CLEP-2 Day 11 18th May Reading Material - Test Material - Youtube Webinar LInk

CLEP-2 Day 11 18th May Reading Material - Test Material - Youtube Webinar LInk READING MATERIAL SESSION 11 21st CENTURY SKILLS FOR GLOBAL LEARNERS. Todays Youtube Webinar in APSCERT Youtube Channel is On " 21st Century skills for global learners" by Dr Poornima, Academic Consultant, British Council School Ambassador.

CLEP-2 Day 11 18th May Reading Material - Test Material - Youtube Webinar LInk

SESSION OBJECTIVES
  • • Gain awareness on the importance of 21st century skills for learners
  • • Explore the scope of the 5 skills required to integrate into the curriculum
  • • Reflect on the role of the teacher in promoting 21st century skills in the classroom 
The model of educational systems around the world have a common challenge to address which is – how do we equip and empower children with new skills and knowledge to succeed? what are the skills that educators need to embed into the curriculum?

Jaime Casap, Googles’ Educational evangelist in his address at ISTE 2016, stated, “Don't ask kids what they want to be when they grow up but what problems do they want to solve. This changes the conversation from who do I want to work for, to what do I need to learn to be able to do that.” He had raised a few vital questions that need to be asked to learners of today, which are,
  • • What knowledge, skills and abilities do you need to solve that problem?
  • • Who is focused on that problem and what are they doing?
  • • What classes can you take? Online? Offline?
  • • Who can you collaborate with?
  • • What research is out there?
  • • What publications, newsletters and communities should you subscribe to?
  • • What books should you read? What videos and documentaries should you watch?
  • • Who should you follow and pay attention to? On Twitter? On LinkedIn?
  • • What blogs and perspectives should you read?
  • • Which university is the expert on this prolem? What are they doing? How can you contribute to resolving that problem today?
He further added that, ‘When we ask students what problem they want to solve, we are asking them to define their focus and interests (purpose), to determine the way the problem should be solved (autonomy) and to understand what they need to learn and the skills they need to build (mastery).’

We live in a knowledge-­‐based economy and it is important for educators to reflect on how best can learning experiences be used outside the classroom context. Educators need to explore ways to raise awareness on the current context that exists in the world and empower their students to be a global learning. The skills needed for global participation is beyond academic success at school.

The United Nations compiled 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were adopted by the United Nations Member States in 2015. The objective of this initiative was to find solutions and find an end to poverty and inequality through peaceful and healthy societies by 2030. The organization has actively advocated that the SDGs cannot be achieved without the realization of child rights. As world leaders work to deliver on the 2030 promise, children around the globe are standing up to secure their right to good health, quality education, a clean planet and more. They being the leaders of tomorrow, the ability to protect the future for us all depends on what we do to secure their rights today (https://www.unicef.org/sdgs). Global learners have a crucial role to play as the goals have an enormous scope to change lives and the living conditions around the world. Educators need to facilitate beyond textual knowledge in order to promote a global dimension in learning.

The sustainable development goals can be used by educators
  • • To map and link foundational concepts that are part of the curriculum 
  • • Make learning a lot more relevant to the present day context
  • • Create projects, student collaborations and school engagements
  • • Raise awareness on contexts from around the world that is beyond India
The most important skills needed by global learners are,
  • • Critical thinking and problem solving skills
  • • Leadership 
  • • Interpersonal
  • • Intrapersonal
  • • Digital literacy

CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING

Critical thinking is an umbrella term that refers to a number of sub skills. These sub skills are related to the ability to think critically and objectively about an issue or a subject. When an individual practices critical thinking, knowledge is not passively received instead is explored. Any new information received is questioned, analyzed, tested and validated from the right source. Eales Reynolds et. al. state that in order to develop this skill one needs to be,
  • • Open-­‐minded to the ideas and views of others
  • • Able to make (positive and negative) judgments
  • • Able to discriminate between sources of evidence and recognize their authority and authenticity
  • • Self-­‐confident enough to explore and question the evidence/literature and its implications
  • • Able to recognize the strengths and weaknesses of your own thought processes and argument development
  • • Honest in facing your own biases/prejudices
  • • Flexible in considering alternatives and opinions
  • • Willing to reconsider and revise views where honest reflection suggests that change is warranted
  • • Able to re-­‐present your thinking and argument in an improved form
LEADERSHIP

In education the scope for leadership roles extends to developing collaborative working in children. Opportunities to lead provide ample exposure to developing key traits that are essential for collaborative pursuits such as discipline, co-existence, valuing opinions, helping and assisting people and co-operation. On an individual level the following aspects are developed,

• Self esteem and confidence 
• Responsibility
• Accountability
• Self reliance
• Communication
• Planning
• Decision making

Educational institutions can provide opportunities for leadership in students across different age groups. Leadership roles can be delegated in both curricular and extra curricular engagements (Woyach, 1993)

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
These skills reflect on the ability of individuals to communicate effectively and build healthy relationships with others. Interpersonal skills are also called ‘people skills’. Effective interpersonal skills enable individuals to function effectively in different kinds of social situations (Dowling 2001) . Some examples of sub-skills related to inter-personal skills are as follows,

• Active listening
• Teamwork
• Responsibility
• Dependability
• Leadership
• Motivation
• Flexibility
• Patience
• Empathy


INTRAPERSONAL SKILLS
These skills reflect on an individual’s ability to self regulate behavior and emotions. Individuals with strong intrapersonal skills are self aware. They can identify their strength and weakness in different contexts (Dowling 2001). Some examples of sub-skills related to inter-personal skills are as follows,

• self-confidence
• self- resilience
• self-discipline
• persistence
• openness to new ideas
• the ability to overcome distractions
• time management

DIGITAL LITERACY
Digital literacy prepares young learners with skills they need to engage in technology both safely and responsibly. Technology can empower and educate students through tools and resources they need to thrive in an ever-­ changing digital world. Digital literacy is also known as virtual learning and e-­learning has the potential to improve lifelong learning. Teaching digital literacy in primary is all about understanding the needs towards different types of skills and technological knowledge in order to think critically, evaluate work and engage with a global community (Hayes, 2006).

EMBEDDING THE 21ST CENTURY SKILLS INTO THE CURRICULUM


Implicit instruction on the skills highlighted can be nurtured through opportunities provided in the classroom. All 5 skills exist in pockets with different levels of importance given to them. Teachers can plan appropriate ways through which students get an opportunity to develop these skills.
The following template presents a sample lesson that integrates these skills into the learning process,

Skills Digital literacy , Critical thinking
Topic Water Pollution – SDG 14
Learning outcomes To analyze the concept of water cycle To explore the causes of water pollution
Activities/tasks Students are made to locate and a view video on water pollution. Experiment:  Based on the video they are given a sorting exercise Critical thinking: Teacher involves the students to conduct an experiment using different objects. They make a note of their observations