The word “direction” seems to be something of a rallying cry for change as of late. Both presidential candidates have spoken at length about the new “direction” each would take the country if elected. Faced with a sluggish economy, a number of high-profile CEOs and CFOs have discussed changing the “direction” of their companies in an effort to survive. Even the beloved Sunday afternoon post-game show is filled with talk of struggling teams needing more “direction” on the field. And few professions are as enamored with “direction” as education. There is no shortage of opinions on where we as a collective should be headed, but most institutional compasses point in the general direction of “21st century education.”
Before we start charging forward, however, it’s important to stop and consider the concept of direction as it relates to the process of navigation. Consider the near ubiquitous GPS device: provided the user knows where he/she wants to go, the GPS unit can use 3-D Trilateration to determine the starting position, the final destination, and the most direct path between the two. Thanks to satellites, the days of dead reckoning geophysical navigation are over.
When it comes comes to educational change, there are no geosynchronous beacons to guide us, but that does not mean we cannot chart an informed course. Just as the GPS device relies on known reference points, we too must use external markers to decide which “direction” will lead us to our goal. Thanks to research and networked learning, the days of self-referent intellectual navigation are over as well.
The Starting Point
Just as a GPS unit must determine one’s starting point before plotting a path, teachers and administrators must begin their journey toward 21st century education by developing an understanding of their students’ needs. Every school is in a slightly different place, but all our students share a common experience; they are digital learners contending with analog classrooms. To get a sense of what this means, A Vision of K-12 Students Today should provide some insight:
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Acknowledging that students today are different and that we need to adjust our instructional practices is the first step in moving forward…but moving forward to where? What knowledge, skills, and expertise will they need in this unknown future? There are no crystal balls, but there are some indicators that can help define the final destination.
The Final Destination
No one can predict exactly what our students will need to know and be able to do once they leave our care, but some good thinking from several prominent organizations has done much to address the issue. The 21st Century Skills from NCREL/Metiri, the National Educational Technology Standards from ISTE, and the Framework for 21st Century Learning (shown below) from The Partnership for 21st Century Skills provide a solid and comprehensive framework for our final, if rather fluid, destination.
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It’s important that we don’t let the uncertainty of this moving target diminish our desire to move in this “direction”. Reaching this destination will require some reference points along the way and the ability to change course as needed.
Reference Points for the Journey
Once we have an understanding of where we are and where our students need to be, the real work begins; the journey itself. Accurate navigation requires solid reference points, and the more the better. With respect to curriculum development, we are looking to Wiggins and McTighe’s Understanding By Design for guidance. For classroom instruction, we have adopted Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching as our benchmark.
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In addition to these pedagogical landmarks, we also need to consider the standards and recommendations regarding our respective content areas. Every major professional organization has developed some position statement and/or guidelines regarding 21st century education, including the Definition of 21st Century Literacies from NCTE and The Technology Principle from NCTM, and we need to be mindful of these as we navigate forward.
Coordinating all the Coordinates
Although it may seem simplistic to compare charting a course for a geographical destination to that of determining a direction for modern education, the processes are not all that unalike. The key to each is to know where you are, where you want to be, and having sufficient points of reference to guide your journey. Consumer-grade GPS technology can determine your location and suggest a route using only three satellites; given the abundant resources at our disposal, surely we can steer our classrooms in the right direction.