Twenty-First Century Learning and the Case for More Knowledge About Knowledge
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Twenty‑First Century Learning and the Case for More Knowledge About Knowledge Graham McPhail1 Received: 29 January 2020 / Accepted: 23 June 2020 © New Zealand Association for Research in Education 2020
Abstract The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate about the phenomenon known in Aotearoa New Zealand as twenty-first Century Learning. In recent additions to the local literature Hirschman and Wood (2018) have noted a lack of critical engagement with this narrative which is fast becoming normalised in New Zealand, and Lourie (2020) has shown how and why twenty-first century skills and competencies have been increasingly emphasised over traditional forms of knowledge. In responding to this literature I identify a number of problems with the narrative but my key purpose is to engage with what I regard as the deeper and more fundamental problem—a lack of ‘knowledge about knowledge’. I use Young and Muller’s (2010) 3 Futures scenarios to create a context from which to critique this knowledge gap and its contagion effects in the use of ‘big ideas’ in the current review of the National Certificate of Education Achievement. I argue that epistemically structured knowledge is our main resource for deep learning and that equitable access to this form of knowledge is a social justice issue. A more epistemologically informed approach to the changes currently being promoted in New Zealand education is required to mitigate the effects of epistemologically weak curriculum making encouraged by the twenty-first learning narrative. Keywords Twenty-first century learning · Curriculum development · NCEA review · Knowledge
Introduction In this paper I aim to contribute to the debate about the phenomenon known in New Zealand as twenty-first Century Learning (hereafter 21stCL)—a term generally understood as referring to a “cluster of new ideas, beliefs, knowledge, theories and practices” (Bolstad and Gilbert 2012, p. 1). This approach to education is promoted * Graham McPhail [email protected] 1
Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies
by many teachers and academics (e.g. Claxton 2013; Fullan et al. 2018; Scott 2015; https://www.21cskillslab.com/)1 and by the New Zealand Ministry of Education (2016).2 In its Four-Year Plan 2016–2020 the Ministry identifies twenty-first century practice as one of its key strategic intentions for early childhood and schooling (2016, p. 18) and 21stCL has also featured in the Ministry’s professional leaning development (PLD) priorities. The essential assertions on which the 21stCL narrative is based, and the resulting educational ideas and practices are now very well-rehearsed in the literature (see for example Benade 2017 for a recent New Zealand perspective and Choo et al. (2017), for an international perspective). New Zealand is very much located in and responsive to what is a global movement driven by big players such as the OECD and UNESCO (see Robertson 2016
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