The Nuts & Bolts of 21st Century Learning

Shelby Wright's unit on the Holocaust is constructivism, grounded in 21st Century skills, par excellence.  The teacher has removed herself from the pedestal, acting more as a "guide-on-the-side" rather than "sage-on-the-stage."  The result of her pedagogical change can be seen in the excitement of both the students as well as the teacher.  Wright notes that:

"To be honest, this project is so interesting, I want to be part of it. I want to help make and design it, and I’ve never had that impulse while teaching before."

This is not to say there were no challenges to the change in teaching style.  There were moments in her lesson where students were uncomfortable and discussion in the class came to a halt.  As painful as these moments were, Wright did not intercede with a lecture, and she waited for the students to compose their own thoughts and lead the discussion.

Perhaps the largest hurdle was the bringing the Holocaust unit into a comprehensive whole.  This is a good lesson for teachers who adapt 21st Century constructivist pedagogy; there must be some structure to a unit, and the teacher can focus the classroom by identifying trends of student discussions (such as faces of the Holocaust) and posing solutions.

The technological component played an important role in the overall success of the unit.  Student engagement flourished when they worked together via Google docs.  After a few notes on how to evaluate primary and secondary sources, the students went cyber in their research and found the necessary material to complete the presentation.  The effective use of technology in this 2st Century classroom facilitated a rich and engaging unit, fostering student desires to dig deeper and construct their own understanding of the content.

Technology does not take the place of the teacher in the 21st Century classroom, rather, learners embrace technology as a tool to construct their understanding of the content.  Photo by Montie Martin, Shanghai World Expo summer 2010.