Project-based learning and 21st century skills
Another interesting article in Edutopia profiles project-based learning, and gives examples of how schools are using it to teach 21st century skills. It has several specific examples of schools using interdisciplinary projects, internships, and thematic projects.
February 16, 2007 @ 8:11 am
I just read the article on the “unlearning curve” and it is easy to feel somewhat threatened by the “needs” we have to overcome some of the old ways we have been doing business. On the other hand, as you read the list, you also see an opportunity to re-ignite the passion that brought us to this profession in the first place. There is a lot of freedom for teachers and administrators in acknowledging that (paraphrasing the article):
1) We are not the sole experts in our field,
2) We are all learning all of the time, kids, teachers, administrators alike,
3) We need to move learning outside of our classrooms and WHS and into the community and beyond,
4) Although there is certainly some information that students must know by heart, we need to take a hard look at information that we are asking students to memorize when we know that this is the lowest form of learning and is quickly forgotten,
I am excited that our CLT has approved our focus on 21st Century skills for our students. Our next challenge is to figure out how we incorporate these concepts into our curriculum and how we assess these skills. I know this will be difficult, but I also believe that if we value these, we must teach them and embrace them as a school.
Your thougts?
Linda
February 17, 2007 @ 7:23 pm
Here’s a link to the article on the “unlearning curve” if you haven’t read it:
http://www.weblogg-ed.com/index.php?s=unlearning+curve
I do think we’ll all need scaffolding as we figure it out, but I agree, this sort of passionate feeling about education is what brought many of us into teaching in the first place.
And in a way, I find it very exciting to see students more involved in “learning” activities that are self-driven and finding their own learning online outside of school hours. Because it is so much easier to find information when you are curious about something–I think it encourages all of us to seek answers to our questions.