Research by the Center for Critical Thinking at Sonoma State criticalthinking.org shows how mistakes in critical thinking played a role in the Space Shuttle Columbia accident. See their report here.
In what measure did a lack of critical thinking affect the economic breakdown? How about the auto industry failure? Afterall, none of these participants are better trained then the scientists and managers of NASA.
However, there is a silver lining. The Space Shuttle Columbia case study shows that many problems in this complex 21st century can be solved and avoided by providing formal critical thinking education, along with the other 21st century skills of problem solving, collaboration, communication and innovation training. These five knowledge skills are what’s called the higher-order thinking (HOT) skills. In the 21st Century Skills Framework of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, one of the four student outcomes is these HOT skills, called by the Partnership Learning and Innovation Skills. So they are the hottest topic in education today.
I will go so far as to assert that:
The 21 century skills of critical thinking, problem solving, innovation, communication, and collaboration can pull us out of this recession, and bring about a new age of economic prosperity.
Furthermore, I will make a high probability prediction that:
If the USA gets out of this recession, it will be because of the energetic application of the five central 21st century skills of critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, communication, and innovation.
There will be some who will say ‘well of course that will be why,’ but that only proves the point that they are obvious, core 21st century skills, specifically higher-order thinking (HOT) skills, which the Partnership for 21st Century Skills calls “Learning and Innovation Skills” in their 21st Century Skills Framework.
Dennis Van Roekel, National Education Association president, said this month:
NEA is a firm proponent of providing all children with the critical, intellectual, and personal skills they need to be successful in the 21st century. This is why we serve on the board of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
The fundamental belief of this partnership is that as the world is flattening out, it is imperative that our students are equipped with skills that reach beyond those required for a simple multiple-choice test. Our nation will need students capable of filling emerging job sectors like robotics, biotechnology, and microelectronics. And frankly, if we fail to move our students up the value chain by staying competitive, these jobs will simply go elsewhere.
Consider these excerpts from the 2006 report, 21st Century Skills, Education & Competitiveness, by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills:
——————— Excerpts from 2006 Report ————————
The ingenuity, agility and skills of the American people are crucial to U.S. competitiveness. Our ability to compete as a nation—and for states, regions and communities to attract growth industries and create jobs—demands a fresh approach to public education. We need to recognize that a 21st century education is the bedrock of competitiveness—the engine, not simply an input, of the economy.
And we need to act accordingly: Every aspect of our education system—preK–12, postsecondary and adult education, after-school and youth development, workforce development and training, and teacher preparation programs—must be aligned to prepare citizens with the 21st century skills they need to compete.
Over the last several decades, the industrial economy based on manufacturing has shifted to a service economy driven by information, knowledge and innovation.
Many of the fastest-growing jobs in the service sector are high-end occupations, including doctors, lawyers, engineers, and sales and marketing professionals. “More than three-quarters of all jobs in the United States are in the service economy, …” (Council on Competitiveness, 2008).
“Economic success is increasingly based on the effective utilization of intangible assets, such as knowledge, skills, and innovative potential as the key resource for competitive advantage.”
—Economic and Social Research Council, 2005
“In the New Economy, knowledge, rather than natural resources, is the raw material of business.”
—Center for Regional Studies, 2002
Advanced economies, innovative industries and firms, and high-growth jobs require more educated workers with the ability to respond flexibly to complex problems, communicate effectively, manage information, [i.e., critical thinking] work in teams and produce new knowledge.
The United States leads the world in several high-growth, ICT-intensive industries, including technology, media and telecommunications, and could dominate in emerging industries, such as advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, digital media, geospatial technology, nanotechnology, photonics and renewable energy. Fueling creativity, innovation and adaptability that are the hallmarks of competitive, high-growth and emerging industries requires a highly skilled,
creative and nimble workforce. (Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, 2007).
“The best employers the world over will be looking for the most competent, most creative, and most innovative people on the face of the earth and will be willing to pay them top dollar for their services. This will be true not just for top professionals and managers, but up and down the length and breadth of the workforce. Those countries that produce the most important new products and services can capture a premium in world markets that will enable them to pay high wages to their citizens.”
—Tough Choices or Tough Times, the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, National Center on Education and the Economy, 2007
The nation needs to do a much better job teaching and measuring advanced, 21st century skills that are the indispensible currency for participation, achievement and competitiveness in the global economy. Beyond the assessment of reading, mathematics and science, the United States does not assess other essential skills that are in demand in the 21st century. All Americans, not just an elite few, need 21st century skills that will increase their marketability, employability and readiness for citizenship, such as:
• Thinking critically and making judgments about the barrage of information that comes their way every day—on the Web, in the media, in homes, workplaces and everywhere else.Critical thinking empowers Americans to assess the credibility, accuracy and value of information, analyze and evaluate information, make reasoned decisions and take purposeful action.
• Solving complex, multidisciplinary, open-ended problems that all workers, in every kind of workplace, encounter routinely. The challenges workers face don’t come in a multiple-choice format and typically don’t have a single right answer. Nor can they be neatly categorized as “math problems,” for example, or passed off to someone at a higher pay grade. Businesses expect employees at all levels to identify problems, think through solutions and alternatives, and explore new options if their approaches don’t pan out. Often, this work involves groups of people with different knowledge and skills who, collectively, add value to their organizations.
• Creativity and entrepreneurial thinking—a skill set highly associated with job creation (Pink 2005, Robinson 2006, Sternberg 1996). Many of the fastest-growing jobs and emerging industries rely on workers’ creative capacity—the ability to think unconventionally, question the herd, imagine new scenarios and produce astonishing work. Likewise, Americans can create jobs for themselves and others with an entrepreneurial mindset—the ability to recognize and act on opportunities and the willingness to embrace risk and responsibility, for example.
• Communicating and collaborating with teams of people across cultural, geographic and language boundaries—a necessity in diverse and multinational workplaces and communities. Mutually beneficial relationships are a central undercurrent to accomplishments in businesses—and it’s not only top managers who represent companies anymore. All Americans must be skilled at interacting competently and respectfully with others.
• Making innovative use of knowledge, information and opportunities to create new services, processes and products. The global marketplace rewards organizations that rapidly and routinely find better ways of doing things. Companies want workers who can contribute in this environment.
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CONCLUSION
Providing formal training in critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, innovation, and communication (HOT skills) along with improved training in science, math, and English proficiency in the 4-16 curriculum, can pull the USA out of the recession and bring about a new age of economic prosperity.
Posted by worldlogicleague 
Posted by worldlogicleague 