20th Century Classroom

Does this classroom setting look familiar?

Would you like your classroom and learners to look like this one?

If you want to, this guide is right for you.

Teaching Strategies and Approaches

Focus

The 21st Century teacher moves away from memorization of concrete facts and puts a primary focus on what students know, can do and are like after all the details are forgotten.

Approach to Teaching

No longer is the teacher the center of attention, provider of information and Mr/Ms. Oracle himself/herself, but the teacher becomes a facilitator and coach in the modern classroom. The Lecture approach to teaching is no longer the main approach used but the least used in the 21st Century. Constructivist approaches such as Project based and Problem based are now the most widely used.

Assessments

Would you be comfortable as a teacher not being the only person to judge student work?

The 21st Century teacher incorporates self, peer and other assessments by which student work can be judged.

Curriculum

The 21st Century Curriculum is no longer fragmented with each subject being compartmentalised within its silo, but is integrated with other disciplines

Learning Relevance

The 20th Century teacher may reply to a student who ask why they must learn something, will most likely reply because its on the syllabus or simply you have to learn it?

This highlights that the content is of low relevance to the learner, has low currency, and lacks context for the learner.

An approach that the 21st Century teacher would use is to make content relevant to learner by using current and topical issues which have high contextual value for learner.

Thinking Skills

20th Century teaching has predominantly concerned with the thinking skills of remembering, understanding, and applying from the lower order of Bloom’s taxonomy but they have now changed.

Greater focus has been placed on higher order thinking skills such as analysing, evaluating, and synthesizing.

Diversity

The 21st Century teacher fosters divergent views and accepts diversity. Each learner’s voice matter and is worthy of being heard. This is integral in the development of Curriculum and Instruction.

Attributes of Learners

Classroom

The 20th Century learner worked in isolation in a classroom within 4 walls but the 21st Century learner works collaboratively with classmates and others around the world making it a global classroom.

Potential Worker

The 21st Century learner has been educated based upon the needs of a globalized, high-tech society unlike the 20th century learner who was educated based upon needs of employers for the Industrial Age.

Life-long learning is the mantra of the 21st Century learner.

Teacher’s Toolkit

20th Century Teacher

Chalkboard

Chalk or markers

Encyclopaedia

21st Century Teacher

Web 2.0 tools

Computer

Mobile phone

Web-conferencing tools

Social Media tools

Apps, Apps, Apps

Technology Use

20th Century Teacher

Technology Literacy: Learning about technology
Technology Augmentation: Learning with technology

The 20th Century Teacher uses the words “technology integration” to describe the inclusion of technology in their practice.

21st Century Teacher

Technology Transformation: Learning through technology

The 21st Century Teacher seamlessly integrates technology within teaching. At this point the words “technology integration” are no longer part of the teacher’s vocabulary as technology use in teaching is normal practice with the ubiquity of technological devices and educational apps.

One of the key characteristics of any Teacher is the want for students to learn. If this key characteristic is evident in any teacher whether they are from 20th or 21st Century changes in education which can have a positive impact should be embraced. This is the case with technology.

We are living in a world where education is being re-formed through the use of technology. No longer is an encyclopaedia volume a must have in any home, but a computer device equipped with Internet is currently.

No longer is communication via telephone and facsimile but by e-mail, instant-messaging, and online conferencing tools.

This rapid change may seem daunting to the teacher who relied on the trusted chalk and talk method, but with proper coaching and a desire to improve one’s skill-set, technology becomes an asset not a burden.

The 21st century teacher may not accurately predict what the future holds but facilitating and guiding students in developing critical thinking skills is a skill that transcends any generation or time.

If the mantra of the 20th Century teacher was “The sky is the the limit”, the mantra of the 21st century teacher should be “The possibilities are limitless”.