Prophet Sharing: Charles Fadel Stresses Importance of 21st Century Skills For Students

By Scott Weighart, Guest Writer

BELMONT – What will the world be like 20 years from now?

What skills will your students need to be successful in that world?

These questions were the crux of an Educator Breakfast sponsored by TeenLife today at Belmont Hill School, and the responses proved to be a dramatic call to action for educators, parents, politicians, and anyone else concerned about the future of the American workforce.

Charles Fadel, co-author of 21^st Century Skills: Learning For Life In Our Times (http://www.21stcenturyskillsbook.com) and Global Leader for Education at Cisco Systems, delivered a provocative workshop on how to prepare students for the new global economy.

In his presentation, Fadel painted a sobering picture of the changing global economy. As globalization increases and overconsumption persists, we face not only financial meltdowns and global warming but also a "climate change” in education.

Fadel said that China and India are expected to have 300 million skilled workers by 2025. Consultants and engineers will be in high demand, and creative work will be highly valued. Meanwhile, though, there are disturbing trends in the United States. Relative to the rest of the world, our students are faring worse in math and science aptitude.

This is a concern, given that Fadel showed a slide indicating that 19 of the top 20 undergraduate college degrees by salary revolve around STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) skills. In particular, seven of the top 11 fields are in engineering. This is another problem, as high school students don't take engineering courses: If they don't hear about this excellent career path from parents or educators, they are unlikely to consider engineering as a major.

Students are "clamoring for relevance and applicability of what they learn” and are "begging to be taught differently.” Yet how are we preparing the next generation for an "imagination economy” demanding concrete, abstract, interactive, and creative thinkers? Fadel argues that we need more of an emphasis on skills, not just knowledge, and on real-world relevance. In summary, we need relevant knowledge and applicability via skills to acquire competencies and expertise.

Workforce requirements surveys list the following skills as essential to success:

· Critical thinking/problem solving

· Communications (oral and written)

· Collaboration/Teamwork

· Diversity

· Information Technology Applications

· Leadership

· Lifelong Learning/Self-Direction

· Professionalism/Work Ethic

· Ethics/Social Responsibility

Although there is ample cause for concern as to whether our students are keeping pace with their counterparts around the world, there are many hopeful signs. For one, Fadel feels that our country's leadership "gets it.” He cited a quote from a March 2009 speech by President Barack Obama, in which the president called on our nation "to develop standards and assessments that don't simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21^st-century skills like problem solving and critical thinking and entrepreneurship and creativity.”

Fadel also showed a graphic illustrating how a 25-point national increase on the OECD's PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) test scores could yield a staggering increase in U.S. economic output—an amount that would be equal to more than three times the national debt.

However, achieving that level of gain will require a reframing of how we educate young Americans. The 21^st century skills framework includes the following:

Learning & Innovation Skills

• Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

• Creativity & Innovation

• Communication & Collaboration

Information, Media & Technology Skills

• Information Literacy

• Media Literacy

• Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Literacy

Life & Career Skills

• Flexibility & Adaptability

• Initiative & Self-direction

• Social and Cross-cultural Skills

• Productivity & Accountability

• Leadership & Responsibility

These skills need to be displayed across all content areas, including languages, arts, math, science, and so on.

When it's all pulled together, the result needs to be teaching methods that emphasize depth rather than breadth of knowledge. Content is still important to provide context, and the depth must revolve around the acquisition of skills. One of the most powerful revelations is that "direct instruction” will need to be balanced equally with an emphasis on relevant projects that will engage today's students. Fadel cited research indicating that pupils prefer to learn by doing practical things in groups with friends, though using technology and working alone also have an important role. He went on to suggest that schools could begin a more project-based focus by incorporating one project in each subject for each term. He cited Greek democracy as well as philosophers and scientists as subjects for in-depth study in the form of projects that have total relevance to issues we face today.

While Fadel's message was targeted to the educators in the audience, the significance for American families is striking as well. In order to be successful competitors in the global economy of today and tomorrow, teens need to engage in activities that will help them build 21^st century skills. When weighing many options in the form of summer programs, community service, gap year programs, college preparation, and independent schools as well as jobs and internships, it is vital to consider how these activities can enhance qualities such as creativity, flexibility, teamwork, and technology literacy to name a few.

Tomorrow can definitely be bright for those who reap the dividends of the prophet sharing of today.