A Portfolio Approach to Preparing Students for the 21C

Caleb Archer

Make a paper aeroplane

Apprenticeship

Jobs became more:• Desirable• Specialised• Competitive

So Universities/Colleges started becoming more popular as the way to

prepare for the future

Higher education is a major determinant of a population’s knowledge and skills, workforce participation, employment, incomes, economic growth, immigration, family formation, and of the educational attainment and future prosperity of subsequent generations.

http://theconversation.com/who-goes-to-university-the-changing-profile-of-our-students-40373

• Cost• Suitability• Success Indicators• Differentiators

And so here we are.

But what are people saying…

Success Indicators

[or at least what we perceive leads to success]

What do they have in common?

• Steve Jobs• Bill Gates• Paul Allen• Michael Dell• Harrison Ford• James Cameron• Adelle• Madonna

21C Skills [ATL’s]

• Learning and innovation skills: critical thinking and problem solving, communications and collaboration, creativity and innovation

• Digital literacy skills: information literacy, media literacy, Information and communication technologies (ICT) literacy

• Career and life skills: flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, social and cross-cultural interaction, productivity and accountability

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/21st_century_skills]

Skills and abilities (consolidated):[20]

• enthusiasm for learning• deep understanding• application of learning• examination, inquiry, critical thinking and reasoning• communication – write well, listen effectively, discuss

intelligently, be proficient in a foreign language,• cultural, social, and environmental - understanding and

implications• technology – understand the computer as an information,

computation, and communication device, and the world of computers, electronics, and related technologies.

• diverse learning across a broad range - fine arts, performing arts, and vocational

• cogent reasoning• evidence collection• critical-thinking, problem-solving, analytical• communication

Fundamental Skills• Basic Skills: reads, writes, performs

arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens and speaks.

• Thinking Skills: thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn, and reasons

• Personal Qualities: displays responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity and honesty

7C Skills have been identified by P21 senior fellows at P21, Bernie Trilling and Charles Fadel:[11]

• Critical thinking and problem solving• Creativity and innovation• Cross-cultural understanding• Communications, information, and media literacy• Computing and ICT literacy• Career and learning self-reliance

The Four Cs[edit]Main article: Four Cs of 21st century learningThe P21 organization also conducted research that identified deeper learning competencies and skills they called the Four Cs of 21st century learning:

• Collaboration• Communication• Critical thinking• Creativity

The University of Southern California's Project New Literacies website list four different "C" skills:[23]

• Create• Circulate• Connect• Collaborate

7 Survival Skills[edit]In 2008, author and Harvard Graduate School of Education researcher Tony Wagner identified what he termed the "7 Survival Skills" needed for the modern workplace:[34]

• Critical thinking and problem solving• Collaboration• Agility and adaptability• Initiative and entrepreneurialism• Effective oral and written communication• Accessing and analyzing information• Curiosity and imagination

The skills identified were:[1]

• Play• Simulation• Appropriation• Multitasking• Distributed Cognition• Collective Intelligence• Judgment• Transmedia Navigation• Networking• Negotiation

Character and Values

IQ, EQ, CQ, XQ, PQ Leadership Intelligences, etc.

And everything else in-between.

So how do you choose?

…what is your graduate profile?or your mission statement?

• To provide a holistic school experience that prepares students to learn, adapt and innovate in a rapidly changing world and to be stewards of our world and appreciate our common humanity.

• Develop responsible learners ready for the future.

What is your bucket list for students?

Know Thy Self and Show:

• Engagement with Risk/Adventure• Engagement with Initiative• Engagement with Community• Engagement with the Earth• Engagement with Technology• Engagement with the Future• Engagement with Knowledge

Engagement with Risk/Adventure

• Outdoor leadership• PADI scuba • Starting a business• Leading a Service Project• Performing on stage• Taking an adventurous journey (DofE)• Speak at TEDx • Learn to monetise a skill you have and

market yourself

Know Thy Self and Show:

• Engagement with Risk/ Adventure• Engagement with Initiative• Engagement with Community• Engagement with the Earth• Engagement with Technology• Engagement with the Future• Engagement with Knowledge

But when you need to let students find their interests that will become their passions, you need

to provide options.

Rule 1. There are no rules (or at least required categories)

Then you have to present what they can do/ who they are

• mastery transcript• digital portfolio• video admissions• other

http://www.mastery.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Transcript-example_v4.png

How will this shape the options you provide to your students and how will this help prepare them for the future and provide a portfolio of 21C skills?

and, if you were a college admissions person or employer, which one would you pick?