Gifted Education And 21st Century Skills

Gifted Education and 21st Century Skills:

Models for All Classrooms

New Wisconsin PromiseJanuary 14, 2009

Dr. Pam Clinkenbeard, clinkenp@uww.eduJackie Drummer, blufflovers@wi.rr.com

Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or to the present are likely to miss the

future.

~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

So what is in our children’s futures?

Continued outsourcing of jobsContinued automation of jobsKnowledge doubling exponentially and in increasingly shorter periods of timeJobs/technologies of the future that have not yet been inventedDwindling global resources

Thomas Friedmann, “The World is Flat”

Shift Happens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U

We desperately need…indeed we may not survive…without a

generation of young people who are imaginative, inventive,

fearless learners, and compassionate leaders.

~David Warlick

Insert 21st century skills route21.com

21st Century Skills

Higher Level Understanding in Core Content Areas…

…through interdisciplinary themes:Global awarenessFinancial & entrepreneurial literacyCivic literacyHealth literacy

21stcenturyskills maps

21st century skills have long been embedded in curriculum for gifted and

talented students because…

gifted kids, (fueled by their curiosity and intense love of learning), have driven their teachers and parents to explore

many of the 21st century skills.

What are some of the staples of excellent gifted and talented programming?High quality curriculum and resourcesEmbedded creative and critical thinking Decision-making trainingProblem-solving trainingResearch and “I” search skillsProblem-based learning (PBL)Early foreign language experiencesVaried products for REAL audiences (not just the teacher)

However, in the 21st century, ALL people need 21st century skills.

The ability to learn new information and new technologies, and to adapt

flexibly with innovative thinking, will separate those who are prepared from

those who are not.

21st Century Skills: Learning and Innovation

Creativity and innovation

Critical thinking and problem solving

Communication and collaboration

21st Century Skills: Information, Media and Technology Literacy

Informational literacy

Media literacy

Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) literacy

21st Century Skills: Life and Career Skills

Flexibility and adaptabilityInitiative and self-directionSocial and cross-cultural skillsProductivity and accountabilityLeadership and responsibility

21st century teaching must embrace huge paradigm shifts…

Teachers must be the experts at teaching and learning, not the repositories of vast quantities of information.Our job is to help kids process (analyze and evaluate) information, remix (synthesize) it, and present it in new ways.

Are we preparing students for their futures, or for our pasts?

Willard Daggett

Creativity will become as important as literacy.

Sir Ken Robinson

21st century teaching will require more attention to process than ever before

We will teach a subject, not to produce “little living libraries” on that subject, but to teach students to think for themselves, using the knowledge, tools and dispositions of that discipline.This will require moving beyond the basics in core competencies, and weaving the core content together at much higher levels of thinking.

Informational technology,and media and technology literacy will become

the currency of the future…

Accessing and navigating through volumes of informationEvaluating data and informationLeveraging information – about what, so what, using what, what next?Applying information to make the world a better place

21st century teaching must embrace another huge paradigm

shiftTeachers will become the guides to ethical thinking, the sorters, the pickers and the choosers – what to use, how to use it, and why to use certain technologies or informationJust because we can do something, should we do it?

Survey ResultsMost important goals for helping [not just

gifted] students fully develop capabilities:

all teachers know how to differentiatestudents appropriately challenged in all areas of talentstudents appropriately challenged most of the school day

Survey Results

Question:What qualities do you seek in hiring classroom teachers in general that might help your district meet the needs of gifted and talented students?

Survey Results

ability to differentiate in regular classroompromote deep understanding/engagementshow creativity/flexibility, other 21st skillsexperience with diverse populations“passion to help students achieve to their highest level”

Learning To Change and Changing To Learn

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tahTKdEUAPk

Learning in the past vs. Learning in the future Slow, controlled

release of informationSingular process/singular taskLinear, logical, sequentialWork independently first, then network“Just in case” learningDeferred gratifaction/rewardTeaching to curriculum guide and/or tests

Quickly retrieved informationParalllel multi-processing tasksProcessing of pictures, graphs, video, then text“Networking” simultaneously “Just in time” learningInstant gratification/rewardTeaching for relevance, usefulness, fun

What are we resolved to do to bring our schools into the 21st century?

And how do we not only keep the pace, let alone be the guide?

21st Century Skills: Learning and Innovation

Creativity and innovation

Critical thinking and problem solving

Communication and collaboration

Creative/DivergentThinking Skills

FluencyFlexibilityOriginalityElaboration

(from Paul Torrance)

Diversity and Achievement Gap Issues with 21st Century Skills

Identification of talents by try-outRaise expectations for studentsIncrease early enrollment in challenging coursesIncorporate multicultural curriculumProvide models

21st Century Skills: Information, Media and Technology Literacy

Informational literacy

Media literacy

Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) literacy

Talk to your neighbor: Compare and contrast the way most older

adults (over 45 year olds) learn to use a new piece of technology

with the way most teenagers or “twenty-somethings” learn to use

a new piece of technology

What does each generation have to teach the other?

Do today’s young people even learn in a whole new way?

What does this mean for our teaching “methods?”

Consider this:While “digital immigrants” (those who did

not grow up using much of today’s technology) will need to improve

technical skills,“digital natives” (those essentially younger

than thirty) may need help in the future improving social skills

Dr. Small, Psychiatrist at UCLA, quoted in eschool news, 12-04

The 21st century has already seen a dramatic evolution of technology

and applications. How many of them have you heard of? How

many do you use? How will you stay educationally current?

Is it time for “a whole new mind?”

Or a whole new mindset about teaching and learning?

Are we as educators willing to give up our status as “the

learned” -- and remain lifelong learners?

Are we willing to learn alongside our students, and to let the lines

between teacher and student blur?

21st Century Skills: Life and Career Skills

Flexibility and adaptabilityInitiative and self-directionSocial and cross-cultural skillsProductivity and accountabilityLeadership and responsibility

Steps of the CPS Process

State the problem Fact-findingClarify the problemGenerate ideasEvaluate solutionsPlan for action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yCB4i7GJuM&feature=related

So…what does this mean for

YOUR classroom?

In the words of Kevin Honeycutt, “We challenge you to challenge your kids to create, invent and

improve the world through their ingenuity.”

And…in the words of Pam Clinkenbeard and Jackie Drummer, “ We challenge you to keep one foot firmly planted in excellent pedagogy, with the other foot propelling you forward into this 21st century -- with your heart wrapped around your students, and your mind focused on their future.”

Resourceswww.21stcenturyskills.orgwordle.net (word art) webtools4U2use.wikispaces.complurk.comtwitter.com (microblogging)artsnacks.org (Kevin Honeycutt’s site)delicious.com (save bookmarks online)http://www.wetpaint.comgiftededucation.ning.com (for more ideas – created by Ginger Lehman)

Questions?