GUEST OPINION: Employers increasingly seek 21st century skills
By Gerald Chertavian and Chris Gabrieli
The Herald News (Massachusetts)
11-15-08
Gerald Chertavian is a member of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and chairs the Board’s Task Force on 21st Century Skills. He is also the founder and CEO of Year Up. Chris Gabrieli is a member of the Task Force, and is Chairman of Mass2020.
Just a few short decades ago, the needs and demands of employers were simple. A high school diploma could get you a livable-wage job, and opportunities for anyone with basic skills were easy to find.
Fast forward to present day. To succeed at jobs in today’s fast-moving, high-technology global economy, employees require much more. Mastery of academic content and basic skills are necessary but not sufficient for today’s employers who need candidates with “21st century skills”: Employees who can lead, work in teams, be creative and use technology to find logical solutions to complex problems. …
The definition of 21st century skills stems from extensive research done on the real skills nationwide employers say they need, and have led to the development of the Partnership on 21st Century Skills and efforts across the country. The catch-all phrase covers a spectrum of skills and abilities, ranging from critical thinking to creativity, innovation to leadership, global awareness to media and financial literacy. …
The task force included leaders in business, education and technology. As a group, we worked to develop innovative recommendations for ways to integrate 21st century skills in the K-12 curriculum, prepare teachers to teach them and to find ways to assess each student’s level of proficiency. Our recommendations focus on significant changes to educator preparation, standards, measures of accountability and assessment. Details will be presented to the board for their consideration on Nov. 18.
Full-scale change will take time and support, and we recognize that right now budgets are tight. That said, we urge state officials to see that by investing in the future success of our students, we are devoting our scarce resources to areas that will create the largest return. In Massachusetts, our students are already outperforming their peers around the nation academically, but that’s no longer enough. For the good of our children, and their children, we must now focus on becoming the nation’s leader in providing a 21st century education.
December 9, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Critical thinking, creativity, innovation and leadership are professional qualities that appear at various stages of a career. Most of the time they are based on a solid education and they emerge after certain periods of professional experience. I would say, it would be better if they (Task Force on 21st Century Skills) were concerned more about the actual education, which is declining, rather than about the fruits of experience+education.
December 10, 2008 at 3:00 am
Absolutely right, the basics of education need to be the primary focus, but with critical thinking as a part of their instruction, as opposed to rote memorization. This is what the Partnership is saying too. In the knowledge based high tech economy of the 21st century employers need people who can think on their feet, present ideas in a logical and objective fashion, and analyze situations logically. In other words they need critical thinkings skills upon graduation from high school or college/University.
You say critical thinking is the “fruit of experience+education” but if they have no experience or education in critical thinking skills can such a barren tree produce the high level critical thinking skills they require immediately upon graduation?
A case in point is the Shuttle accident. The people involved were highly experienced and educated. Yet a report on the causes of the accident showed fundamental mistakes in basic critical thinking as applied to the situation they were facing.
I’ll put the report on this blog when I get a chance as it shows the critical need for formally teaching critical thinking skills.