SchoolArts - October 2008

Advocacy
Art and 21st-Century Skills

Kaye Passmore

We live in a changing world of computers, cell phones, and MP3 players. Text messaging and the Internet invade our lives. Employers expect high school graduates not only to be proficient in the No Child Left

Behind (NCLB) basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also to use technology, collaborate, be sensitive and knowledgeable of other cultures, be creative, flexible problem solvers, and critical thinkers.

Unfortunately, polls show that most voters and industry leaders don’t think our high school graduates are well-educated for the twenty-first century. With just the NCLB basics, our students will be equipped to handle rote jobs easily outsourced to third-world countries.

cation has become a keynote of their educational vision. Steve Stone, director of Business Development at Davis Publications and P21 board member, says, “As states adopt the 21st Century Skills framework, we are discovering that a strong visual art education

program is the
Art educators can take the lead first step in
in creating deep twenty-first ^teaching ^skillscentury learning across the ^like ^creativity,innovation, and
^curriculum.collaboration.”
This puts art
education, in a uniquely advantageous
position.

Technology, authentic learning, and interdisciplinary education play an important role in this type of learning. For example, rather than just learning that primary colors are red, yellow, and blue, they may learn how artists around the world use color, then manipulate color with paint and computers to solve a community problem, and collaborate with students in other communities. As new web 2.0 learning tools like e-text-books and e-portfolios emerge, higher-order learning skills inherent to the art classroom can be highlighted and tied to students’ work.

Forming
Partnerships

In 2002, business and education leaders formed the Partnership for 21st-Cen- tury Skills to advocate for teaching American students skills necessary for twenty-first-century leaders, workers, and citizens. With over thirty-six member organizations, this group is greatly influencing American education.

The partnership has developed an educational framework of student learning outcomes supported by systems necessary for achieving these skills. What skills do students need to succeed in the twenty-first century? First, of course, is the basic subject content identified in NCLB. Art is a NCLB core content area subject.

Interdisciplinary learning is integral to the partnership’s model, and art edu-

Evaluating Skills

NCLB skills suggest minimum learning designed to ensure that a portion of our students will not be left behind. But, if we teach all students to achieve just the basics, American graduates will not be competitive in a global economy. Today’s employers expect employees to have skills that include critical thinking and problem solving; communication; creativity and innovation; collaboration; information and literacy skills; and ability to use knowledge in context.

Within the partnership’s vision, students learn how to learn, rather than learning more information.

A New Vision

This new vision of education will
happen when supported by twenty-
first-century standards, assessment,
curriculum, and instruction. Ongo-
ing professional development will
enable teachers to keep up with
changing technology and effec-
tively teach with it.
“Route 21” on the
Partnership for 21st
Century Skills website
provides information
and resources includ-
ing video clips that model
interdisciplinary authentic
learning, as well as standards, infor-
mation, and communication technol-
ogy literacy maps. The Partnership
for 21st Century Learning Skills has
developed an educational framework
and resources to help us teach for a
changing world. The future lies with
those who can manage and master
change.