THE BIG PICTURE (page 2)
THE CLASSROOM
We head into the classrooms — where we continue to connect the dots — and interview educators who explain how teaching methods are changing to meet workforce demands and what that looks like in the classrooms. Parents and students learn about academic “hard” skills and workplace “soft” skills (a.k.a 21st century skills), why a balance is important, and how 21st century skills and mastery of fundamental concepts can help students successfully face rigorous college coursework and workforce demands.
BASIC AND COMPLEX SKILLS THAT
ARE LACKING IN JOB CANDIDATES
Source: “Are They Really Ready For Work?” Report by Conference Board.
PARENTS (AND STUDENTS)
All educators agree that parents are their children’s first and foremost teachers so it’s critical that parents understand the big picture — the connected dots — to ensure their children are well-prepared for the new demands. Information from the media is often fragmented, which is why our mission is to help parents get an accurate reflection of today’s classrooms and workforce.
Why so important? Parents are the primary motivators, disciplinarians, and decision makers. Parents are in charge of instilling the value of a good education and explaining how it can open the doors to the things that children really want in life. They are instrumental in inspiring, developing and reinforcing a love of learning – an important driver of success in the 21st century.
THE FUTURE
21st Century Learning is “about how to enable young people to make a successful transition to working life. Employers and educators together see their role as not only developing the next generation of workers, but also as helping young people make the transition from adolescence to adulthood. If we could develop an American strategy to engage educators and employers in a more collaborative approach to the education and training of the next generation of workers, it would surely produce important social as well as economic returns on investment.”
