Emily Mullis

Running Head: 21st CENTURY SKILLS

21st Century Skills

Emily Mullis

Georgia Southern University

FRIT 7136

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21st CENTURY SKILLS

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role of the school library media specialist in guaranteeing that

all students are competent in 21st century skills as outlined by the American Association

of School Librarians. In order for this to happen, teachers and media specialists must

work together to incorporate the standards for the 21 st century learner into daily

curriculum.

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21st CENTURY SKILLS

21st Century Skills

As we enter a new era of library media, things are quickly changing. The way a

library looks, functions, and supplements the classroom curriculum is becoming

something new at a mind blowing pace. A school library is not just a huge room filled

with books for students to check out anymore. There are books there for that purpose,

obviously, but in today’s media center, there is so much more offered than books.

Students today can use the library media center for a multitude of tasks and we as

educators need to have the skills and abilities to keep up with the ever-changing world

our students are living in.

Students come into the media center with experience and skills in an array of

web-based technologies, such as blogs, wikis, social networking sites, and photo and

video sharing web sites. In order to reach these students, we must keep up. Authors

Solomon and Schrum state that, “we can take advantage of the features that new tools

offer and tap into students’ natural affinity for these tools in order to create learning

experiences that expand their worldview and enhance what they learn” (p. 24).

Information, information technology, and information literacy concerns are

essential. Teacher-librarians and active, engaged library programs are the keys to

helping students succeed in the information age. Every school library program needs to

be active, vibrant, engaged, and meaningful. The library program should be at the

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center of school curriculum and school-wide initiatives (Eisenberg, 2006). It is important

that the school community understands that this is true and that the library media

program is an indispensable part of the educational setting. The main goal of the

school library media program should be to guarantee that students become successful

at locating information and using it effectively. The role of the school librarian is central

and active in making sure that this goal is met.

The library media specialist must be an instructional leader in his or her school.

Taking on this role calls for a strong knowledge base in the area of information literacy

(Branch & Oberg, 2001). Media specialists have standards that address this in depth.

Teacher 1 shared with me that she believed the standards were a great guide to

implementing information literacy skills into the curriculum. This is not a job for just the

media specialist. Information literacy skills must be taught by every teacher in every

classroom.

Everyone agrees that students need 21st century skills to be successful in today’s

world. But when you stop to think about what that really means, are the skills that

students need new or is the extent to which changes in the economy and world mean

that success depends on having these skills new? Critical thinking and problem solving

have always been components of school curriculum. Rotherham and Willingham assert

that there is a definite distinction between “skills that are novel” and “skills that must be

taught more intentionally and effectively” (Sept. 2009). All students should be fortunate

enough to receive effective education and be taught these skills. In order for this to

happen, schools must be more deliberate about teaching critical thinking, collaboration,

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and problem solving to all students. This may sound simple enough, but making it

happen poses quite a challenge.

Media Specialist 1 believes that the biggest challenge surrounding teaching 21 st

century skills to all students is budget. She says that in order to teach 21 st century

skills, 21st century technology and resources must be available.

One major challenge of the 21st century skill education reform effort is the risk of

the movement devolving into a fad or being implemented with weak fidelity to its core

intent (Rotherham & Willingham, 2009). Also, with so much new knowledge being

created, it seems that the ways of knowing information are now much more important

than information itself. The issue is how to meet challenges of delivering content and

skills in a rich way that actually improves outcomes for students. Rotheram and

Willingham address three elements that they believe must be implemented for the 21 st

century skills effort to be effective. They believe that otherwise, the reform will be

superficial and counterproductive.

The first element is a better curriculum. Some view skills and knowledge as

separate entities. Skills and knowledge are not separate. They are intertwined.

Knowledge often shows us the original composition of a problem. Sometimes we fail to

recognize that we have a particular thinking skill unless it comes in the form of a known

content. At other times, we know that we have a particular thinking skill, but somain

knowledge is necessary if we are to use it. To think critically, students need the

knowledge that is central to the area (Rotherham & Willingham, 2009).

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Another curricular challenge is that we don’t yet know how to teach students to

self-direct, collaborate, be creative, and be innovative effectively. Many advocates of

the 21st century skills movement believe that if we give students more experiences that

will develop these skills. However, experience and skills are not one and the same.

Experience is using a skill; practice is trying to improve that skill by looking at what you

are doing wrong and working on fixing the problem.

In order to deliver better curriculum to all students, we must plan to teach skills in

the context of particular content knowledge and to treat both as equally important.

The second element in Rotherham’s and Willingham’s improvement plan is better

teaching. One of the 21st century skills movement plan’s greatest strengths calls for

greater collaboration among teachers. Teacher expertise is a valuable resource that is

often wasted when teachers aren’t given time to share it. There are many questions

surrounding how to make this happen. They raise questions about whether the design

of today’s schools is compatible with the goals of the 21 st century skills movement

(Rotherham & Willingham, 2009). Teacher 2 believes that “professional development is

a huge issue surrounding teaching 21st century skills.”

The third and final element mentioned by Rotherham and Willingham is better

tests. When we invest so much in curriculum and human capital, we must also place

emphases on evaluating whether or not what we are accomplishing anything. There

are several challenges to this, such as cost, producing enough high-quality

assessments to meet the needs of a system as large and diverse as U.S. public

schools, and delivery challenges (Rotherham & Willingham, 2009).

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If these challenges are ignored, the 21st century skills movement is in jeopardy of

becoming another fad that ultimately will not change anything in education or could

even cause setbacks in producing more influential schools for students and ultimately

ensuring that they are prepared for the 21 st century classroom.

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21st CENTURY SKILLS

References

Branch, Jenniger L., and Oberg, Dianne. (2001). The teacher-librarian in the 21 st

century. School Libraries in Canada. (Vol. 21 Issue 2). p9.

Eisenberg, Michael B. (Spring 2006). Three roles for the 21 st-century teacher-librarian.

CSLA Journal. (Vol. 29 Issue 2). p21-23.

Rotherham, Andrew J., and Willingham, Daniel. (Sept. 2009). 21 st century skills: The

challenges ahead. Educational Leadership. (Vol. 67 Issue 1). p16-21.

Solomon, G., and Schrum, L. (2007). Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Eugene, OR:

International Society for Technology in Education.

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