don’t miss the 5th annual composition conference

Hey all…I’m back from San Francisco and getting ready for next week’s Composition Conference for Student Writers.  And now…the latest vlog:

Education Week: Critics of 21st Century Skills

The article “Backers of ’21st Century Skills’ Take Flak,” in this week’s Education Week, reports on some of the critics of the call for “21st Century Skills”–that is, “information, media, and technology skills.”  The article begins:

The phrase “21st-century skills” is everywhere in education policy discussions these days, from faculty lounges to the highest echelons of the U.S. education system.

Broadly speaking, it refers to a push for schools to teach critical-thinking, analytical, and technology skills, in addition to the “soft skills” of creativity, collaboration, and communication that some experts argue will be in high demand as the world increasingly shifts to a global, entrepreneurial, and service-based workplace.

But now a group of researchers, historians, and policymakers from across the political spectrum are raising a red flag about the agenda as embodied by the Tucson, Ariz.-based Partnership for 21st Century Skills, or P21, the leading advocacy group for 21st-century skills.

Unless states that sign on to the movement ensure that all students are also taught a body of explicit, well-sequenced content, a focus on skills will not help students develop higher-order critical-thinking abilities, they said at a panel discussion here in the nation’s capital last week.

Check out the full article here.

It’s been a great day!

It’s been quite a day! The final panels are now in session. We have at least 154 people registered (I say at least because I think there is another list floating around in the conference rooms). Not only have the panels been well-attended, the registration room has been alive with discussion, laughter, and story-telling all day. We’ve even begun talking about next year’s conference. Not to mention the weather is absolutely beautiful–the first real spring day of the year–and students and faculty are still coming to see panels. A good day.