Commenting on my last post on 21st Century Skills, Tracy wrote:
“Every time I read, hear, or think about 21st Century Skills I automatically connect to the Responsive Classroom® approach. The core skills of the approach are at the very heart of 21st Century Skills. Those of us already using RC do not think of 21st Century Skills as an add on, but as a long awaited call from the business sector.”
My interpretation of what Tracy might mean by this comment is that the business sector “gets” that 21st Century Skills for effective business practice must involve teaching students at all ages such skills as communication, cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility; empathic and self-regulatory behavior and that the business sector wishes that more teachers and schools would make these skills central to their instruction on an ongoing basis.
Taking this cue from Tracy, we can learn something by futher applying her thinking to all the attention given these days in education circles to the concept of “learning communities,” as in “professional learning communities” or “classroom communities.” People using these terms are focusing on the word “community” as an implicit goal that appears to be somehow vital to improved learning on the part of students and the adults who teach and lead in schools.
Perhaps Tracy might say “ditto!” to this, for business people speak often of their vital need for team players who know how to participate in the workplace as part of a collaborative community. Responsive Classroom premises and practices are promulgated on the belief that community in school means the “social negotiation of meaning through practical activity,” as anthropologist Barbara Rogoff defines learning. Add to that the fact that public school classroom and school communities exist, by their democratic mandate, to educate the citizenry so that they can uphold and perpetuate agreed-upon rights such as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Today, much of the conceptual focus and time spent in classroom and school learning comunities centers around performance results in terms of measuring individual academic achievement that is based on uniform standards and measures of learning. The call from the business community that Tracy speaks of is asking us to pay attention to their continuing experience that even top graduates of the best schools in terms of academics are often not able to participate effectively in today’s business environment. That environment demands the ability to negotiate and navigate flexibly, ethically, and collaboratively in a global community.
Ask Chip a question or share your own thoughts!
—If you’re reading this entry on the blog site,
click “Post a Comment” or the word “Comments” below the entry
—If you’re reading this entry from your email,
click “Yardsticks” to go to the blog site.
Then click “Post a Comment” or the word “Comments”
below the entry.
Categories: 
Tags: 
I just want to thank Tim for the recommendation about the HS MTV Show “If You Really Knew Me.” What a powerful experience provided to High Schools through a group called Challenge Day. See http://www.challengeday.org
I watched the August 3 segment at the Challenge Day website about Riverside High School in West Virginia. Amazing footage and a wonderful approach to dealing with bullying and the building of student comunity in HS. The MTV segments air at 11 p.m. on Tuesday nights.
It will be interesting to learn how these High Schools follow up their Challenge Day experiences long term.
I hope to learn more about this organization’s work.
Cindy – You are so right. I wonder if someone with real tech savy (not me) could take a crack at writing about the CARES skills as they might apply in cyberspace? This could be a real contribution to the issue of cyberbullying.. Chip
Hi Chip,
I know that MTV is not known for high standards of broadcasting, but they are currently airing a series that fits right into the concept of “21st Century Skills”. The show is called “If You Really Knew Me” and it deals with high school students hosting a “challenge day” in which students get to know each other better in order to prevent bullying and cliques. To me, this is the Responsive Classroom for high schools. You have to check it out!
Tim Keefe
It is interesting to note that one of the big pieces of the 21st century learning skills includes the integration of technology in the instruction of our students. I think all schools would agree that they want their students to be technologically savvy (the business sector certainly does). However, most schools are behind the times in this regard. Most of this reluctance towards integrating technology is due to the dangers that educators perceive lurking in the digital world. Technology opens the door for increased social interaction on a global scale. With this advancement in communication, there is an increased challenge in terms of social skills. Now, more than ever, we need to diligently and proactively teach our students the social skills represented by C.A.R.E.S.