I apologize for the late reply, but hope that this is still useful to you.
We have had a year very focused on 21st century skills, with much support
coming from our new headmaster. After attending the ISACS conference as a
faculty in November, we asked people to meet in small groups to discuss
ideas they brought back and topics that were important to our school. Thes=
e
ideas from the faculty, what they felt was important, aligned quite well
with Pat Bassett=B9s 6 skills for 21st century success =AD leadership,
character, communication, creativity, teamwork & collaboration, and
theoretical and abstract thinking applied to real problems. We developed a
professional development day for faculty in January based on these topics
and skills, and asked certain faculty to facilitate small group discussions
(topics ranged from technology to teaching with creativity, to project base=
d
assessments). The day was a success, with 84% of the faculty reporting tha=
t
they took away a new =B3idea, skill, or method=B2 that they would be
incorporating into their classes this semester.
The next step was having departments meet to update their curriculum maps =AD
including a designated section in Rubicon Atlas to identify the 21st centur=
y
skills in each lesson. As the final activity for this year, we are plannin=
g
to do follow-up activities with faculty during our end of the year faculty
meeting. As you can see, it has been a process =AD and will continue to be a=
s
news ideas and needs arise.
And speaking of ideas, I wanted to share a couple articles that have caught
my attention recently on the topic of curriculum/21st century skills:
1) The most recent Independent School magazine had an article I really
enjoyed called =B3Authentic Learning for Life=B2 by Jake Giessman. (If you
don=B9t have the latest magazine a version can be found through Education Wee=
k
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/02/04/20giessman.h28.html ). It
suggests that curriculum should be project-based and gives examples from th=
e
Academy Hill School. It also suggests that since it is unlikely that our
lives divide into categories like English, math, science, and social studie=
s
=AD why should our students=B9? =B3Perhaps the school day ought to be divided
into subjects more relevant to our lives: communication, problem solving,
and professional skills...or perhaps it ought to be divided into subjects
that mirror what the 21st century desperately needs: social
entrepreneurship, invention, ethics, and cultural dialogue.=B2
2) I am fascinated by the University of North Texas=B9 approach to course
re-design. They have a project called =B3n-gen=B2 and are in the 6th of 9 year=
s
of the project. http://qep.unt.edu/index.html One of the strengths seem=
s
to be faculty mentoring other faculty. =B3Through this process, N-Gen
Faculty Fellows are identified, trained, nurtured, and mentored.=A0=A0 N-Gen
Senior Faculty Fellows <http://qep.unt.edu/senior_faculty_fellows.html> ,
in turn, mentor the next cohort of faculty in the redesign process.=B2
Thanks, Don, for getting this started. I look forward to continuing the
discussion.
Best,
Melissa Tredenick
Director of Learning & Instruction
______________________________________
The Linsly School
60 Knox Ln.
Wheeling, WV 26003
http://www.diigo.com/user/mtredenick
http://www.twitter.com/mtredenick
On 3/30/10 3:43 PM, "Don Stalls" <dstalls@EpiscopalCollegiate.org> wrote:
> I am curious to see which schools have recently taken a look at their
> curriculum with regard to 21st Century Skills. As Information Technology =
is
> a big part of the landscape, I figure it has touched a few of you. We are
> currently in initial conversation about ideas of continued growth and
> curriculum reflection. I am looking for schools that are doing the same i=
n
> order to have some contacts for communication and the sharing of ideas. I=
am
> also looking for schools that are well down the road of examining curricu=
lum
> and assessing where they are with the 21st century learning framework. A=
ny
> contact would be appreciated.
> Thanks,
>=20
> Don Stalls
>=20
> Director of Technology
> Episcopal Collegiate School
> Jackson T. Stephens Campus
> 1701 Cantrell Road
> Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
> (501) 372-1194 Ext. 2520
>=20
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