.
- At Cisco, we think of there being three main benefits to learning.
- Most obviously, people and policymakers think of the economic benefits: a higher skilled population is one of the greatest determinants of better economic competitiveness. Higher skilled people innovate more, are more productive. There’s also a virtuous (or vicious) circle here: higher skilled populations attract high-investment multinational who, in turn, attract high-skilled workers. This pressure is increasing – of which, more later.
- Second, policymakers point to the social and environmental benefits As social and environmental challenges increase, so does our need to innovate in response to them - to develop new technological and social responses to them, and to work together to implement them. However, education also has wider social benefits – your learning helps mine, and together we are more productive. If I am high-skilled, it is also less likely that you will have to support me throughout life.
- Less commonly, we think of the impacts of education on lifelong personal prosperity. This isn’t just saying that better-educated people are happier – often they’re not. However, it does reflect that people with higher-skills are able to work better, for higher wages, for longer. They’re also better-able to deal with economic shocks like the one we’re experiencing right now – they are more adaptable and resilient.
- However, all of these benefits are under increasing pressure – and maintaining them isn’t about keeping pace – it’s about endlessly trying to stay ahead, wherever you are in the world.
- It’ll be no surprise for me to say that the world that we know is changing fast. This has direct implications for our education systems – but there aren’t straightforward. Take Globalisation. This presents an opportunity and a challenge. A challenge because jobs that used to be done in the United States and Western Europe are now done around the world; an opportunity because it means that we can compete globally, and benefit from ideas and products produced elsewhere. We’re all used to hearing that ‘The World is Flat’, but of course, it’s not – it’s spiky. And this is mainly because of human capital – people. Globalisation is putting pressure on the types of skills that are important. It means that being ‘quite good’ is no long good enough. This means that we need more and more specialists. But specialists often find it hard talking to one another, which means that we need more generalists, or at least specialists with generalist skills. Technology is also moving faster then ever before. Technology is not only being innovated more frequently, but it’s also being adopted faster, and then sometimes becomes obsolete. Contrary to some, this doesn’t mean that we all need to be technologists – far from it. But it does mean that we have to be able to work with technology. And – more importantly – we need to be set-up to work with technologies that haven’t even been invented yet. Demographic change, sustainability and peace & security are placing greater pressures on our education systems. [For longer presentation] Globalisation – but not as we know it – The World is Flat vs. The World is Spiky (Thomas Friedman vs. Richard Florida); ‘outsourcing’ is good for some, bad for others; T-shaped person (IDEO); getting lawyers to talk to economists; Global needs – Philippe Aghion; absorptive capacity (NESTA) Technology – Pace of GPTs (Lipsey, Carlaw & Bekar, 2005) => urgency; Impact on work and social life – training for jobs that don’t exist yet (Richard Riley, Secretary of Education 1993-2001); supply side – greater ability to deliver learning; demand-side – now a hygiene factor in all areas of society Demographic change – a new understanding is required – not all areas of the world are ageing; where they are, need high value-added skills; where they are not, need mass education – and fast (CSIS, 2008) Sustainability – need for technological innovation AND social innovation and buying-in to a global public good; this demands ability to set-aside personal concerns and rapid and mass communication of what must be done and when Peace and security – President Clinton: The world is unstable, unequal and unsustainable Ethiopian PM (from BBC): "Not long ago many of us felt that we were too poor to seriously invest in information and communication technology," Premier Meles Zenawi told conference delegates. "We were convinced that we should invest every penny we have on securing the next meal for our people. We did not believe serious investment in ICT had anything to do with facing the challenges of poverty that kills. Now I think we know better," he said. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4416073.stm From Cisco PDF: “Not long ago, many of us felt that we were too poor to seriously invest in information and communications technology. Now we believe that we are too poor not to invest as much as we can in ICT. We realize that while ICT might be a luxury for the rich, for us – the poor countries – it is a crucial weapon to fight poverty and thus ensure our survival”
- [Duarte to rebuild] All these pressures mean that we need more and better-skilled people BUT the debate isn’t that simple This graph is from a technical economics paper from earlier this decade, but it shows a crucial point All skills are not equal: demand for their skills depends on whether people are able to undertake non-routine or only routine tasks. If you notice, routine cognitive skills actually decline faster than routine manual. So this isn’t really about which subjects you study. It’s not about STEM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). It’s about people’s ability to think.
- Cisco began researching the implications of this for existing education systems several years ago. As a result, last year we released a White Paper: Equipping Every Learner for the 21 st Century, which laid out a vision of Education 3.0 [Shorten the following] So what do we mean by Education 3.0 and what does the evolution of education systems look like? In the Education 1.0 phase, there were some schools that provided individualized learning for a small portion of the population. School systems emerged that were designed to educate all students. Like the industrial revolution, they sought to organize and standardize practices , but there was very little system support for the teaching and learning process. As computer terminals and PCs replaced typewriters and file cabinets in the 80’s and 90’s, Education 2.0 . emerged . Education 2.0 allowed for massive data collection, curriculum changes, and even greater scale. At the same time the availability of system wide data and the development of standardized testing fueled the accountability reform movement , which also included a focus on improving teacher quality, re-aligning curriculum, site-based management, and improving the capabilities of school site leaders, but the goal of a locally relevant, student centered, globally competitive education remained elusive . The emergence of the Internet and ubiquitous personal technology now allows us to return to individualized learning supported by well integrated systems . Education 3.0 is where we think we need to be heading now— toward 21 st century learning and teaching enabled by today’s new technologies. This does not mean that we throw out the positive aspects of the last two decades . The best of the improved curriculum can be adapted to the classroom and to web based and mobility enabled learning, incorporating 21st century skills such as critical thinking, collaboration and innovation/entrepreneurship. This is what we mean when we say Supported by Adapted System Reform, which in turn becomes part of the larger set of policies, procedures and management of the system. The technological infrastructure to support all of this has to move from being “nice to have when it works” to becoming in essence the fourth utility after water, electricity and gas. It has to be safe, reliable and flexible enough to serve both today’s and tomorrow’s needs, and interestingly, when planned in a holistic environment, it can save money by being part of Green initiatives. To achieve the Education 3.0 vision , education systems have to make fundamental changes in how they function and are organized. The research and recent experience show that system transformation must happen at a rapid pace in order for the level of effort to be maintained, for cultural change to happen, and for the first signs of success to appear before the organization tires and the leadership changes. This means that you can’t get to Education 3.0 in a system that is always in a state of flux —that is just an endless series of new pilots and new programs. Achieving Education 3.0 requires a Holistic System transformation approach , driven by an extraordinary level of leadership.
- This is the full Education 3.0 Framework. It’s made up of 68 components, organised into 15 groups, which make up four pillars. Surmounting them all is a ‘Fifth Pillar’ which contains the elements necessary for undertaking this process of transformation – because we don’t expect school systems to simply have this expertise lying around It’s 1b that occupies us today – 21 st century curriculum.
- A full curriculum can’t be all 21 st century skills, of course. We think it contains six groups of skills or subjects: New basic skills – literacy, numeracy and ICT. Not only fundamental for life, but vital for learning other subjects and for giving confidence to the learner to then take on more advanced topics. Indeed, the more we learn about these, the more important they appear. Core subjects – students need a firm grounding in a wide range of subjects so that they can find out what interests them and exercise choice later on. More than that ‘being educated’ across a broad base is important, as well as ‘being skilled’. 21 st century skills – critical thinking, problem-solving, communications and the like – of which, more later. Disciplinary knowledge – science is about more than the periodic table; it’s about scientific method; social science is the same, and so is law. These ‘disciplines’ reach across subject to make people rigorous thinkers Specialist subjects are important: students need to be engaged and to follow their passions. This incites a love of learning and develops real depth before they can get turned off by one-size-fits-all education. Finally, ethics and citizenship – in some ways, theres nothing more frightening than someone with all of the first five and not this sixth one. Basic skills – literacy, numeracy, ICT Core subjects & technical skills – English, Maths, etc; including but not limited to STEM 21 st century skills Disciplinary knowledge – law, economics, scientific method Specialised subjects – to drive interest and meet personal needs Ethics, history & citizenship – to ensure relevance and the effective (and ethical0 application of the other five
- At Cisco, we think of there being three main benefits to learning.
- Harvard Psychologist Howard Gardner released ‘Frames of Mind’ in 1983 and since then has pioneered work on multiple ‘types’ of intelligence. He is currently Hobbs Professor of Cognition and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and adjunct professor of neurology at the Boston University School of Medicine. Multiple intelligences is an idea that maintains there exist many different types of "intelligences" ascribed to human beings. In response to the question of whether or not measures of intelligence are scientific, Gardner suggests that each individual manifests varying levels of different intelligences, and thus each person has a unique "cognitive profile." In 1999 Gardner listed seven intelligences as linguistic, logic-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily kinaesthetic, interpersonal and intrapersonal. In developing his theory, Gardner moved from describing HOW the mind worked towards the five minds we NEEDED for the future: The disciplined mind that excels at one way of thinking. The synthesizing mind that assembles and sorts information. The creating mind that puts forth new ideas and poses unfamiliar questions. The respectful mind that tries to understand others and work effectively with them. The ethical mind that considers the relationship between the nature of work and the needs and desires of society.
- Daniel Pink is a writer and thinker who works on the future of work and skills. In 2005 he published ‘A Whole New Mind, Why Right Brainers Will Rule the Future’. In it, he effectively looked beyond the information age – saying that the world was changing in three main ways: Abundance – the ability to get hold of unimaginable quantities of whatever it is that we want; it now privileges things that go beyond function to engage us. Asia – essentially, that the release of enormous numbers of high-skilled workers onto the international labour market means that there’s competition for all sorts of jobs, up and down the value chain. Automation – that most things that we want can now be delivered automatically Pink ends up focusing on two new drivers: high touch and high concept – that people want more than function. This means that workers need to be able to produce those services – interfaces matter, services matter. As a result, he ends up with six new ‘senses’: Design – beyond function Story — compelling narrative, not just data and argument Symphony — no longer specialisation and focus; no longer Adam Smith’s pin factory but putting things together, crossing boundaries, seeing the big picture Empathy — understanding what makes others tick, forging relationships, caring for others – being human Play – keeping mentally alive Meaning — beyond accumulation, looking for fulfillment
- Tony Wagner is Co-Director of the Change Leadership Group (CLG) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Prior to assuming his current position at Harvard, Tony was a high school teacher for twelve years; a school principal; a university professor in teacher education; co-founder and first executive director of Educators for Social Responsibility; project director for the Public Agenda Foundation in New York; and President and CEO of the Institute for Responsive Education. Wagner's opening section deals with the demands of the modern world (notably business) and the distance between those and the current priorities of education systems around the world: the 'New World of Work' and the 'Old World of School', he calls them. He then introduces the seven 'survival skills': 1. Critical thinking and problem-solving – asking good questions 2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence – organisations are getting bigger and employees need to work across great distances, many time zones and enormous gulfs between disciplines; organisations are also moving from hierarchical control to team-based working; high-skilled workers work better more autonomously and expect more autonomy 3. Agility and adaptability - training for jobs that don’t exist yet (Richard Riley, Secretary of Education 1993-2001) 4. Initiative and entrepreneurialism – links closely to number 2 but reaches more widely to look at innovation, small-business start-up and innovation. 5. Effective oral and written communication – this is an across-the-board core skill. It constantly appears on the lists of educators and business leaders everywhere. It doesn’t just mean good grammar and vocabulary, it means the ability to build an argument, a narrative. 6. Accessing and analysing information – these days, we are surrounded by information. In some ways, *knowing* pieces of content is far less important than it was in the past. However, just finding it through Google isn’t OK: students need to know what’s important and how to appraise it. They need to know how to analyse it and come to effective conclusions. 7. Curiosity and imagination – this is more than number 4, it’s being creative. This has obvious benefits but also other, more hidden ones – the ability to make things interesting, to keep *yourself* interested, to look beyond function to beauty and design and elegance – something we’ll return to later on. [As an aside, I would group most of these as 'cognitive skills' (learning about learning) but some reach into what I would perceive as 'attitudes' (most notably number 5); of course, they build on specific 'technical skills' necessary for particular careers.] Throughout, Tony focuses on looking for 'student thinking'. He sets up a question: What do you mean by rigor? and then explains how this has changed: that in a world with limited access to information, knowing facts was important; but that in one where information is commonplace, other skills are vastly more important - in particular 'asking the right questions'. Again, this is not new, but he outlines it very well indeed. The section is supported by well-written accounts of lessons. Around p91, he asks the question 'Is Math Really 'Problem Solving' - and What About Science?' He concludes that math is not necessarily about problem solving. He then, as one would expect, proceeds to demolish the current set of multiple-choice standardised tests and to promote PISA, CLA, iSkills and others as a far better approach (and ones that reveal frightening results for the US). This critique (of course) extends to No Child Left Behind, but he doesn't labour the point - it's almost too obvious after the build-up. Notably, he heavily critiques Advanced Placement (AP) courses. One of his favoured metrics is the number of students who get to (and then complete) college.
- P21 is the Partnership for 21 st Century Skills, a cross-industry think tanks based in Tucson, Alabama. The framework is perhaps the most complete, but also one of the most well-known. It’s currently being used to varying degrees in 10 states [Arizona, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, Wisconsin]. By now, many of the skills will be familiar, but P21 goes one step further and talks about the educational systems and responses necessary to implement them: Standards & accountability, Curriculum & Instruction, Professional Development, Learning Environments Core Subjects • English, reading or language arts • World languages • Arts • Mathematics • Economics • Science • Geography • History • Government and civics 21st Century Themes • Global awareness • Financial, economic, business and entrepreneurial literacy • Civic literacy • Health literacy Learning and Innovation Skills • Creativity and innovation skills • Critical thinking and problem solving skills • Communication and collaboration skills Information, Media and Technology Skills • Information literacy • Media literacy • ICT (information and communications technology) Literacy Life and Career Skills • Flexibility and adaptability • Initiative and self-direction • Social and cross-cultural skills • Productivity and accountability • Leadership and responsibility
- [Mary Anne to explain/confirm where this came from] There have been many attempts to describe the content of 21 st century skills. Andreas Schleicher, head of PISA at the OECD often uses this list of six attributes 1. The great collaborators and orchestrators The more complex the globalised world becomes, the more individuals and companies need various forms of co-ordination and management 2. The great synthesizers Conventionally, our approach to problems was breaking them down into manageable bits and pieces, today we create value by synthesising disparate bits together 3. The great explainers The more content we can search and access, the more important the filters and explainers become 4. The great versatilists Specialists generally have deep skills and narrow scope, giving them expertise that is recognised by peers but not valued outside their domain Generalists have broad scope but shallow skills Versatilists apply depth of skill to a progressively widening scope of situations and experiences, gaining new competencies, building relationships, and assuming new roles. They are capable not only of constantly adapting but also of constantly learning and growing 5. The great personalisers A revival of interpersonal skills, skills that have atrhophied to some degree because of the industrial age and the Internet The great localisers People who take globanl ideas and make them relevant to their nation or region.
- Education has always been and always will be a live political debate. It is critically important, employs lots of people, everyone feels that they can comment, and true knowledge is hard to come by and generalise. Perhaps most importantly, its most important effects don’t manifest themselves for 20, 30 or even 50 years. The 21 st century skills debate (and P21 in particular – because it is most prominent) has come in for a lot of criticism. These group together: Learning has always been about these skills – this is nothing new Knowledge isn’t like this - you can’t teach these skills in isolation – what *is* a course on ‘creativity’ anyway…? However, there are also two response: Learning may have always been about these skills, but the push toward standardised tests over the past decade (particularly since the introduction of No Child Left Behind in the United States and the recent reforms in the UK and Canada) has meant that content has become priviliged over skills and kowledge. This can, therefoer, be seen as a counterbalance. Taken to the extreme, of course, knowledge isn’t like this – it’s contextual and links abstract facts and theory to actual practice. But knowledge might be *more* like this than it is like the other models from the past.
- Don’t have to teach to the test every day
- As could be seen from the previous slides, there is plenty of overlap here: Ability to gather, synthesise & analyse Working autonomously & lead or influence other autonomous workers Being creative & turning that creativity into action Thinking critically & asking the right questions Striving to understand others’ perspectives & to see the whole board Working ethically, firmly based in both your own society and global society Communicating constantly and effectively What is certain is that this cannot be nicely laid out and boxed-up. Teaching these skills requires interpretation and personalisation by teaching professionals at all levels of the education system
- One barrier that is constantly identified is that of assessment – that teachers have to ‘teach to the test’ and that those tests don’t assess 21 st century skills We are now part of an international movement to drive this forward and to determine the feasibility of testing for these skills on a standardised basis This year, we have established an independent structure, linked to the OECD Produce four white papers To be deployed in several countries, hopefully including the US in 2010 & 2011 Aim for inclusion in the OECD PISA tests in 2012
- Five categories of competences: learning, citizenship, relating to people, managing situations and managing information
- http://www.edutopia.org/integrated-studies-interdisciplinary-learning-overview Holding a meter-square contraption made of white PVC pipes, a few students crouch over a patch of tide-washed sand, counting the limpets and barnacles they find within the transect. Up the shore, classmates are using a laser leveling device and a pole to measure off the tide's height at regular intervals. Others poke around the water's edge, turning over rocks or following the path of a shorebird. A few solitary students sit at a distance with notebooks, writing or drawing in response to the urban seascape before them. Like the explorers who sailed into this bay 300 years ago, 56 students at High Tech High in San Diego have discovered a new world in their urban neighborhood, where land meets sea-and where schoolwork actually matters. For three months in spring 2005, an eleventh-grade High Tech High teaching team centered its math, science, and humanities coursework on an ambitious investigative project. In expeditions to sites around the nearby bay, students carried on the tradition of the explorer's log, rendering close observations—scientific, cartographic, etymological, even poetic and political—for others who might follow. Now those students have brought their work to the public, as a striking and useful field guide called Perspectives of the San Diego Bay. The 240-page book, which they designed and produced themselves, with a small grant from What Kids Can Do and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, already has found an eager audience in local and national environmental groups. For its authors, that means more than any A on their report cards. "Every kid has that question, 'Where am I going to use this in the real world?'" says Evan Morikawa, one of the guide's chief student editors. "Well, you can't get much more attached to the real world than this. My friends are like, 'I'm studying for finals right now,' and I'm like, 'Well, I'm going to make and publish and print and sell a book!'" Beautifully illustrated and designed, filled with color photographs, maps, and charts, the field guide teems with life, energy, and detailed information. It stands on its own as a naturalist's guide, identifying, analyzing, and quantifying the life forms found in the bay's intertidal zones and harbors. A student-written history of mapmaking by early explorers segues into a state-of-the-art overview of present-day biogeography, with students using sophisticated GIS mapmaking technology to represent their data. And in the tradition of the adventurer's log, students offer philosophical perspectives on the worlds they observe, in reflections, poems, and commentary pieces. Not least, these young authors have an explicit public purpose: to awaken San Diego to the potential destruction of its Bay, as the balance grows ever more precarious between their city's natural life, industry, and commerce.
- Don’t have to teach to the test every day
- And speaking of partners, we at Cisco certainly do not believe that we can go it alone or set an agenda for change without your help and the input of education leaders around the world. That’s why we’ve set up a public service web site, GETideas. org, as a place for education leaders to collaborate on a new vision for change. We urge you to visit GETideas, connect with other leaders, and join the dialogue on global education transformation. And please don’t forget to register for other presentations in our series. We value your input and look forward to seeing you on GETideas.org . That concludes my presentation . We will have time now to address a few of your questions . If you have more, please feel free to click on the hand icon and type them in. Also, after the Q&A you will see a link to our very short online survey . We do value your feedback and hope that you’ll take a moment to give us your comments. Here’s the first question…