ASSESSING CORE COMPETENCIES of 21St CENTURY LEARNING

ASSESSING CORE COMPETENCIES OF 21stCENTURY LEARNING

HOW TO USE THIS TOOL

This rubric should be used as a frame of reference to assess and explore the development of the competencies within the framework of lessons, unit plans, projects and class discussions. Users should be able to quickly and confidently review their lessons and establish competency areas that are being tapped into, within their lesson, and also identify areas that need to be further developed.

Quite simply, teachers will examine and place aspects of their lessons into the table below. Once all components of the lesson are placed into the chart, users can quickly determine which competencies are apparent within the lesson and which components can be enhanced.

Included within this document are:

1. 21st Century Learner – Competency Graphic (see cover page)
2. The Competencies Described
3. Competency Table Template
4. Competency Table Exemplar – with project description
5. Brief Literature Review

THE CORE COMPETENCIES DEFINED[1]

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Students have well-developed critical thinking skills to review, analyze and assess the validity and relevance of information coming from a variety of sources and points of view, and are able to apply higher-level cognitive and critical thinking skills and perspectives required within a variety of contexts.

Creativity and Innovation: Students recognize and engage in opportunities to be creative and innovative in personal and social life as much as at work. They are curious and open to new and diverse ideas, and appreciate the creative works of others. They value aesthetic expression and demonstrate initiative, imagination, spontaneity and ingenuity when engaging in a range of creative and innovative processes.

Social Responsibility and Cultural, Global and Environmental Awareness: Students are responsible citizens who contribute positively to the quality and sustainability of their environment, communities and society as a whole. They respect social, cultural, economic and environmental interconnectedness, and the rights and beliefs of others within local and global communities.

Communication: Students seek to understand and interpret the thoughts, ideas and emotions of others and express their own, clearly and effectively, in appropriate ways, for different audiences and for a variety of purposes within local and global communities.

Digital Literacy: Students make responsible, ethical and critical use of technology needed for a knowledge society, and explore the potential of new technology to communicate, learn, solve problems, make decisions, and create new knowledge in a variety of digital environments and media.

Lifelong Learning, Self-Direction and Personal Management: Students understand that learning is for life, and for personal fulfillment, active citizenship, and professional growth. They are aware of their talents and their passions, and use them to motivate their learning and to manage their strengths and areas in need of improvement.

Collaboration and Leadership: Students demonstrate leadership in their personal lives, at work and in their communities, building relationships, managing conflict and working in teams to achieve common goals.

COMPETENCY TABLE TEMPLATE

COMPETENCY TABLE TEMPLATE, cont’d

COMPETENCY EXEMPLAR: PROJECT DESCRIPTION

This sample was utilized in a Reggio inspired early learning classroom. The description is provided to give readers an understanding of how the template can be utilized and provide a framework to be reflective in teaching practices that foster development of the core competencies.

ROAR!

Roar was a project developed over a few days in a junior kindergarten classroom, where the end result was a book and a movie that the students enjoyed and shared with their families.

Background activities:These activities were built up over many days.

1. Dress up clothes: One of the students asked me if I had any dress up clothes. I told her I did and asked her what she was specifically thinking about. She asked me what I had. I told her a list which included many things, one of which was bird costumes. She was intrigued, so I showed her a photo, and then she asked if I could bring those. I told her that I could but we needed to ask the rest of the class if they were in agreement. We had a classroom meeting and ask the other students what they thought. They all agreed that the bird costumes were a good idea.

1. Planning a space: I told the students that if I was going to bring in dress up clothes we needed to create a space to play with them. We began brainstorming and the students decided we needed to build a tree and a bird house.

1. 
   Building the tree: As a group we looked at trees and decided to build ours out of paper. In small groups of their own choosing, we rolled out, twisted and measured paper to create the branches. At one point this activity also included the wonderful gross motor skills of taking turns climbing a ladder.
2. Building the birdhouse: After looking at many birdhouses, we brainstormed what needed to go into making a birdhouse that we could play in. They agree on elements such as:

• A hole to get into the house
• A tunnel to crawl through
• A roof and walls
• A perch or a ladder
• More ‘bird-ness’ meaning, pictures of birds and bird decorations
• Little things to pretend food
• The costumes and a mirror

The students had to work together to plan and create the birdhouse. The entrance was created by 5 students working together, including one student who typically did not work well with other children. (Video footage available)

1. Big Brave Brian: The students found a book on my shelf and asked me to read it. As I was reading it I made the judgement call to skip a few pages with what I considered to be very scary illustrations. Some of the students figured out that I did that when they were looking at the book on their own and were quite upset with me. I explained that I skipped those pages because I was worried that some students may be afraid of those pictures. We had a class discussion about it. We ended up deciding that we would show the pictures but warn the students when they were coming so that they could choose if they wanted to see or not. All the students felt comfortable with this decision.

1. Monster masks: While I was working on the tree with some students, three others were on the carpet looking like they were playing a little rough. I went over and asked them what they were doing. They told me that they were acting out “Big Brave Brian”. I explained that to me it looked like they were just playing rough. I asked them how we could make sure that others knew they were acting out the story. They suggested making masks. We began making masks. Most of the class joined in and made one.

1. The Book and the Movie: Once the class had finished their masks, they wanted to play with them. They began making up a story. I gathered them as a group and we used the smart board to create a story board for a story. We began acting it out. Children organized themselves into who wanted to be birds or monsters. Two children wanted to be ‘stage managers’ instead. While acting it out and taking photos for the book one child suggested we make a movie. So using the video function on my camera I took footage of them acting it out and they helped me edit it into a movie. They wanted a beginning to the movie so a song was created using the tune of twinkle twinkle.

COMPETENCY TABLE EXEMPLAR

COMPETENCY TABLE TEMPLATE, cont’d

LITERATURE REVIEW

Nancy Bromley

Sarah Mandolesi

[1]Adapted from “Action on Curriculum: Why Competencies Matter”, Alberta Education, Draft, March 2011