(The following is an introduction to an anthology titled “Enriching Minds for the 21st

Century,” due for publication in January 2010)

Enriching Minds for the 21st Century

Foreword
21st Century Skills: Why They Matter, What They Are, and How We Get There

Ken Kay
President, Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The writer Malcolm Gladwell astutely describes how and why social change happens
when we arrive at a “tipping point,” the moment when a critical mass of circumstances
comes together and set us on a new and unstoppable course. Scientists, economists,
and sociologists all use this term to describe moments when significant change occurs
and results in a new reality that is markedly different from the old.

I believe we are on the threshold of a tipping point in public education. The moment is
at hand for a 21st century model for education that will better prepare students for the
demands of citizenship, college, and careers.

I am honored, therefore, that the editors have asked me to introduce this book and set
the context for it with the overarching theme of 21st century skills, using the Framework
for 21st Century Learning developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. This book
is a compilation of reflections on the possibilities for 21st century learning by some of
the most thoughtful educational minds in the world today. That so many of them are
engaged in envisioning and substantiating more robust approaches to educating young
people is gratifying—particularly since we have spent the past eight years on the same
inquiring and exciting journey.

The vision for 21st century learning developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills,
summarized in the accompanying sidebar on page X, offers a compelling context for the
articles you are about to read. This vision offers a holistic and systemic view of how we
can reconceptualize and reinvigorate public education, bringing together all the
elements—21st century student outcomes and 21st century education support
systems—into a unified framework.

For us, the starting point for this framework is actually the end result: the outcomes, in
terms of mastery of core academic subjects, 21st century themes, and 21st century
skills, that should be expected of students once they leave school to venture
successfully into higher education, workplaces, and independent life. Only when we
know what we are after can we begin building the supporting infrastructure that will lift
the education system to commanding heights. The raison d’être for the support
systems—standards and assessments, curriculum and instruction, professional
development and learning environments—should be to achieve the results that truly
matter for students.

Without a clear and thorough articulation of the student outcomes that Americans
need, reshaping the infrastructure is premature. Here’s an analogy: If you are building a
house, it doesn’t make sense to order the plumbing fittings before the architect’s design
specifications are finished. In education, 21st century student outcomes are the design
specs for the rest of the system.

The Partnership has crafted the only all-encompassing vision for a 21st century
education system. Ours is a big tent, however. We don’t have all the answers. As the
contributions to this book make clear, there are many more wonderful ideas percolating
that will strengthen the vision of 21st century learning and help transform every aspect
of the system.

We aren’t rigid about the language used to describe 21st century skills, either. We say
“adapability,” for instance, while others prefer “resiliency.” We say “critical thinking”;
others say “systems thinking.” No matter. We’re all talking about the same concepts. On
the other hand, “21st century skills” is not a vague and squishy catchword that can
mean anything. Every element of our model has been defined, developed, and vetted by
leading experts, scholars, educators, business people, parents, and community
members.

We invite individuals and organizations to use our framework to spark a lively national
dialogue on all of the elements required for enriching 21st century minds. It is
particularly important engage educators and representatives of the business community
in this dialogue (Wagner, 2008). It’s critical for states, districts, and schools to have
these conversations and agree on the student outcomes they value—and then to create
systems that can deliver.

Why Do We Need a New Model for Education?

The forces that are instigating the inevitable changes that are on the horizon in
education have been building for some time:

• The world is changing. The global economy, with its emerging industries and
occupations, offers tremendous opportunities for everyone who has the skills to
take advantage of it. Spurred by information and communications technology,
there’s been dramatic acceleration in global competition and collaboration over
the past 30 years. The service economy, which is driven by information,
knowledge, and innovation, has supplanted the industrial economy and
reshaped businesses and workplaces. In this environment, manual labor and
routine tasks have given way to interactive, nonroutine tasks, even in many
traditional blue-collar occupations. Technology has replaced workers who
 perform routine work, while it complements workers with higher-level skills—
and empowers them to be more productive and creative (Autor, Levy, &
Murnane, 2003).

More than three-quarters of all U.S. jobs are now in the service sector. Advanced
economies, innovative industries and firms, and high-growth jobs increasingly
reward people who can adapt and contribute to organizations, products, and
processes (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2008).

In this era of rapid change, the social contract prevalent for a good part of the
last century doesn’t exist anymore. Doing well in school no longer guarantees a
lifelong job or single career, as it did for previous generations of Americans.
Today, people can expect to have at least seven to 10 careers in multiple fields,
as industrial industries contract and service industries expand. The new social
contract is different: Only people who have the knowledge and skills to negotiate
constant change and reinvent themselves for new situations will succeed.
Competency in 21st century skills gives people the ability to keep learning and
adjusting to change. Twenty-first century skills are the coin of the realm for
moving up the economic ladder. Without 21st century skills, people are
relegated to low-wage, low-skill jobs. Proficiency in 21st century is the new civil
right for our times.

• U.S. schools and students have not adapted to the changing world. Our current
public education system is not preparing many students for the economic,
workforce, and citizenship opportunities—and demands—of the 21st century.
Many students do not receive the family and societal support they need to stay
in school. On top of that, many students are not engaged or motivated in school
learning that seems out of step with their lives and irrelevant to their futures.
The high school dropout rate has reached crisis proportions, with only 70
percent of students—and only 50 percent of minorities—graduating from high
school on time and with a regular diploma.

Alarmingly, we now face two achievement gaps—one national, one

international. Nationally, Black, Hispanic, and disadvantaged students perform
worse than their peers on national assessments, dragging down the collective
capacity of the future U.S. workforce. This is especially troubling as the
demographics of the United States are shifting, with minority populations
growing at a much faster pace than the rest of the population.

Internationally, American students score lower than the average on the

Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the benchmark
assessments in reading, mathematics, and science for the developed countries of
the world. PISA results are telling, because these assessments measure the
applied skills—what we call 21st century skills—of critical thinking and problem
 solving. Even the best U.S. students cannot match their peers in other advanced
economies on PISA.

Even if all students earned a high school diploma and mastered traditional
academic subjects, they still would be ill prepared for the expectations of the
new economy. Today, a different set of skills—21st century skills—increasingly
powers the wealth of nations. Skills that support innovation, including creativity,
critical thinking, and problem solving, are in great demand (The Conference
Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills,
and Society for Human Resource Management, 2006; The Conference Board;
2007; The Conference Board and Americans for the Arts, 2008). Yet employers
report substantial deficiencies in these and other applied skills among even
college-educated workforce entrants. Educational attainment is no longer a
guarantee of either academic or skills proficiency (Barrington et al., 2009).

• The nation has no clear sense of purpose or direction for securing our future
economic competitiveness. The United States remains the most competitive
nation on the planet, but “creeping complacency”—particularly in maintaining
education standards and sustaining investment in research and development,
which depends on highly skilled workers—could erode this dominance (IMD,
2009; Scott, 2009). Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
experts in industry and higher education have been warning for years that the
United States is losing ground when it comes to preparing an adequate supply of
workers for these critical fields. Competitor nations in Asia and Europe have
gotten the message that skills matter, and they are catching up. Concerted
international efforts—and marked success—at improving education and 21st
century skills mean that the United States is no longer unrivaled in producing
highly qualified, nimble, and ambitious workers for the new economy. In
addition, the substantial economic growth fueled by information technology
over the past two decades is likely to max out without investment in “intangible”
workforce assets, including ideas, knowledge, and talent (The Conference Board,
2009).

What Should a 21st Century Education Look Like?

Meeting the challenges we face requires a new model for education—one in which
every aspect of our education system is aligned to prepare Americans to compete.

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has spent the better part of the past decade
developing a robust Framework for 21st Century Learning (shown on page X) that
responds to the changing demands young people face today. Sustained and enthusiastic
support from leading education organizations, the business community, and
policymakers—and reality checks with parents, front-line K–12 and postsecondary
educators, and community organizations—have shaped this framework into a
comprehensive, intentional, and purposeful vision for 21st century education (Trilling &
Fadel, 2009).

The “rainbow” graphic is powerful because it communicates at a glance the integration

of core academic subjects, 21st century themes, and 21st century skills, with the
educational support systems clearly aligned to these student outcomes. The Framework
for 21st Century Learning offers a compelling, responsive, and viable direction for public
education—starting now—for a number of reasons:

The Framework for 21st Century Learning focuses on results that matter. A 21st
century education must be tied to outcomes, in terms of proficiency in core subject
knowledge and 21st century skills that are expected and highly valued in school, work,
and community settings. It is a national travesty that a majority of U.S. students leave
high school without the core competencies that employers and postsecondary
educators cite as the most critical for real-world performance and advanced learning.
Critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and the other 21st century skills are the kick
people need to move up the economic ladder.

With 21st century skills, students will be prepared to think, learn, work, solve problems,
communicate, collaborate, and contribute effectively throughout their lives. These kinds
of skills, some say, are not unique to the 21st century. This is true. We call them out for
three reasons.

First, these skills are rarely incorporated deliberately throughout the curriculum, nor are
they routinely assessed. This status quo relegates these skills into the “nice-to-have”
rather than the “must-have” domain in education, which means they are taught
unevenly. More likely, young people pick up these skills by chance in everyday living and
job experiences and, yes, sometimes in school—if they are lucky enough to have good
mentors or astute enough to recognize and build these skills on their own. We simply
can no longer afford to continue this haphazard approach to developing the most
critical skills if we are to remain a competitive nation.

Second, these skills are essential for all students today, not just an elite few. In bygone
economies, Americans lived in a hierarchical world with an assembly-line mentality. Top
managers and experts took on the lion’s share of the thinking, problem solving, decision
making, and communicating for their organizations. They gave orders and most workers
were expected simply to follow directions. Not so today. Competitive organizations have
flattened management structures, increased their use of technology, created more
flexible work arrangements, and given greater responsibility to front-line workers and
collaborative project teams. Such significant organizational and behavioral shifts have
boosted productivity and innovation (Black & Lynch, 2003; Zoghi, Mohr, & Meyer, 2007;
Pilat, 2004; Gera & Gu, 2004). With these realities, students who do not master 21st
century skills will never fulfill their economic potentials.
In a flat world, every worker has more information and tools at their disposal—and
much greater autonomy in using them. In exchange, workers are expected to be self-
directed and responsible for managing their own work. As a manager at Apple told me,
any employee who needs to be managed is no longer employable. The same shift of
responsibility to individuals applies to personal life. There are fewer authority figures to
take care of people or tell them what to do. Today, people have to manage their own
health care, arming themselves with information, making choices about coverage, acting
as their own advocates, and partnering with health care providers to manage their
health. Likewise, participating in civic life requires people to seek out information to
understand issues on their own. The decline of print journalism, for example, means
that the latest local news may not be delivered to the doorstep every day.

Third, the skills that employers and postsecondary educators say are required for
success have converged. Even entry-level employees now are expected to use 21st
century skills to accomplish their work (The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for
Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and Society for Human Resource
Management, 2006; The Conference Board; 2007; The Conference Board and Americans
for the Arts, 2008). Most jobs that pay a living wage today require at least some
postsecondary education—and this is particularly the case for the 271 jobs with high-
growth potential over the next 10 years, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Most students aspire to college because they understand this. Indeed, there has been a
significant increase in the proportion of the labor force with at least some level of higher
education (Carnevale & Derochers, 2002). Twenty-first century skills are equally
important for successful transitions to college and workforce training programs. Among
the “components of college readiness” are “academic behaviors” and “contextual skills
and awareness,” which reflect the kinds of skills captured in the Framework for 21st
Century Learning (Conley, 2005; Conley; 2007). All students should be prepared with the
skills they need to do well, whichever route they decide to take.

The Framework for 21st Century Learning also incorporates several new, 21st century
themes that might not seem familiar. Again, employers and educators—along with
parents, policymakers, and community advocates—identified these themes and skills as
crucial. Typically, though, they are not emphasized in public education. These themes
are grounded in everyday life as people across the country are living it now. They want
schools to integrate these new themes, which blend content and skills, to better
prepare young people to thrive in a complex world.

For example, global awareness is a new essential in the global economy. Americans
need a secure understanding of global issues that affect them as citizens and workers.
They need to be able to learn from and work collaboratively with people from a range of
diverse cultures and lifestyles. They need to be able to communicate in languages other
than English.
Likewise, financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy is a new imperative.
Guaranteed pensions are a rarity today, so the responsibility for retirement planning,
saving, and investment management falls on individuals. Recent crises in the banking,
credit, and mortgage industries—and the severe recession—underscore the importance
of understanding how economic forces impact people’s lives. Failure to make
responsible financial choices could adversely affect individuals’ quality of life for years.
At work, people need to know how they fit in and contribute to a larger organization.
And they need to bring an entrepreneurial mindset to their lives. By recognizing
opportunities, risks, and rewards, they can enhance their workplace productivity and
career options—and take changing circumstances in stride.

Finally, the Framework for 21st Century Learning articulates several skills that definitely
break new ground, at least for education. Creativity and innovation … flexibility and
adaptability … leadership and cross-cultural skills—for all students? In this era,
absolutely. These are the kinds of skills that set people apart. Small leaps of imagination
can result in tremendous personal and organizational advances. A willingness to
respond positively to change leaves people open to new possibilities and more
comfortable with the inevitable vagaries of life. Taking on leadership roles gives people
more control over their lives, while cross-cultural skills strengthen their effectiveness in
interacting with others they encounter in school, work, and communities.

These new skills also differentiate leading from lagging organizations and nations. They
undergird every aspect of competitiveness: ingenuity, agility, and continuous
improvement … the capacity to turn bold ideas into innovative products, services, and
solutions … the ability to champion worthwhile endeavors, overcome obstacles, and
bridge cultural divides.

Taken together, the combination of core academic subjects, 21st century themes, and
21st century skills redefines rigor for our times. Many Americans have been advocating
a more rigorous education to prepare students for college and career readiness—a
position that we share.

However, “rigor” traditionally is equated with mastery of content (core subjects)

alone—and that’s simply not good enough anymore. Knowledge and information
change constantly. Students need both content knowledge and skills to apply and
transform their knowledge for useful and creative purposes—and to keep learning as
content and circumstances change.

I’ve heard John Bransford, a noted professor of education and psychology at the
University of Washington and the co-author of How People Learn and How Students
Learn, put it this way: In the United States, we tell students the same thing a hundred
times. On the 101st time, we ask them if they remember what we told them the first
hundred times. However, in the 21st century, the true test of rigor is for students to be
able to look at material they’ve never seen before and know what to do with it.
Infusing 21st century skills into core subjects actually ratchets up rigor. Recalling facts or
terms from a textbook, or performing simple processes or procedures, places a low level
of cognitive demand on students. Demonstrating deeper understanding through
planning, using evidence, and abstract reasoning, for example, is more demanding.
Making connections among related ideas within the content or among content areas, or
devising an approach to solving a complex problem, requires extended thinking and
even higher cognitive demand (Webb, 1997). The skills that students use in the process
of learning content differentiate what scholars refer to as “depth of knowledge” levels—
the progression of rigor, or complexity—of content and expectations.

The connection between skills and rigor shows up on international assessments, such as
PISA. Students who can apply critical thinking and problem solving to math and science
content perform better than those who cannot. In a 21st century education system,
rigor must refer to mastery of content and skills.

As I see it, then, there are plenty of convincing indicators that proficiency in 21st century
skills is the right result for our time. Enriching minds for the 21st century requires
organizing the public education system around this goal.

The Framework for 21st Century Learning recognizes that educational support
systems—especially professional learning experiences—are vital to creating a 21st
century education system. The vision for 21st century learning is situated in reality:
Producing the results that matter in terms of student outcomes in 21st century skills
requires every aspect of the education system to be aligned toward this goal.

While this might seem to be a monumental aspiration, the evidence suggests that states
are prepared—even very willing—to take on this work. By October of 2009, 14 states
(Arizona, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey,
North Carolina, Ohio, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin) had committed to
retooling their standards and assessments, curriculum and instruction, professional
development, and learning environments to support 21st century skills outcomes. The
states and districts that are making real progress are those that take a holistic and
systemic approach, articulating the skills they value and aligning every other part of
their systems to move in this direction.

Many of these states face daunting challenges. Major industries are restructuring and
eliminating 20th century jobs. The recent economic downturn has exacerbated the
plight of these states, their budgets, and their schools. Nevertheless, these states have
carefully examined the framework and endorsed it as their model for building a 21st
century education system. They realize that they must reinvent their education systems
to renew their workforces and their economies. West Virginia, for example, is revising
and refocusing its standards, assessments, instruction, professional development,
teacher preparation, pre–K, and technology programs around the Partnership’s
Framework for 21st Century Learning.

Professional development is far and away the most important part of the work. Steve
Paine, Superintendent of Schools in West Virginia, tells me that 80 percent of his efforts
are devoted to improving teachers’ effectiveness in delivering 21st century instruction.
He has it right. Articulating the skills that matter is only the first step. States and districts
cannot assume that teachers can break out of the 20th century box without sustained
professional development. The West Virginia Department of Education has put a full-
court press on this mission, initially training every teacher in the state during in-depth
summer sessions on 21st century skills and in follow-up Web-based coaching during the
school year. The state also has a dynamic, interactive Web site, Teach21, with a wealth
of resources to assist teachers in their everyday classroom practices.

At the Partnership, we’ve developed detailed content maps, rubrics, and concrete,
authentic samples of lesson plans and student work that add layers of specificity to 21st
century learning for teachers. These resources promote the kinds of hands-on, inquiry-
based learning and development of higher-level thinking skills that the most effective
teachers employ (Darling-Hammond et al., 2008). Indeed, many classroom teachers and
school-based adopters are leading the way in delivering this kind of instruction. All of
the teaching resources are available at a dedicated Web site, Route 21
(http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/route21/).

The entire supporting infrastructure of education must be modernized to establish the

conditions for 21st century teaching, learning, and outcomes. And, as we have learned
from previous standards-setting initiatives, ignoring the infrastructure puts an undue
burden on students. It is unfair and unproductive to expect students to meet new and
higher expectations if the supporting infrastructure is stuck in neutral.

All of the critical elements of an education system contribute to 21st century skills
outcomes—and they cannot be left to chance.

The Framework for 21st Century Learning resonates with policymakers, educators, the
business community, community organizations, and parents. Plenty of organizations
have developed models for improving education. Not many have had the courage to vet
their models with thousands of people from every walk of life. Our model of core
subjects, 21st century themes, and 21st century skills has been put to this test.

We developed the framework in concert with our nearly 40 membership organizations,

including the National Education Association and its 3.2 million members. We took the
framework on road tours, reaching out to policymakers, educators, business people,
community organizations, and parents. We listened to their comments and
strengthened the themes and skills sets. We surveyed business people and parents, who
strongly agree that 21st century skills are vital for success today. (The Conference Board,
Corporate Voices for Working Families, Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and Society
for Human Resource Management, 2006; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2007).
They also believe by overwhelming margins that schools should teach 21st century skills.
Their beliefs are based in reality—the expectations of workplaces, the demands of
citizenship, and the challenges of life that they face every day. We’ve been informed by
the surveys and reports of other organizations, which confirm our findings.

This is not a small point. A major difference between 21st century skills advocacy and
other improvement initiatives, such as the 1980s push to revamp education, is that the
leaders of this movement include policymakers, educators, and the business
community. We are speaking with a united voice. Together, we have taken the time to
gauge the interest and attitudes of key stakeholders in public education. And we have
strived to build broad-based support for our model from the top down and the bottom
up. In many states, governors, leaders in state education agencies and state boards of
education, local school boards, business people, community organizations, educators,
parents, and the voting public are engaged and energized by our model.

There is much more work to do to build public understanding nationwide—in every

district, community, and family. Yet the support we already have, plus the
accomplishments of our 14 leadership states, gives us the opportunity to engage in a
vigorous national conversation about new student outcomes for the 21st century—and
to bring more supporters on board.

State, district, and school leaders and their communities will want to examine the
changes their economies have experienced over the past 20 years. They’ll want to think
through the new skills students will need for the next 20 years and beyond. And once
they articulate these new skills in their own words, they will be ready to align their
education systems to make their vision a reality.

Final Thoughts
This book is another telltale sign that we’ve reached a tipping point in education. That
so many notable minds are thinking hard about the future of learning is a signal that we
just might be on the cusp of bold action.

At stake at this moment are the nation’s competitiveness and all that goes along with
it—a strong democracy, international leadership, lasting prosperity, and better
prospects for generations to come. It is as true today as ever in our history that the
American people are the engine of economic growth. In this time, for this era, however,
they need to be equipped with knowledge and skills to compete in the 21st century.

In meeting rooms and classrooms across the country, I have met thousands of people
who are ready to take on this challenge. The broad public support for the Framework for
21st Century Learning suggests the strong potential for building political will for a 21st
century education system. It is exciting that the framework has generated this kind of
interest. But it is far too early to proclaim victory.

We need to move from consensus about the vision of 21st century learning to a
thorough understanding and commitment to the outcomes of 21st century learning.
There is a danger, in fact, that a “21st century education” or “21st century skills” could
mean anything. Many people equate technology-rich classrooms or modern schools or
“rigorous” core subjects with 21st century learning, regardless of whether students are
mastering 21st century skills. In reality, the ability to use digital devices in no way means
that students know anything about global awareness or health literacy, learning and
innovation skills, life and career skills, or even media literacy skills. Similarly, many
educators claim that they already teach 21st century skills, even though these skills are
not systemically infused into standards and assessments, curriculum and instruction,
professional development and learning environments.

The most important next step is to agree on outcomes, in terms of proficiency in 21st
century skills. And it’s not enough to want these outcomes—it’s essential to plan the
entire education system intentionally and transparently around them. A great place to
start is to use the lens of 21st century outcomes to aggressively pursue the ideas in this
book.
w/sidebar:

Framework for 21st Century Learning

The Framework for 21st Century Learning brings together all the elements of education,
including core academic subjects, 21st century themes, and a set of 21st century skills—
some of which are familiar, some of which are profoundly different than ever before—and
the educational support systems to make the vision a reality:

21st Century Student Outcomes

Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes 21st Century Skills

Core Subjects Learning and Innovation Skills

• English, reading, or language arts • Creativity and innovation skills
• World languages • Critical thinking and problem solving skills
• Arts • Communication and collaboration skills
• Mathematics
• Economics Information, Media, and Technology Skills
• Science • Information literacy
• Geography • Media literacy
• History • ICT (information and communications
• Government and civics technology) literacy

21st Century Themes Life and Career Skills

• Global awareness • Flexibility and adaptability
• Financial, economic, business, and • Initiative and self-direction
entrepreneurial literacy • Social and cross-cultural skills
• Civic literacy • Productivity and accountability
• Health literacy • Leadership and responsibility

21st Century Education Support Systems

• 21st Century Standards and Assessments
• 21st Century Curriculum and Instruction
• 21st Century Professional Development
• 21st Century Learning Environments
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In press. Leading Edge anthology on 21st century skills (ed. James Bellanca and Ron Brandt).
Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. Do not duplicate. All rights reserved.

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