The first of four goals in Hawaii’s Catholic Schools current “System for Success” strategic plan is the strengthening of the schools’ “Catholic identity.”
The No. 2 goal is: “To promote academic excellence through the development of a 21st Century curriculum that provides comprehensive support for all students.”
But what exactly is a “21st Century curriculum?” The “System for Success” plan refers to it several times in its 50-something pages, but does not define it in detail.
The Hawaii Catholic Herald asked Patrick J. Foehr, the Coordinator for System for Success Implementation, to explain what 21st Century education is all about.
By Patrick J. Foehr | Special to the Herald
Twenty-first Century teaching and learning brings to the classroom a conscious blend of instructional strategies and resources designed to provide students multiple avenues into the learning process. Concepts are stressed over content as schools weave interdisciplinary themes throughout core subjects, engage students with a variety of instructional strategies, and make use of technological tools, when available, to personalize, enhance, and broaden all students’ school experiences.
Actually, to elaborate on this, 21st Century learning is about creating and capitalizing on the abundance of opportunities and information that are readily available for teachers and students in today’s schools. We find ourselves at a point in education where meaning is no longer given by a teacher or a dictionary, but is literally invented (Tweet, Google, etc.). Where technology is not confined to a workplace but is everywhere. And the information that used to be accessible only to those in a particular field is now available to anyone, anytime, anywhere. Schools used to be located in buildings and teachers were the ones who had the knowledge and did the teaching. In the 21st Century, schools are wherever the information lies and teachers are everyone and anyone who makes the time to record their thinking and post it on the net. Published material used to go through specific channels before it was ever made available to the public. In the 21st Century, teachers are creating their own textbooks with content from the internet that more specifically meets the needs of their students and their course of study (actually students are creating their own textbooks as well!). Kindergarten students are developing digital portfolios of their work to keep with them as they progress along their educational path. And anyone can be published on iTunes, iBooks, YouTube or any one of many social media and open source sites.
Twenty-first Century learning is more about what we want to know than what we have to know. The proliferation of information and the ease with which humans can access it has made teaching as we grew up with (my parents, my grandparents and I) obsolete. It makes no sense to memorize information and be told how to apply it in order to achieve the one correct answer when two to three years from now that information and that answer will have fallen by the wayside as a new solution and process have been developed.
Every child a possible Einstein
Certainly this is not to say we need to toss out all that has come before. On the contrary, we certainly can build upon the discoveries and research of the brilliant minds of the past and all they have done. The change that 21st Century teaching and learning brings to us is the belief that EVERY child actually has the possibility and capability to be the next Einstein or Marie Curie or Elvis. Twenty-first Century teaching and learning is about giving all kids the opportunity through the development of a broad set of skills that will allow students to carve their own path in our rapidly changing society.
Change happened in the 20th Century, but at nowhere near the speed with which it is taking place now. Schools are trying to prepare students for a world that certainly will be different than today. We’re just not sure how it will be different. But we are sure that technology will play a role in that change. The way to meet this expectation is to personalize students’ instruction and actively engage them in the process of learning! No longer should students be passively sitting and taking in gobs of information. There is way too much information for that type of instruction to be effective.
Twenty-first Century learning includes opportunities for students to problem solve, fail and adjust their solution based on their failure the last time. Students in the 21st Century must be able to create ideas and ask questions and from there gather, analyze and curate information in order to produce a clear thought that they can share with their audience. Twentieth Century education was about picking the best answer and earning the highest score. Twenty-first Century education is about generating the ideas, gathering the information, testing the process and producing an outcome. Through the development of skills such as cooperation, collaboration and adaptability in our students, we prepare them to tackle the unknown and to create their path.
With Catholic identity serving as our core value, Hawaii Catholic School teachers are working to create learning opportunities for students that will guide them along their individual path of mastery of 21st Century skills through the delivery of a rigorous core subject curriculum.
