Drafting Change

We are well into the Twenty First Century and for the last 13 years we have been talking about learning in the new century and what this looks like in schools. From the curriculum to the learning environment and from the role of the teacher and the role of the learner there has been plenty of research about how education needs to change.  Trilling and Fadel in 21st Century Learning Skills- Learning for Life in Our Times (2009, Wiley and Sons, San Francisco) believe that in our newly flat world of connected knowledge, work, global markets, tele-linked citizens and blended cultural traditions, the 21st century demands a fresh set of responses in education (p.15).  They go on to identify three end goals for education which are indeed, nothing new:

1. Contributing to work and society
2. Fulfilling personal talents
3. Fulfilling civic responsibilities

However, their focus is on our graduating students being ready for their future with a skill set that enables them to take part in a global network of economic, technological, political and ecological interconnections. Trilling and Fadel advise us that out students must be able to manage knowledge that is readily available digitally and to apply the critical thinking and information literacy skills needed to put this information to good use.

The Ministry of Education in BC has just released drafts for the new curriculum in Science, Math, Language Arts and Social Studies for Kindergarten to Grade 9. These drafts have been in the making for several years and have three core competencies that are believed to be at the heart of life long learning: thinking, communication and personal- social competencies. These competencies will come into play when students are 'doing' their learning; learning by doing includes activities where students use thinking, collaboration, and communication to solve problems, address issues, or make decisions  -all vital skills needed in the future workplace.

The draft curriculum has `learning standards` which include the core competencies at work in the subject area and the concepts and content specific to the subject (i.e. the knowledge section). At a glance, a teacher or parent will note that there are considerably less `concepts and content` listed  in the drafts than in the existing `prescribed learning outcomes` (PLOs) today. For example, in Grade 8 Science currently there are 24 PLOs compared to nine concepts in the new curriculum. The rationale for this is that students will have the opportunity for deeper learning and that teachers will be able to allow students to explore topics in greater detail to acquire a greater understanding, become critical thinkers and inquire on real-world matters.

The world has changed since I went to school in the 1980s and the skill set of a school leaver today needs to be different as the workplace is different. What hasn't changed though, is that schools will continue to be places of learning. It's just that the learning will look a little different.

To review the curriculum changes in their draft form connect to https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/