How Will We Prepare Our Children For the Future?

 The term 21st Century Skills  has become popular in educational discussions. It is clear that the world as we know it today is very different than the world we grew up in. Any generation can say that.
Sociologist have defined the years 1970 to the present as The Information or Digital Age. This can be defined as a time period in which large amounts of information was available mostly through technology.
Prior to that, western cultures were involved in the Post-Industrial Era which spanned close to 100 years (1890-1980). Schools were created as a response to the Industrial Revolution and mimicked the factory model of an assembly line where each child was placed in a grade level according to their age and expected to master specific skills and knowledge deemed necessary at that age.

Since the mid-1970's, education has been going through a shift, a change that has never before been seen; from teacher-centered to child-centered. From giving knowledge to finding information.

Our world is changing, education is changing. The future holds unforeseen changes. How will we prepare our children for the future that we cannot even see?

Below is a video called; Learning to Change - Changing to Learn. In it, educators and other leaders of future oriented businesses speak about our responsibility to prepare our children for the future. It is reposted from January 24, 2014 and is worth another look.

The 21st Century Skills are what is commonly referred to as, "soft skills" meaning, skills that are personal attributes which enhance a person's performance as opposed to "hard skills" which are specific to a task, such as kicking a ball, calculating using an algorithm, singing...

The above video is called, Rethinking Learning. Another thought provoking look at what educators say should be the focus for education today and in the future.

The ISTE (International Society of Technology Education) lists 21st century skills as: creativity, collaboration, communication, problem solving and  digital and information literacy. These have been put into NETS Standards which need to be taught as well as focused on in order to prepare children for the future.

How will we prepare our children for the future?