21st century skills: more than lip service

So many schools carry a tagline something like “teaching students for the 21st century”. Yet if we ask leaders and teachers to quantify what and how that looks, in practice, there is rarely a coherent response. Hardly surprising, really, given the number of 21C skill and capability lists – where to start?
After leading work with the 21CLD Framework for 18 months now, I am strongly convinced of its merit and worth. It makes a difference. Emerging evidences of impact indicate that it provides for the development of a realistic, concrete set of actions that turn the rhetoric around 21st century education into realty. We have engaged 30 schools and almost 100 teachers in this work across Tasmania, and are supporting each teacher in scaling the use of the framework within and across schools. It is powerful, practice changing work – but NOT as a bolt on; as a bolt in to existing school priorities.
I am looking forward to facilitating at the national Partners in Learning forum prior to Edutech in Brisbane at the end of May. In this forum we will begin a national Pilot of the 21CLD framework. Bringing school leaders and teachers together to work through the framework has proven a powerful model, and we anticipate being able to tell some significant stories around progress in the coming months.