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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Taking the First Step



If you pick up almost any educational journal today or read educational blogs you will inevitably come across the term 21st Century Skills or 21st Century curriculum. Yes these terms have been around for a while and I do find it a bit strange that the popularity of this term has grown some ten years into the 21st Century. What is true is that in today’s society perhaps even more so than 10 years ago things are changed at a much faster rate. The cell phone, computer, or even I-pad you bought today will be outdated in less than a year. This means that we as educators have to address this ever changing world we live in. Heidi Hayes Jacobs in her book Curriculum 21 says the following, “As educators, our challenge is to match the needs of our learners to a world that is changing with great rapidity. Therefore the skills of the 21st century focus on problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, design, and leadership. Perhaps Stephen Covey in his book “The Leader in Me” said it best, “Factual knowledge alone is thus no longer the great differentiator between those who succeed and those who do not. Instead the individuals who are emerging as the new "winners" - the new thrivers-of the twenty-first century are those who possess above average creativity, strong analytical skills, a knack for foresight, and surprise surprise good people skills."

Therefore we need to be looking at and updating what we are teaching. This is true in Judaic Studies as well. Today with the Bar Ilan Cd and a like, students have access to all the Torah and commentaries they need. What we need to be teaching them is how to think, question, and analyze what they have read and learned. We can’t begin to update our curriculum until we clearly state what we are currently doing.

On Monday we took the first major step in moving towards addressing the needs of our 21st Century learners. We established a wiki so that the teachers can put down in detail what they are teaching. This is a major undertaking by the faculty. However the reaction I got was overwhelmingly positive one teacher said, ““This is a great idea and it makes me actually think about what I teach.”
We still have a long journey a head of us but often taking the first is the hardest and today as a faculty we took the first step on a journey that will help prepare our students better for the world that they are entering into.

2 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great start. I'm curious if the wiki is for just your school or if you have invited collaboration with other Judaic studies schools. Expanding the wiki membership might also improve the quality of the wiki as a resource and help in the development of your learning community. I'm glad your teachers are finding the wiki helpful. I think a wiki is a brilliant choice for kick-starting collaborative thinking.

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  2. Phillip,

    Thanks for your comment.
    I must admit the wiki was started and crested by the Dean since this is a school wide project.
    right now we haven't shared it it is still in early stages and needs some work.
    To best of my knowledge the only Jewish Day School that has seriously embarked on Curriculum 21 is a school in Jacksonville Florida with the help of @langwhiches.
    I have been in contact with them and my hope is to have my Judaic teachers and their teachers Skype and collaborate.
    Again Thanks for the comment
    Akevy
    ps FYI - Shelly Terrell did a quick interview with me yesterday the link is somewhere on Twitter

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