This is something we talked about when thinking about alternative education and why the top down education model does not work. We think this is a very interesting article.

The kindergarten child of 2011 was born in 2006. If her parents were 30 when she was born, they probably left school about 1994. So much of our world has changed since then. Technology and the internet have shifted the game and the school life this kindergarten child has begun should prepare her for a world to come, rather than a world that has been.

While not playing down the importance of literacy and numeracy, young people are now taught practical skills as they need them, rather than learning everything ”just in case”.

So the essential skills of the 21st century schools include collaboration, problem-solving, analytical thinking, creativity and resilience. These skills can be more effectively taught and modelled in a school that should look and feel significantly different from the experience of one teacher and 30 students locked in a room all day learning from texts that will need to be reprinted in a couple of years.

Read ON

http://m.smh.com.au/national/education/learning-to-move-with-the-times-20110807-1ihjn.html