Presenter:Dr. Stanley E. Hopkins

Assistant State Superintendent of SchoolsDivision of Technical & Adult Education Services

West Virginia Department of Education

INCORPORATING21ST CENTURY LEARNING

SKILLSIN

CAREER & TECHNICAL EDUCATION

OBJECTIVES

• Discuss the impact of technology and the global economy on the American workplace and the skill sets needed for success in the 21st Century;

• Identify how the focus of career & technical education must change to better prepare students for success in the 21st Century workplace; and

• Relate “specific” actions career & technical educators can take to achieve

the desired outcomes.

• 75% of the current world wealth creation is human capital.

• In ten years, knowledge will double every year.

• 25% of the work in this country can be done by anyone, anywhere.

THE CHANGING WORLD (Ed Barlow, www.creatingthefuture.com)

THE CHANGING WORLD (Ed Barlow, www.creatingthefuture.com)

• After defense, the most critical challenge facing this country is developing a competitive workforce.

• 30 years from now, we will need three planet earths to meet the natural resource needs of China alone.

• The oil industry is the only one that can raise prices to maintain profitability – others must lower costs and add value to survive.

• The birthrate in industrialized nations has decreased resulting in an aging population and worker shortage.

• 70% of the world’s purchasing power is in non-English speaking countries.

• We will need to double global food production by 2525.

• Outsourcing saves manufacturers 15-25% in costs.

• Water supply is becoming a problem in the United States – choice between food or a shower.

• We will live or die by how we deal with the environment and use available natural resources.

• We are becoming a molecular manipulation economy.

• And the list goes on and on……………………….

Employer Perspectives

“Are They Ready To Work?”Employers’ perspectives on the Basic knowledge and applied skills of new entrants to the 21st Century U.S. Workforce (2006)

National Survey sponsored by:The Conference BoardPartnership for 21st Century SkillsCorporate Voices for Working Families Society for Human Resource Management

High School Graduates

Rank Applied Skills1. Reading Comprehension 80.3%2. Teamwork/collaboration 70.73. Oral Communications 70.34. Ethics/Social Responsibility 63.45. Critical Thinking/Problem Solving 57.56. Information Technology Application 53.07. Written Communications 52.78. Diversity 52.19. Lifelong Learning/Self Direction 42.510. Creativity/Innovation 36.311. Leadership 29.2

Applied skills rank ordered by percent rating as “very important.”Number of respondents varied for each question, ranging from 352-356.

Applied skills necessary for successful entry into the 21st century workplace

High School GraduatesRank Basic Knowledge/Skills1. Professionalism/Work Ethic 62.5%2. English Language 61.83. Writing in English 49.44. Mathematics 30.45. Foreign Languages 11.0

Basic skills rank ordered by percent rating as “very important.”Number of respondents varied for each question, ranging from 336-361.

Top five basic knowledge skills for successful entry into the 21st century workplace

Unfortunately, employers report that over 40% of new entrants with a high school diploma are “deficient” in their overall preparation for entry-level jobs.

High School Graduates are:• “Deficient” in the basic knowledge and skills of

Writing in English, Mathematics, and Reading Comprehension•“Deficient” in Written Communications and

Critical Thinking/Problem Solving, both of which may be dependent on basic

knowledge and skills,•“Deficient” in Professionalism/Work Ethic; and,•“Adequate” in three “very important” applied

skills: Information Technology Application, Diversity, and Teamwork/Collaboration.

Not only has the world and workplace changed, but so have our students.

They are digital natives“wired” differently neurologicallyinstant messenger generationmulti-taskers

“Today’s students are fundamentally different from previous generations in the way they think; in the way they access, absorb, interpret, process and use information; and in the way they view, interact and communicate in and with the modern world.”

Ian Jukes

Both the changes in the world and our students have profound implications for us as educators because while these changes were occurring, many schools have remained relatively unchanged!

Given all of this,What are our options?

In RealityOur Options Are Limited!

We must re-examine -What we do and answer three basic questions:

•What do we expect students to know and be able to do? (Curriculum)•How will we know if they have learned it? Or, a better question is, what can they do with what they have learned? (Assessment)•What do we do if they don’t? (Instruction)

We must collectively defined our destination as the development of a world class workforce.Then, we must take the journey!

In West Virginia, we believe the answer lies in 21st Century Teaching and Learning as defined by the partnership for 21st Century Skills.

The major milestones along this untraveled path have been established…the six elements of the 21st Century Learning

Six Elements of 21st Century Learning

• 1.Emphasize Core Subjects

• 2. Emphasize Learning

Skills

• 3. Use 21st Century Tools

• 4. Teach in a 21st Century Context

• 5. Teach 21st Century Content

• 6. Use 21st Century Assessments

• More impact on academic areas– Revision of CSOs– Higher Blooms/More Rigor

• In CTE, emphasis on achievement of academic skills– Literacy– Numeracy– Making academic skills visible to CTE students– ACT WorkKeys® Assessments of all CTE

completers

1. Emphasize Core Subjects

2. 21st Century Learning Skills

Information and Media Literacy– Accessing, evaluating, analyzing information– Creating Information – Making judgments about sources of

information

21st Century Learning Skills• Communication Skills

–Understanding, managing, creating–Oral, written, multimedia

21st Century Learning Skills

Critical Thinking/ Systems Thinking

– Sound reasoning– Making complex choices– Understanding relationships and

interconnectedness

21st Century Learning Skills

• Problem identification, formulation and solution

• Creativity and intellectual curiosity

21st Century Learning SkillsInterpersonal and collaborative skills– Teaming with others to productively solve

problems

– Taking on different roles within a group

– Being open to others’ ideas

– Respecting diversity

21st Century Learning Skills

• Self-Direction– Monitoring one’s own understanding, learning,

motivation, resources

• Accountability and Adaptability– Exercising personal responsibility– Flexibility – Setting high standards for themselves and

meeting those standards

21st Century Learning SkillsSocial Responsibility– Act with the larger

interests of the community in mind

– Act ethically in school, the workplace and in the community

3. 21st Century TOOLS!• Information and Communication Tools

– computers, networking

• Audio, Video, Media and Multimedia Tools

• Instructional Tools– Electronic whiteboards– Data projectors– Responders

21st Century TOOLS!• Problem Solving Tools

– Spreadsheets, design tools

• Information and Communication Tools– Word processing, email– Presentation software– Web Development Tools– Internet Search Tools

21st Century TOOLS!

Interpersonal /Self Directional Tools– Collaboration Tools– Time Management/Calendar Tools– E-learning

4. 21st Century Context

“Why do I need to know this?”

A Strong Point In CTE

21st Century Context• Make the content

relevant to students’ lives

• Bring the world into the classroom

• Take the students out into the world

21st Century Context

Create opportunities for students to interact with each other, with teachers, and with knowledgeable adults in authentic learning experiences.

5. 21st Century ContentGlobal Awareness– Using 21st century skills to understand

global issues– Working with people of different cultures,

religions and lifestyles– Learning non-English terms and language

to better understand other nations and cultures

21st Century Content• Financial, Economic, Business and

Entrepreneurial Literacy– Personal financial literacy– Understanding the role of business and the

economy– Understanding the role of entrepreneurship

21st Century ContentCivic Literacy–Participate effectively in forms of

government–Exercise the rights and

obligations of citizenship–Make intelligent choices as a

citizen

6. 21st Century Assessment

• Test 21st Century Skills

• Summative assessments should be balanced with formative assessments – assessment of learning vs. assessment for learning

Let’s Recap!

21st Century Learning has become the basis of many changes and new initiatives in Career and Technical Education in West

Virginia over the coming past two years and into the foreseeable future.

Implications forCareer & Technical Education

For years, CTE juggled:

with a single ball.

Traditional CTE focused on teaching technical skillsand we did a good job!

Then we were asked to reinforce academic skills through technical

content.

Juggling with two balls was more difficult than one…

but we’re getting better at it.

And yet…

there is still a profound gap between the knowledge and skills most students learn in school and

those they need in 21st century communities and workplaces.

We know that to be successful in the 21st century, students need more than technical and academic skills.

They need 21st century skills:

Thus, we must learn to jugglewith three balls

By the age of 21, this digital generation

will have spent less than 5,000 hours

reading books, less than 9,000 hours

attending school, and more than 10,000

hours playing video games.

It’s not easy to get their attention because they are juggling too!

computers

podcasts

Internet

email

cell phones

MP3 players

video games

PDAsdigital cameras

text messaging

MySpace

YouTube

learn to juggle.

It’s time schools reflected the rest of our students’

lives.Thanks and have a great

conference!Presentation available at:http://careertech.k12.wv.us/PowerPointPresentations.htm