Skeptical, Yet Encouraged: 21st Century Skills

            While I can understand, and at many times, agree with, the concerns of anti-P21 mouthpieces such as Diane Ravitch or Jay Matthews, that a “skill-centered, knowledge-free education” (Ravitch) is no adequate substitute for strong content knowledge, I do believe there is something to be said in support of “21^st Century Skills.”  True enough that “knowledge is… required to identify the root nature of the problem you’re dealing with” when exercising critical skills (Willingham), but the teaching of these applicable critical skills is, in my opinion, an essential lesson that can serve students better in their adult lives.  I do believe that content is essential, and I also have an issue with the idea of wanting to churn out a bunch of empty-headed, yet cool and charismatic business leaders to the real world.

            However, there are certainly demands and challenges in that real world that require people to communicate effectively and build bridges to solve problems on the community, national, or global level.  There are certain things that cannot be learned about addressing these problems from reading more Shakespeare or from memorizing the periodic table.  I am with Judy Salpeter when she quotes Margaret Honey on the importance of “deep learning” by saying that "A broad overview is important… but stopping frequently to involve students in projects that allow them to go deep is equally important. We need a balanced approach."  She also discusses evidence that can be found in after-school, extracurricular activities, such as art, music, or drama, that expand the pool of opportunities for young people.  These connections made beyond the classroom supply experiences that should not be overlooked. 

Yet at the same time, we need to approach how we manage our time – for content or for skills – with caution.  As Stacy Teicher Khadaroo put it, we can introduce the teaching of these skills, “while still doing due diligence to the three R’s,” namely, of content learning in the core subjects.  Integration is key.  Perhaps a synthesis of these approaches will provide the outcomes we are looking for as we show our students the way into the 21^st Century.