In the last 23 years since the 21st century began, many things in society have changed at a rapid pace, influenced by our rapidly developing technology. As our world changes, so must the way we teach the newer generations. Enter 21st Century Learning. 21st Century Learning is a style of teaching that is defined by its focus on teaching students collaboration, problem solving, and adaptability, related to the unknowns of the future (Sahin, 2009). 21st Century learning comes after there was much critique of previous methods of teaching and learning which relied on memorizing and regurgitation of information (Rich, 2010). In the wake of an ever changing world, job market, and technology, some people have taken to using this style of teaching so as to better prepare students for the potential realities of the future. 

As a teacher, it is my responsibility to determine how to best teach my students and as such, I created a lesson plan using 21st Century learning strategies as the base. My lesson is set in an 11th grade ELA classroom using a play we read every year, Doubt, A Parable by John Patrick Shanley, as the material studied. The lesson itself revolves around a debate that is sparked by the book: the innocence or guilt of one of the main characters regarding his alleged sexual abuse of a young boy (Shanley, 2004). The lesson culminates in students taking sides in the debate, finding textual evidence to support their stance, and defending their ideas from the other side. At the end of the lesson, students will be asked if their opinion has changed, and then to explain why it has or has not. 

This lesson exemplified 21st Century Learning through its use of technology, its requirements of collaboration and cooperative learning, its preparation for the unknowns of the future, and its focus on students reflecting on their beliefs and why they held them. The biggest aspect I want to focus on from this lesson was the preparation of the unknown that is the future. When I was a young man, I never would have dreamed of a job in which a person can get paid simply for recording themselves playing video games and broadcasting it to the internet, but Twitch streamer is a job for some people. Much in the way that streamer was not a job growing up, our students may very well have jobs and careers that we could not dream of. As such, I tried to have skills that would translate to any scenario my students may find themselves in in the future. These skills were making arguments, backing them up with facts, needing to challenge others ideas, and collaboration with their classmates.

A significant challenge I faced while making this lesson was finding technology which could facilitate the debate that this lesson requires. In the ELA department at my school, there is a sense of “stuck in time”, where teachers will use the same lessons and the same technology that has been used for the last three or four decades, only really branching out when needed. As such, most debates are done the old fashioned way, with splitting the room down the middle and having the students talk to each other. I chose to use Jamboard after looking through different ways for students to give immediate and live responses to questions.

One way I want to push back on 21st Century Learning is the over reliance and focus on changing technology. My school is fortunate to have a well funded technology department but I know of many schools in Philadelphia that do not. Funding spread over schools is entirely based on old laws and tax codes that purposely disenfranchise students of color. I made this lesson because, while it used Jamboard, it could just as easily function without it, in a low-tech environment. My feelings about 21st Century Learning have still remained the same as they were last week. I think there is a lot to champion about it, but while our society moves forward in some ways, it is still stagnant in some of the most important areas. 

References: 

Rich, E. (2010, October 11). How do you define 21st-century learning?: One question. Eleven answers. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/how-do-you-define-21st-century-learning/2010/10

Sahin, M. C. (2009, March 18). Instructional design principles for 21st Century learning skills. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042809002614

Shanley, J. P. (2015). Doubt: A parable. Theatre Communication Group.