Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills
Rapid—and seemingly accelerating—changes in the economies of developed nations are having a proportional effect on the skill sets required of workers in many new jobs. Work environments are often technology-heavy, while problems are frequently ill-defined
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Patrick Griffin • Barry McGaw • Esther Care Editors
Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills
Editors Patrick Griffin Melbourne Graduate School of Education University of Melbourne Queensberry Street 234 3010 Parkville, Victoria Australia [email protected]
Barry McGaw Melbourne Graduate School of Education University of Melbourne Queensberry Street 234 3010 Parkville, Victoria Australia
Esther Care Melbourne Graduate School of Education University of Melbourne Queensberry Street 234 3010 Parkville, Victoria Australia
ISBN 978-94-007-2323-8 e-ISBN 978-94-007-2324-5 DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-2324-5 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2011939474 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Foreword
Ubiquitous technology has changed the way people work, live, and play. In contemporary society, people use communication and information technology (ICT) to search for information, make purchases, apply for jobs, share opinions, and stay in touch with friends and relatives. In business, people use technology to work in teams, to create new ideas, products, and services and share these with colleagues, customers, or a larger audience. At the same time, contemporary society faces myriad problems that must be addressed: persistent poverty, HIV/AIDS, food security, energy shortage, global climate change, and environmental degradation. In this context, it is crucial to respond flexibly to complex problems, to communicate effectively, to manage information dynamically, to work and create solutions in teams, to use technology effectively, and to produce new knowledge, continuously. All of these are skills needed in the twenty-first century. Technology has made profound changes in twenty-first century business and everyday life, but most educational systems operate much as they did at the beginning of the twentieth century. While contemporary business and social practices engage people in collaborative efforts to solve complex problems and create and share new ideas, traditional instructional and assessment practices require students to work individually as they recall facts or perform simple procedures in response to pre-formulated problems within the narrow boundaries of school subjects, and often they do so without the aid of books, computers, social networks, or other resources. School work is shared with and judged by only the teacher and there is little feedback to the student or opportunity for revision. Significant reform is needed in education worldwide: What is
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