I attended school from 1974,
and our learning consisted of rote learning of dates, times, special events and being segregated during lunch breaks. The rote learning of information was how it was as technology was not to the point that it was accessible by everyone, so we learnt using books which had to be updated continuously, this limited our knowledge to what the school was able to resource. As a student in the 70’s we had other advantages which I find lacking in the students of today and that is imagination, ingenuity, and an ability to think for themselves. So, in fact we were taught two of the General capabilities which were ‘Critical and Creative Thinking’ and ‘Personal and Social capabilities’.
When we look at the CCPs, sustainability was the norm, we had reusable milk bottles
, used paper bags when shopping
, then reused the paper shopping bags to cover schoolbooks,
walked and used public transportation. As for the other two CCPs we were taught a very Whiteman’s take on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia was not on the curriculum.
In the scholarly literature they talk about the growth of education and how the curriculum has changed and why, the biggest take away for me was the talk about students demonstrating they ‘can do things’ rather than just knowing information. This is important because not all students are good at retaining knowledge, some are better at ‘showing’ their skills and knowledge (Skourdoumbis, 2016).
The link between 21st century learning and the GCs/CCPs is that of foundational literacy, competencies
and character qualities (World Economic Forum, 2015). These three categories showcase the skills required to meet the needs of the 21st century marketplace. With the advent of technology comes an educational innovation, which has the potential to address the educational gaps in students worldwide.
The Australian curriculum breaks down 21st century skills into four distinct categories: Ways of Thinking which includes creativity and innovation, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning to learn, metacognition. Ways of Working: communication, and collaboration. Tools for Working: Information literacy and ICT literacy and finally Living in the World: citizenship — local and global, life and career, and personal and social responsibility — including cultural awareness and competence. This way of teaching and learning prepares students for the future and arms them with critical life skills, by supporting them to be critical and creative-thinkers, communicators and collaborators (Australian Government Department of Education, 2022).
Reference
Australian Government Department of Education. (2022). Links to 21st century learning.
Skourdoumbis, A. (2016). Articulations of teaching practice: A case study of teachers and “general capabilities”. Asia Pacific Education Review, 17, 545-554
World Economic Forum. (2015). New Vision for Education, Unlocking the Potential of Technology. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEFUSA_NewVisionforEducation_Report2015.pdf
