21st Century Skills

Morning,

I just read a nice post that summarizes the idea of 21st Century Skills nicely.  I think many people automatically think computers when the term is brought up.  This article did a nice job reminding me that there is so much more to the skills than just tech.

Consider:

21st century skills have been defined in many ways and include the following:

• critical thinking
• problem solving
• collaboration
• leadership
• agility and adaptability
• initiative and entrepreneurialism
• effective oral and written communication
• accessing and analyzing information
• curiosity and imagination

How much of this is embedded in what you already do in the classroom? Where would you do more? Also:

Costa and Kallick have defined 16 habits of mind necessary for success.  These are:

• persistence and perseverance
• managing impulsivity and thinking before acting
• listening with understanding and empathy – being able to perceive another’s point of view
• thinking flexibly and being able to change perspectives
• metacognition – being aware of your own thoughts and actions and how they affect others
• striving for accuracy and precision
• questioning and problem posing
• applying past knowledge to novel situations – using what you have learnt
• thinking and communicating with clarity and precision
• gathering data through all the senses
• creating, imagining and innovating
• responding with wonderment and awe
• taking responsible risks – living on the edge of your competence
• humor – being able to laugh at yourself 
• thinking independently and being able to learn from others and work together
• learning from experience 

Much of that reminds me of the Common Core expectations. It’s worth 5 minutes to read the full post here.