One way to Understand 21st Century Education Requirements.
I came across a 1991 U.S. Department of Labor Report called, “What Work Requires.” (I just went to check the link and it didn’t work. Bummer. But I at least saved it. See below.)
I thought it right on target with what I want the “Learning Community” to do.
I disagree a bit with their separation of Systems and Technology into two different “Competencies.” But I understand why they did it and we need more discussion about it. I agree those the are competencies. I disagree they need to be in two different groups. (But, it is not that critical.)
This is the way the @lantis Learning Community is Structured.
The report identified 5 Competencies and 3 Foundation of skills and personal qualities that are needed to thrive in the 21st Century.
COMPETENCIES – effective workers can productively use:
Resources – allocating time, money, materials, space, and staff
Interpersonal Skills – communication, working on teams, teaching others, serving customers, leading, negotiating, and working well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
Information – acquiring and evaluating data, organizing and maintaining files, interpreting and communicating, and using computers to process information
Systems – understanding social, organizational, and technological systems, monitoring and correcting performance, and designing or improving systems
Technology – selecting equipment and tools, applying technology to specific tasks, and maintaining and troubleshooting technologies.
THE FOUNDATION – competence requires:
Basic Skills – reading, writing, arithmetic and mathematics, speaking, and listening
Thinking Skills – thinking creatively, making decisions, solving problems, seeing things in the mind’s eye, knowing how to learn, and reasoning
Personal Qualities – individual responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity.
Resources: Identifies, organizes, plans, and allocates resources
A. Time & Selects goal-relevant activities, ranks them, allocates time, and prepares and follows schedules
B. Money & Uses or prepares budgets, makes forecasts, keeps records, and makes adjustments to meet objectives
C. Material and Facilities & Acquires, stores, allocates, and uses materials or space efficiently
D. Human Resources & Assesses skills and distributes work accordingly, evaluates performance and provides feedback
Interpersonal: Works with others
A. Participates as a Member of a Team & contributes to group effort
B. Teaches Others New Skills
C. Serves Clients/Customers & works to satisfy customers’ expectations
D. Exercises Leadership & communicates ideas to justify position, persuades and convinces others, responsibly challenges existing procedures and policies
E. Negotiates & works toward agreements involving exchange of resources, resolves divergent interests
F. Works with Diversity & works well with men and women from diverse backgrounds
Information: Acquires and uses information
A. Acquires and Evaluates Information
B. Organizes and Maintains Information
C. Interprets and Communicates Information
D. Uses Computers to Process Information
Systems: Understands complex inter-relationships
A. Understands Systems & knows how social, organizational, and technological systems work and operates effectively with them
B. Monitors and Corrects Performance & distinguishes trends, predicts impacts on system operations, diagnoses deviations in systems’ performance and corrects malfunctions
C. Improves or Designs Systems & suggests modifications to existing systems and develops new or alternative systems to improve performance
Technology: Works with a variety of technologies
A. Selects Technology & chooses procedures, tools or equipment including computers and related technologies
B. Applies Technology to Task & Understands overall intent and proper procedures for setup and operation of equipment
C. Maintains and Troubleshoots Equipment & Prevents, identifies, or solves problems with equipment, including computers and other technologies.
A THREE-PART FOUNDATION
Basic Skills: Reads, writes, performs arithmetic and mathematical operations, listens and speaks
A. Reading — locates, understands, and interprets written information in prose and in documents such as manuals, graphs, and schedules
B. Writing — communicates thoughts, ideas, information, and messages in writing; and creates documents such as letters, directions, manuals, reports, graphs, and flow charts
C. Arithmetic/Mathematics — performs basic computations and approaches practical problems by choosing appropriately from a variety of mathematical techniques
D. Listening — receives, attends to, interprets, and responds to verbal messages and other cues E. Speaking — organizes ideas and communicates orally
Thinking Skills: Thinks creatively, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn, and reasons
A. Creative Thinking — generates new ideas
B. Decision Making — specifies goals and constraints, generates alternatives, considers risks, and evaluates and chooses best alternative
C. Problem Solving — recognizes problems and devises and implements plan of action
D. Seeing Things in the Mind’s Eye — organizes, and processes symbols, pictures, graphs, objects, and other information
E. Knowing How to Learn — uses efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills
F. Reasoning — discovers a rule or principle underlying the relationship between two or more objects and applies it when solving a problem
Personal Qualities: Displays responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, and integrity and honesty
A. Responsibility — exerts a high level of effort and perseveres towards goal attainment
B. Self-Esteem — believes in own self-worth and maintains a positive view of self
C. Sociability — demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empathy, and politeness in group settings
D. Self-Management — assesses self accurately, sets personal goals, monitors progress, and exhibits self-control
E. Integrity/Honesty — chooses ethical courses of action
