An absolute privilege to facilitate 2 intense days of working with the 21CLD task design framework last weekend. Co facilitating with the masterful Joan Dalton and inimitable Travis Smith was an enjoyable and valuable experience, both for me, and for the workshop participants. Having worked extensively with the 21CLD framework for 2 years now, it continues to evolve. Joan and I (well, mostly Joan) revised the rubrics, adapting them to include specific Australian Curriculum links, and raised the expectations of practice for the Australian context in general.

The forum workshops were tagged 21CLD; architecture for learning design. the 21CLD rubrics ARE a tool that shifts much of the rhetoric around teaching 21st century capabilities into a concrete reality. Participant feedback indicated the development of strong understandings around process and direct links to, and plans for implementation possibilities in their own school and beyond.

I would suggest that if you are looking for a place to start in actually DOING SOMETHING about shifting teaching and learning practice, then 21CLD can provide a critically effective foundation for action. Emerging evidences from programs in Tasmania indicate a significant effect on the way teachers design learning activities, and we are currently engaged in collecting evidences of impact from both teachers and students, with the aim of publishing the data by December this year.

Thanks to all participants for their dedication and work over 2 days (which included a Saturday), and again to Joan and Trav for their expertise. I look forward to continuing to support this program across the country.

@maxdrummy, max.drummy@education.tas.gov.au

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.