1 Patrick Cronin & Wendy Shanahan Transforming 21 st Century Teaching & Learning in North Carolina April 18, 2011.

1

Patrick Cronin & Wendy Shanahan

Transforming 21st Century Teaching & Learning in North

CarolinaApril 18, 2011

2

Institute for Emerging Issues

• The Institute for Emerging Issues (IEI) is a public policy organization dedicated to North Carolina’s future competitiveness.

• By supporting collaboration among individuals from all sectors and areas of the state, IEI builds an enduring capacity for progress.

3

What is Creativity?

Creativity means generating ideas that can be used to solve problems or invent new products and services.

Creativity Innovation Competitive Advantage

What Are Creative Skills?

Right

4

It’s using more of your right brain

What Are Creative Skills?

Left Brained Skills

• Linear• Logical• Analytical Tasks

(Think of the SAT)

Right Brained Skills

• Big Picture• Empathy• Inventiveness• Artistry

(Think Multidisciplinary)

5

6

IEI’s Work on Creativity• IEI’s stakeholders identified four strategies

to help N.C. achieve its creative potential:

– Enhance education

– Cultivate creative assets

– Foster connectivity

– Transfer ideas to market

• Progress has been made in all four strategy areas but there is still work to be done.

Existing Creativity Teaching Standards

7

1. Encourage students to ask questions, think creatively, develop and test innovative ideas, synthesize knowledge and draw conclusions

2. Help students exercise and communicate sound reasoning; understand connections; make complex choices; and frame, analyze, and solve problems

Creativity is part of the standards, but this has not always filtered down into the classroom.

8

Enhance Education

• IEI established a Business Committee on Creativity (BCC) to offer recommendations to ensure K-12 education is aligned with the creative skills businesses need from their employees.

Three BCC Co-chairs:

– Louis Foreman, Enventys

– Cynthia Marshall, AT&T North Carolina

– Alex Macris, Themis Media

9

Goals of Business Committee on Creativity

• Monitor whether students are acquiring necessary creativity skills to achieve success in post-secondary education and the workforce.

• Review promising practices for assessing creativity in K-12 education that are aligned with the skills that today’s businesses require of their employees.

10

Business Committee on Creativity

• General Membership:

• 34 members from small and large businesses throughout N.C.

• Represented creative industries such as gaming, music and design, as well as more traditional industries such as healthcare and engineering.

• Discussion:

• The most practiced method of teaching pushes students to find only one answer, or the “right” answer which runs counter to the way businesses operate today.

• Critical thinking, communication skills, using one’s imagination and entrepreneurship skills are most critical for success today.

11

Business Committee on Creativity Recommendations

1. Business Must Communicate to the Policy Community the Urgency of Developing Creative Skills in the K-12 Curriculum

• Message must emphasize that both STEM education and education in creative skills are necessary.

• Business should share the message with policy audiences.

12

2. Business and K-12 Education Must Create an Online Network Designed to Make Direct Connections Between Educators and Business

• Educators would post specific needs and local businesses connect directly with educators on the resources they provide.

3. Business and K-12 Education Must Engage in a Broad-based Marketing Campaign Targeting the Public

• Campaign would focus on the fact that students must develop right-brained skills to succeed in the creativity economy and this shift requires an enduring partnership between education, government and business.

13

www.emergingissues.org