21st Century Education

Up until now, we’ve encapsulated the environment that the 21^st century imposes on teachers and learners (“Moving Towards a 21^st Century”).  This brings forth a need to further understand the components of education.  What would a 21^st century school look like?  What would the teacher’s role be and what characteristics would define a learner? 

·         The Teacher:  Traditionally, a teacher is someone who facilitates learning in a defined area and who works with children ranging from Grade R to Grade 12 (www.thefreedictionary.com, not dated).  However, the scope and range of skills needed to be developed by students’ demands more.  Howard Gardner suggests that teachers need to change the way they think about how students learn and the many ways in different students learn, i.e. their multiple intelligences (1983) and incorporate these into their teaching styles.  Therefore teachers need to be a lot more versatile and flexible in the 21^st century.  

·         The Learner:  Traditionally, a learner/student is an individual that is guided by the teacher.  He/she gains knowledge and understanding of the subject matter that makes up the curriculum.  Students will also be taught life lessons through the hidden curriculum. The learner participates in the learning process which allows the individual to grasp the important concepts of the subject matter (the free dictionary.com, Not dated)(dictionary.com, Not dated).  The 21^st century learner communicates differently.  Social networking has become a preferred means of communicating.  If we consider that 70% of all 4-year-old children use computers, then we also see how the role of the teacher changes.  Teachers also need to learn to communicate through these mediums in order to understand their learners and their learner’s learning preferences (Prins, 2012).  We’ll return to this concept of media a bit later.

·         The Curriculum:  The curriculum is a document that describes what the teachers are required to teach the learners. It is the subject matter or content. This is the document that requires that the learner knows certain subject matter by the end of the specific grade the learner is in.

The curriculum has changed a number of times and the educators and schools have to constantly adapt to the ever-changing curriculum.  Dichabe’s research has showed that school leavers are ill-equipped and not ready to enter to enter the workplace as they do not get taught the skills and knowledge applicable for this.  Dichabe continues, “Educators as well as learners are not informed about the expectations in the labour market” (2006).  This is an indication that the curriculum is lacking or not placing enough emphasis on these essential skills.

·         The School:  Traditionally, a school can be defined as an institution where the learner is able to grasp and comprehend the information that they are taught by the educator. It is the institution where the learners are able to learn their academic curriculum that is set out for them as well as life lessons, skills and expertise (dictionary.com, [Not dated]).  Based on the definitions of 21^st century learners and teachers, it is clear, that schools need to up their game in terms of technology in order to create the environment in which learners are able and comfortable, not only to communicate, but also to learn.  This environment needs to be a useful resource in which the teacher can use to incorporate the multiple intelligences and teach the learners how to use these mediums as preparation for them to enter the workplace. 

What we’ve established thus far, is that technology plays a major role in differentiating traditional education and 21^st century education.  This also brings about the necessity to understand what media is available, what skills are needed to operate these media and how technology impacts and connects international education.  These concepts will be discussed in our next blog... “The Role of Technology in the 21st Century for Education”

References

1.         Brainy Quote,  (Not dated),  [Online],  Available from http://www.brainyquote.com/words/te/teacher228434.html. Accessed on 22-02-2012.

2.         Dichabe, S., C.,  (2006) Transition Of School Leavers Into The Labour Market From Ga-Rankuwa High Schools.  Tshwane University of Technology.

3.         Dictionary.com. (Not dated),  [Online].Available from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/. www.innovateonline.info/index.php?view=article&id=17,  Accessed on 22-02-2012. 

4.         Gardner, H.,  (1983),  Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences,  [Published Not Provided]