21st Century Skills for the Kindergartener?

In my summer of transition to a K-2 principal, I continue to question what our incoming Kindergarten students will face when they graduate high school in 2020. Karl Fisch's Did You Know presentation has prompted me to ask the question this way: What skills will these kids need in 2020? How can we prepare them for a world which is becoming less and less predictable? My hunch is the 21st Century skills we are touting today will be old hat by then and those graduating seniors will be faced with a whole new set of futuristic skills that will be required for success.

As Mr. Fisch points out, we are "living in exponential times." Every generation has a set of skills that adults thought were needed to succeed in the future. Inevitably, some of these skills were very useful and some not so useful. I believe it is imperative to develop flexible learners who can identify their own learning environment/style needs and adapt and cope when needed. I am concerned we, in general, don't support the discussion of the learning process as much as we should with people other than ourselves. In the era of testing, I think many of us shy away from process in favor of the specific content on the high stakes test. (I don't have a problem with testing, I think it provides important data to help us support the learning process and analyze curriculum. I am just concerned we look at process and testing as an "all or nothing" game. They should complement one another.) I taught Computer Applications courses for years and I always reminded students they needed to pay attention to how they were learning the software because they only "for sure" thing was that software would change and they would need to apply the learning strategies many more times in their life.

So, again, how do we prepare our youngest learners for a world that cannot be fathomed yet? What 21st Century skills does a six year old need? A four year old?

I believe we need to provide early learners with a strong literacy, language, numeracy, and problem solving skills that foster optimal brain development. If we can provide a strong foundation and help students to be self-aware and adaptable, we'll put them on the right track.

Strong reading, math, and science programs are critical. Other programs, such as S.M.A.R.T. and the Responsive Classroom can be excellent tools to help foster the development of long-term skills needed to be successful.

Many people, much smarter than I, have been pushing the development of higher quality Pre-Kindergarten learning experiences. Ready 4 K is an advocacy group that is trying to get the discussion started. Noted economist Art Rolnick is telling people that quality early learning programs are, to use a business term, the best return on investment we can make.

The answer to my question What skills will these kids need in 2020? How can we prepare them for a world which is becoming less and less predictable? will be an evolving one. Strong skills and processes taught by caring teachers will get them on the right track.

What is your vision of quality, foundational curricula for our youngest learners? What do you see being the most critical things for us to focus on with them?

Comments

[Tracy Weeks]

As a fairly new parent, I have been thinking about this exact question as it relates to what my 18 month old will need to be able to do in 20 years. You are right that learning the process is more important than learning the product - and even more important, being able to communicate the process to someone else!

[Emil Harden]

I think we tangle ourselves up too much when we look at a 5 year old and wonder how we prepare them for being 21 years old. I think the real question is how do we best prepare a 5 year old to be 6 years old? Do we give them the pre-academic and social skills needed to engage in the increasing demands of being a first grader? If so, then we've done an awesome job...and we hope each succeeding year is just as successful. If each grade just stays focused on their role, by the time these kids leave school, they will have all the skills they need to enter adulthood with ease.