After reviewing the website, www.p21.org, I was fairly excited about the future of our educational system. I love the idea of students actually learning real life skills that will prepare them for their future occupation. So many times students ask the question, "When am I ever going to use this?" Well, with the way the website describe the view for the future of education we, as educators, will never have to hear that again.
I thought the website provided plenty of resources to view, from the Ken Kay discussion on the 3R's and the 4C's to the actual projected plan for state curriculum's. I did have some trouble pulling up some of the attachments for some reason, but that is beside the point.
The only concern I had with the site is that I didn't see any topics on Special Education. I just wonder how this new style of education will affect the standards of special ed. If it will at all, but if the 3R's are combined with the 4C's then special ed. students will be able to receive a little bit of both to help prepare them for their future.
Overall not a bad website or outlook on the future. I just have a question about the issue of funding. We have enough trouble now funding our schools and the new system seems like we will try to incorporate a little more into the curriculum. Which is fine but with more means more staff, supplies,and support.
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I too question the issue of funding. In NJ, the teachers are currently under much ridicule about school spending, so I wonder where the money is coming to support such a huge partnership.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a great point when you talk about the issue of funding. I also think the site is great, and the ideas posed are wonderful, but I am also wondering where the money is going to come from - especially considering the current economy. Maybe if some of the large initiative partners-like Apple and Dell- could help fund needed technologies and training across America then it would work out. In any case, the technological changes need to be applied in education. According to Zach Miners and Angela Pascopella, in their article "The New Literacies", "other nations around the globe...are taking the new skills quite seriously" (Miners and Pascopella, 2007). It is sad, but I guess for the time being it is up to the teachers and corporations to get the "ball rolling". Great blog.
ReplyDelete-Tonya
Reference:
Miners, Z., & Pascopella, A. (2007). The new literacies. District Administration, 43(10), 26–34.
I teach checkbooks and credit responsibility and still hear, "When are we going to use this stuff?". I was taken by the idea presented on the site that government, business, civic leaders and promanent individuals need to step up in favor of improving the significance of educations role in developing 21st century needed skills. If admired individuals beyond teachers begin to promote the idea it might just get somewhere!.
ReplyDeleteWhile my state of Arizona is supposedly a supporter of the P21 movement, I have seen nothing happening differently at the school level. I believe that the partnership between the businesses and the states is questionable at best. Who truly will benefit from this movement, the students or the businesses?
ReplyDeleteI can't agree more with the issue of funding. I don't know how test scores can be linked to funding. Its a bad idea to have schools that are already poor, perform bad on tests and then become even more poor.
ReplyDelete