PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Learning and the Brain Conference November 2011
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PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Learning and the Brain Conference November 2011 THE GLOBAL ACHIEVEMENT GAP BY TONY WAGNER INNOVATION EDUCATION FELLOW TECHNOLOGY & ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTER AT HARVARD “Teaching, Learning, and Leading in the 21st Century” THE NEW EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES NEW SKILLS for Work, Continuous Learning, and Citizenship in a “Knowledge Society” for ALL STUDENTS Convergence of skills needed for careers, college, citizenship Students lack skills relegated to marginal employment and citizenship The “NET GENERATION” is differently motivated to learn Boredom is the leading cause of low achievement and student drop out The NEW PROBLEM: How to create an “Innovation Nation?” We cannot save or spend our way out of this crisis. The only people whose jobs cannot be automated or offshored in a “hyper connected” world are the innovators HOW DO WE STACK UP TO THE COMPETITION? Results of the 2009 PISA Test: PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) is an international study which began in the year 2000. It aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students in participating countries/economies. Since the year 2000 over 70 countries and economies have participated in PISA. THE SEVEN SURVIVAL SKILLS FOR CAREERS, COLLEGE, AND CITIZENSHIP 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Collaboration Across Networks and Leading by Influence Agility and Adaptability Initiative and Entrepreneurialism Effective Oral and Written Communication Accessibility and Analyzing Information Curiosity and Innovation IDEAS TO NOTE ABOUT THE SEVEN SURVIVAL SKILLS Failure needs to be viewed as a prize. There is no innovation without trial and error. We penalize our students when they fail. With no trust and respect, there is no learning. We must ask the right questions. It is not about the answers. With the Internet, knowledge is FREE. Textbooks are dinosaurs. We need more innovation We need to teach students to write with voice. Our High School graduation rate is only 70% as a nation. Students are not college and career ready when they graduate. WHAT IS THE “GLOBAL ACHIEVEMENT GAP”? The Global Achievement Gap is the gap between what even our best schools are teaching and testing Versus The skills ALL students will need for careers, college, and citizenship in the 21st century What gets tested gets taught: Having the wrong metric is worse than having none at all HOW DO WE STACK UP TO THE COMPETITION? 2009 Program for Student Assessment (PISA) Test: Reading – 15th out of 65 countries Science – 23rd out of 65 countries Math – 32nd out of 65 countries College Completion 1995 – US College completion rate was number 1 in the world 2005 – US College completion rate was 12th in the world. One out of 2 students who starts college never completes a degree WHAT MOTIVATES THE “NET” GENERATION? Accustomed to instant gratification and “always on” connection Use the web for 1)extending friendships, 2)interest-driven, self-directed learning, and 3)as a tool for self-expression Constantly connected, creating, and multitasking in a multimedia world – everywhere except in school Less fear and respect for authority – accustomed to learning from peers; want coaching, but only from adults who don’t “talk down” to them Want to make a difference and do interesting / worthwhile work THE CULTURE OF LEARNING VS THE CULTURE OF INNOVATION Individual Achievement vs. Collaboration Specialization vs. Multi-disciplinary Learning Risk Avoidance vs. Trial and Error Consuming vs. Creating Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation Play, Passion, and Purpose IMPLICATIONS FOR “REINVENTION” From an Information-based Learning System Focus on “timeless learning” (academic content that has persisted over time) To a Transformational-based Learning System Focused on using content to master the competencies of “Just-in-Time Learning” (What do you do with what you know?) REDEFINING RIGOR: “HABITS OF MIND” LEARNING TO ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS Weighing Evidence Awareness of Varying Viewpoints Is there a pattern? How are things connected? Where have we seen this before? Speculating on Possibilities / Conjecture What viewpoints are we hearing? Who is the author, and what are his or her intentions? How might it look with a different history? Seeing Connections / Cause and Effect How do we know what is true and false? What is the evidence, and is it credible? What if? Supposing that? Can we imagine alternatives? Assessing Value – Both Socially and Personally What difference does it make? Who cares? So what? “EVIDENCE-DRIVEN” CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT: SOME QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS TO CONSIDER What skills are you teaching, and how are you assessing them? What is the school doing to systematically improve instruction, and how do you know it’s working? Are you a better teacher than 2 years ago – if so, in what ways, and how do you know? How well are your students prepared for college, careers, and citizenship, and how do you know? Is you school “adding value”? How do you know? REDEFINING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE: ACCOUNTABILITY 1. Hold Ourselves Accountable to What Matters Most Track cohort graduation rate and how well students do once they are in college Use The College and Work Readiness Assessment to assess analytic reasoning, critical thinking, problem-solving, and writing Videotape focus groups with recent grads and survey students REDEFINING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE: ACADEMICS 2. Doing the New Work: teaching & assessing the skills that matter most Develop strategies for teaching and assessing the 3C’s: Critical & Creative Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration – in every class and at all grade levels Pilot interdisciplinary courses around essential questions and capstone projects. Consider starting a charter-like “lab” school. Require all students to have digital portfolios, work internships, and service learning projects. REDEFINING EDUCATIONAL EXCELLENCE: COLLABORATION AND TRANSPARENCY 3. Doing the New Work in NEW WAYS “Isolation is the enemy of improvement and innovation” (No pacing charts) Every student has an adult advocate Every teacher on teams for collaborative inquiry – looking at student and teacher work Videotaping teaching and supervision (lesson study vs. evaluation) Peer-reviewed digital portfolios for teachers and administrators DR. HELEN J. NEVILLE UNIVERSITY OF OREGON “Training Brains: Improving Behavior, Cognition, and Neural Mechanisms of Attention in Lower SES Children” EXPERIENCE SHAPES HUMAN BRAIN DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTION Brain systems are modified throughout life. The most plastic neural systems are vulnerable among individuals from lower SES backgrounds. Early environmental enrichment in the form of interventions can protect and enhance the plastic and thus potentially vulnerable neurocognitive systems in children with, or at risk for, developmental deficits. VULNERABILITY Adults with lower language proficiency are syntax vulnerable Adults from lower SES backgrounds are syntax vulnerable Attention in children from lower SES backgrounds are attention vulnerable. PARENT TRAINING IS NEEDED Identify known risk factors for children Stress Language Behavioral control / emotional regulation Identified evidence-based strategies / approaches for targeting each risk factor Examined literature for existing programs using these strategies / approaches PARENT TRAINING: KEY COMPONENTS Provide high levels of positive reinforcement and specific praise Use consistent discipline with clear expectations and natural consequences Use language differently to encourage highquality interactions Provide frequent opportunities for children to Choose, Think, and Solve Problems EFFECTS OF PARENT TRAINING Parents changed their behaviors Parents reported reduced stress Children’s language, cognition, and attention improved ChangingBrains.org CURRICULUM 21 BY HEIDI HAYES JACOBS COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY “Curriculum 21: Essential Education for a Changing World” OUR ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS: How can we prepare our learners for their future? Who owns the learning? What do we cut? What do we keep? What do we create? WHAT YEAR ARE YOU PREPARING YOUR LEARNER FOR? We have 21st Century children. We are currently using curriculum form about 1985. (20th Century curriculum) Our schedule was developed in 1896 (180 days, agrarian, 6 hour day, 8 subjects)- (19th Century schedule) Curriculum must be constantly updated. Tools must be supportive Children and youth process information differently than we do. 5 TRENDS THAT CHANGE TEACHING AND LEARNING Social Production Learning to Do Knowledge Creation Social Networks Learning to Be Defining our identities How we connect with each other determines how learning occurs (relationship, not technologies) Semantic Web Learning to Know Organizing, interpretation, connections, and distribution of information Media Grids Learning to be and do Gaming embeds to Gardner’s five minds of the future Content not confined to linear structures Non-Linear Learning Disciplines are interconnected RESISTANCE TO GROWTH The myth of the good old days Bringing back papyrus The secret in lesson planning is LAMINATION The separation of Tech and Curriculum Globalization is “enrichment” vs. a necessity Are we preparing our students for 2025? BEYOND REFORM TO NEW FORMS Educational Leadership – September 2009 Teaching for the 21st Century One of the most important new forms is PERSONALIZING the GLOBAL Use 21st century tools to navigate teaching and learning. Abundant web resources are there for teachers and administrators: NO EXCUSES THE GLOBAL COMPETENCY MATRIX This matrix was created as part of the Council of Chief State School Officers’ EdSteps Project, in partnership with the Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning. Similar matrices describing citeria for Global Competence within academic disciplines are in development. www.ccsso.org www.EdSteps.org LITERACY Digital Literacy Media Literacy Global Literacy Cultural Literacy CURRICULUM Content Skills Assessment CURRICULUM DESIGN REQUIRES US TO MAKE CHOICES ABOUT WHAT IS ESSENTIAL NOW TO HELP OUR LEARNERS FOR THEIR FUTURE Learners create and share knowledge differently from previous generations. NEW SCHOOL VERSIONS The schedule Long term schedules Daily instructional Time Regular cross-grade level work Regular vertical team planning Length of year: Staggered day – different length each day Off campus time Daily Planning Time Seminars vs. Classes Study groups Rotational blocks in conjunction with set blocks (expanded block for projects, homework blocks, etc) Extended Day Patterns Rethink Grade 12 compulsion Early graduation when ready Additional year if needed Summer Semester 195 – 205 days Rethink interior spaces GROUPING STUDENTS Replace “ability” groups which focus on a childlabel Focus on skills groups Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Long term grouping / looping clusters Vertical Teams or Looped Teams Dignity to school to work Early Graduation or Extra Year ELEMENTARY AGE CHILDREN Developmental grouping around age spans vs. strict grade level grouping Long term grouping / looping clusters Working with pre-school educators Formal work with children and parent groups to support literacy MIDDLE SCHOOL Team models Small group academic advisories Vertical teams Affective grouping Character Education Seminars Independent long term project outside of school HIGH SCHOOL Recognize the different needs of adolescent learners from grades 9 – 12. Group around fundamental literacy skill needs / independent study skill needs Curriculum options based on motivation, aspiration, and post-secondary next steps Early graduation / extra year Science research labs Off campus requirements Dignity to school to work Vocational education Life skills Work Skills 21ST CENTURY SKILLS: LEARNING FOR LIFE IN OUR TIMES BY CHARLES K. FADEL GLOBAL EDUCATION LEAD, CISCO SYSTEMS HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION st “21 Century Skills: The Imperative for Teaching Creativity and Innovation in Schools” CURRICULUM Make curriculum relevant Curriculum relates to late 1800’s still What will the world look like 20 years from now VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguity) THE BENEFITS OF LEARNING Globalization – Productivity – Education Rethink Relevance, Application, Knowledge, and Skills Character A BRAVE NEW WORLD The speed of technology is geometric. The average improvement factor is now 10,512 per year! Computer storage by 2025 will be able to video record your entire life on a smart phone. We can already store this much with cloud computing. SO WHAT DO WE TEACH FOR…. In an era of ubiquitous “Watsons” that give us answers? Fluidity with Technology Asking the right questions Synthesizing and Integrating Creating Interpersonal skills Adaptability Resilience BLOOM’S TAXONOMY REVISED TEACHING AND LEARNING CHALLENGES WHAT is taught: Relevance (applicability, significance) to real-world (for motivation and employability) Skills, not just Knowledge (critical thinking, creativity, etc) Schooling vs. Real-World “…school learning is abstract, theoretical, and organized by disciplines while work is concrete, specific to the task, and organized by problems and projects…” Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), “Learning for Jobs” 2009 21ST CENTURY FRAMEWORK 21ST CENTURY SKILLS FRAMEWORK Core Subjects Native Language / Reading World Languages incl. English Arts Geography History Mathematics Science Government / Civics 21st Century Themes Global Awareness Financial, Econonic, Business and Entrepreneurial literacy Civic Literacy Health Literacy Environmental Literacy 21ST CENTURY SKILLS FRAMEWORK Learning and Innovation Skills Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Creativity and Innovation Communication and Collaboration Information, Media, and Technology Skills Information Literacy Media Literacy ICT (Information, Communications, and Technology) Literacy Life and Career Skills Flexibility and Adaptability Initiative and Self-Direction Social and Cross-Cultural Skills Productivity and Accountability Leadership and Responsibility YOUR CREATIVE BRAIN: SEVEN STEPS TO MAXIMIZE IMAGINATION, PRODUCTIVITY, AND INNOVATION IN YOUR LIFE BY SHELLEY CARSON “Creative Brains: Maximizing Imagination and Innovation in Students” THE CREATIVE PROCESS Preparation (gathering knowledge – Problem Finding) Creative Solution (hardest part) Evaluation of the solution(s) Elaboration Implementation – Get it in the workd in some way We need to learn broadly from multiple fields and explore new ways things can be done. CREATIVE SOLUTIONS Trial and Error – Deliberate creativity Deliberate pathway to test novel ideas (Edison’s light bulb experiments) Failure is part of the process and is VERY important The more ideas you generate, the more likely you will be to succeed. Incubation and Insight (Aha!) Comes with a conviction that you are right Still must be tested BRAINSETS ASSOCIATED WITH CREATIVITY Connect Reason Envision Absorb Transform Evaluate Stream REASON AND EVALUATE BRAINSETS Focused attention Sequential reasoning Conscious-directed thought Judgment Skills – planning and goal setting Step by step problem slving Analysis Critical Thinking Convergent Thinking ABSORB BRAINSET Suspend Judgment Response to novelty Cognition disinhibition (allows for fantasy, imagination, and play) Skills – mindfulness Intellectual curiosity Open to experience State of receptiveness (moment of insight) ENVISION BRAINSET Mental imagery “What if?” thinking Cognitive disinhibition Skills – Imagination Fantasy Play Visualization Mental imagery CONNECT BRAINSET Activation of associational networks (associational elements in new combinations) Goal-directed motivation Mental activation Skills – Divergent Thinking Creative Brainstorming SHINE: USING BRAIN SCIENCE TO GET THEBESR FROM YOUR PEOPLE BY EDWARD HALLOWELL “Shine: Using Brain Science to get Imagination and the best from Your Students” 5 STEPS – CYCLE OF EXCELLENCE Bring out the best in your students. Change your most frustrating students to your most rewarding Exploit the power of the interaction between what is within a student and what lies outside. 5 STEPS TO PEAK PERFORMANCE 1. Select Put the student in the right environment Give them responsibilities that “light up” their brain. 2. Connect Positively connected class environment The engine for growth and health Student feels understood and safe to be authentic Inspired and inspire others Strengthen interpersonal bonds among students Create trust, not shame 3. Play Play catalyzes peak performance This is not recess Engage their imaginations – balance structure and novelty Ask questions 5 STEPS TO PEAK PERFORMANCE 4. Grapple and Grow Naturally follows from play Play leads a student “into” an assignment and helps them work harder This helps the student make progress and gain a sense of well-being and accomplishment Intervene with students who are not making progress and keep them motivated Student achieves his / her best. 5. Shine (Recognition) What happens to students who work hard and advance Teachers help students shine by using the right rewards to increase a student’s desire to excel by providing them with praise, rewards, and awards. Tell a kid to think big and make sure he / she finds success. Then recognize that success! FIVE MINDS FOR THE FUTURE BY HOWARD GARTNER “Five Minds for the Future” THE FUTURE OF LEARNING 4 Mega Trends Globalization – increasing connections between world nations Biological Revolution – cloning, genetic engineering Digital Revolution – multi-user games, social networking, internet resources, twitter Lifelong Learning – education is not K-12 or K16. Professionals need to continue learning 5 MINDS Disciplined Mind (Depth) Synthesizing Mind (Breadth) Creative Mind (Stretch) Respectful Mind Ethical Mind THE DISCIPLINED MIND (DEPTH – GO DEEP) 3 senses of discipline Working steadily and improving Becoming an expert in a field, craft, art, or end up unemployed and working for someone who is an expert (the task of work) Learning major ways of thinking: historical, artistic, scientific, mathematical (the task of school) THE SYNTHESIZING MIND (BREADTH – GO BROAD) Scads of information, especially on the web Largely undigested and unevaluated The synthesizing imperative (good, bad, and “soso” synthesis) Psychology has dropped the ball Darwin is “the great synthesizer.” You need to have criteria to put material together in ways that make sense Work towards synthesis (goal, starting point, gather relevant information, method or strategy, rough draft, feedback, synthesis just in time, repeat until routine) Be more reflective THE CREATIVE MIND (STRETCH – GO BEYOND) Synthesizing what is known (the box itself) Go beyond the known (think outside the box – imperative in the computer age – “app”) Ask good questions – new questions Rubust, iconoclastic temperment Ultimate judge of “the field” An expert is not necessarily creative. One must be willing to try and fail … and then try again. How do we cultivate creativity when we can’t have “error-free” learning? THE RESPECTFUL MIND Diversity is a fact of life – at home and beyond We need to understand others – perspectives, motivation, emotion, and interpersonal intelligence – “empathy schools” Inappropriateness of “corporate top-down model” for schools How do you maintain and improve the atmosphere of respect in a school? THE ETHICAL MIND Higher level of abstraction than the respectful mind Conceptualize oneself as a good worker / professional Conceptualize oneself as a good citizen (school, city, state, world) Act apropriately in both roles It’s not how you think – it’s how you act THE 3 E’S OF GOOD WORK Excellent, Expert, High Quality, Disciplined Ethical, Socially Responsible Engaging, Meaningful, Intrinsically motivated Is it enough to INTEND to use the proper means in the future? Why should I be more ETHICAL than my peers seem to be? We must move beyond “fear and greed” to “trust and inspiration.” 5 MINDS IN A DIGITAL ERA Disciplined – depth and lose out to breadth – online or off-line Synthesis – how to organize the deluge of information – what aids will help synthesize Creativity – Web 2.0 and 3.0 – young people are risk adverse and careerist Respectful / Ethical – to the inner circle, but not necessarily to the wider community. How do you become a “cyber citizen” and master the ethics of roles. WHY DON’T STUDENTS LIKE SCHOOL?” BY DANIEL WILLINGHAM “Critical Thinking and 21st Century Skills” Can we teach students to be good thinkers? Can we reach critical thinking within subject domains? What are the implications for schooling? Critical thinking is rarely a stand-alone skill, and is more often intertwined with knowledge WHY IS THINKING CRITICALLY SO HARD? Thinking tends to focus on a problem’s “surface structure” Surface structure is obvious. Anyone sees the problem. It’s the minute details Deep structure is not as evident. It’s “hard to see.” One must get past the surface structure. The deep structure must be explicit, made evident, practiced. Teach deductive reasoning – conditional reasoning (if… then….) Knowledge helps you recognize a particular type of problem. Teaching of critical thinking cannot be independent of content. Scientific reasoning – teach scientific concepts, practice how to think scientifically READING STRATEGIES Apply background knowledge Relate the sentences (organize the information) Are you “getting it?” (monitor comprehension Students need to understand that reading is communication in order to comprehend. Strategy instruction will not matter once students understand that reading is communication. Strategies for teaching critical thinking are rooted in beliefs that knowledge and skills are intertwined. Must teach access to data, evaluation of data, and how to use data to create knowledge. Words matter – what you really mean to say or do HOW TO TEACH CRITICAL THINKING Define what students should be able to do. (This defines critical thinking.) Analyze skills – prerequisite skills and content needed to support learning these skills Teach the skills in the context of content. ALONE TOGETHER: WHY WE EXPECT MORE FROM TECHNOLOGY AND LESS FROM EACH OTHER BY SHERRY TURKLE “Alone Together: A Meditation fn the Future of Teaching and st Learning in the 21 Century” TECHNOLOGIES Mobile connections promise a new kind of connection but leave people disappointed. Studies have been done about young people and their use of mobile connection both locally and globally Technology can help us lose sight of what is important in education – We need a mid-task correction Multi-tasking – no one can multi-task. Performance degrades with each new task added We need to teach “uni-tasking” skills HUMAN ISSUES WITH TECHNOLOGY USAGE Intimacy Solitude Relationships Connection Communication Vulnerability THE “ALWAYS ON” CULTURE Parents never away from texting / email – phone calls Parents drive children crazy Children are in competition with technology for their parent’s attention Children text all the time of day or night Anxiety occurs when phone is taken away. Children are vulnerable to technology Overwhelmed by the demands of technology. THE “ALWAYS ON” CULTURE Substitute connection for conversation Schools are places where we can help make this connection Many would rather text than talk – even if in the same room. Many children do not know how to hold a conversation We are often too busy to communicate, to create, and to connect on a personal level. We need the give and take of conversation to be understood (physical contact, eye contact, human emotions) Children need conversation to develop, attach, and collaborate THE “ALWAYS ON” CULTURE The internet is a place to experiment with “self.” It is an “identity workshop.” Use the “virtual” to increase the positive in the “real.” We wear the web “on us.” Wearable technology – can bail out of physical world to mix life (real and virtual). Technology makes it easy to hide, communicate when we wish, disengage at will, and control the message. THE “ALWAYS ON” CULTURE Social media can be exhausting, allows them to hide, no face to face apology, control the “conversations,” avoid seeing you’ve hurt others, difficulty ending a conversation on the phone, don’t want to be interrupted In person, something of the person slips through. There is a sense of getting to know the person – the human experience. In order go get a quicker response, you send a simpler question. Our communication connections are “dumbed down.” EDUCATORS PAY ATTENTION TO: Life of performance / performance anxiety / performance exhaustion (profiles everywhere – facebook, college profile, etc.) Separation anxiety (must be able to separate) Feeling a bit alone – bypass feelings (I share, therefore, I am. I want to have a feeling so I need to send a text.) Not a holistic approach to developing a relationship with someone else. Doesn’t allow someone learn to be alone as a whole person. If we don’t teach our children how to be alone, they will always be lonely. Solitude can be healing. EDUCATORS PAY ATTENTION TO: Where do we live and what do we live for? Deliberately Mindfully Live Life in Live Solitude – always expected to reply We have a digital diet – mobile devices are part of our lives and schools – they can’t solve everything – not one solution – the easiest path is not the one we want. EDUCATORS PAY ATTENTION TO: Just because we grew up with the Internet, we assume that the Internet is all grown up. Restart conversations that we allow to get derailed. Find conversational opportunities Talk to students about not avoiding conversations. Find a balance between speed and reflection / connect with autonomous solitude Slow down, reflect, recenter EDUCATORS PAY ATTENTION TO: 21st Century Embody (Content) – immerse in the content and the learning Scaffold (Give students what they need to find success) What does the student need to hear? What are they ready to hear? Make connections and make unusual connections. Social, Emotional, and Cognitive Connections