The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is a national organization advocating educational models that support 21st century readiness in order to prepare students to compete in an innovative global economy. In doing so, P21 builds collaborative partnerships among education, business, community, and government leaders.
After perusing the P21 web site, I found myself swayed by the organization's emphasis on fusing the traditional three Rs of education with the four Cs of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity. Instead of a static web site that simply provides information or a rationale, however, this site reveals how P21 actively and urgently promotes 21st Century Skills so desperately needed by today's youth to survive in a globally competitive society. In fact, one thing that surprised me was that even though P21 began its crusade in 2002, it has not lost momentum, as press releases, current events, and news stories exhibit a mission that is alive, well, and as dedicated as ever.
Further, the web site itself is digitally dynamic, giving access to twitters, blogs, wikis, videos, downloadable materials, educator resources, and links to professional learning communities. In addition to providing a comprehensive skills framework for 21st century learning, the organization provides state support through guidelines, materials, and access to professional development. Additionally, as an individual teacher, I was delighted to gain access to innovative instructional resources through the site's Route 21, as well as a window into classrooms through a collection of videos showing 21st Century education in action.
Overall, I feel quite encouraged by P21's web site and efforts during a time that otherwise seems overcast by economic crisis and a bleak educational landscape. Knowing that P21 holds fast to such a critical mission and chips away to develop a uniform vision for our nation's future gives me hope. A hope that my state will come to embrace technology as a necessity for helping students develop the 21st Century Skills so vital for global survival--their survival and ours as a nation.
Mary,
ReplyDeleteAs far as resource sites go, P21 is laid out very well. It is easy to find information quickly and the layout is wonderfully designed. I appreciate that we can access their booklets and pamphlets online for free and peruse them ourselves to determine if the material is useful or not. All to often some of these pretty looking education websites charge a fee for downloading materials you cannot examine before doing so. Getting a peek at what they have to offer was definitely a point in this sites favor.
While I was not very impressed with this website, like you it was encouraging to see that a group is out there acknowledging the need to teach our students twenty-first century skills that is not just made up of teachers. When bills are passed that focus more on standardized testing I tend to feel there is little support for teachers out there, yet sites like these that are a coalition of individuals from various professions reminds me that teachers do have the support of the community in various forms.
Shawn