The 6 C’s of character education, citizenship, communication, critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity are important components of a productive and forward-thinking learning environment. A classroom that helps students develop these skills is a classroom that helps students prepare for their future and contributes to a generation of thinkers and creators who are curious and care about their world.
The 6 Deep Learning Competencies are directly related to learners in the 21st Century because the students who are in elementary school now, will be graduating into a world that demands certain qualities and skills from people in order to succeed in many fields. The 21st century presents educators with an opportunity to redefine what learning and education should look like and what it should achieve. As we move into a world where many jobs can be done by robots, we need to help students engage with their world in meaningful ways, develop their curiosity, and help build students’ confidence so that they can create and develop new ideas and projects. It is so important that we help young students begin to question things, and develop their creativity because they are the people that will be in charge of making innovative technology. 21st century learners, as humans, need to be able to do what robots cannot. In A Rich Seam, Deep Learning is described as an important part of education going forward. It “ goes beyond the mastery of existing content knowledge” (Fullan & Langworthy 7) and asks students to engage fully in issues and topics that are relevant in the real world. This means that in order to be successful in new, forward-thinking projects that incorporate the 6 C’s students need to be able to think outside of the box, problem solve, create, and use digital tools.
A Rich Seam calls on educators to create projects for students that allow each student to connect “to personal interests and aspirations” (Fullan & Langworthy 34). The teacher who developed The Enigma Project in the video has succeeded in creating this type of project. In this project, there is room for student choice which allows each student to explore a topic of personal interest which could spark an interest in a particular career. One student said that this project ‘changed what she wants to be when she grows up’ and another explains how her understanding and perspective regarding people with autism has changed after exploring her topic. Here, we clearly see that the student is developing empathy and understanding for others, which is part of the Character Education component of the 6 C’s. This video also outlines the ability for a project to develop citizenship as students explore different cultures and peoples. I would imagine that these projects would be shared with the class when complete, so each student would learn from their peers about a unique and important topic. The video also highlighted the fact that students were writing to community members, researchers, and doctors to find more information about their topics. This not only develops their communication skills, but it also shows students how helpful community members can be. These types of connections are wonderful because they introduce students to people in a field that they have an interest.
The Enigma Project is a type of project that I would hope to incorporate into my own future junior classroom because it gives students the opportunity to be in charge of their own topic and developing their own way of finding and presenting their research. While teaching grade 2 last year, our class worked together to learn and understand the differences between people. One of the topics that really hit home with my students was the fact that some children do not live with their biological parents. The concept of an orphanage was new for most of my students, and something they were very curious about. So, we all came up with different things we could do to help children that live different lives than ourselves. We explored places where there is not enough water, and places where children don’t get to attend school, along with children in orphanages. After exploring these topics as a class, the students began choosing their topic and problem solving. Each student presented their idea to the class and we all voted on which project we wanted to make happen. As a class, our goal was set after the presentations; we were going to put together pencil cases and have them delivered to an orphanage. Since I was going on a trip to Medellin, Colombia that year over March Break, I connected with an orphanage there before I left. I was then able to give the students a clear picture of where their efforts were going and deliver the pencil cases myself. The students’ curiosity about other cultures, and about the different lives that children lead all over the world was sparked and explored through this project.
Works Cited
Fullan, Michael, and Maria Langworthy. “A Rich Seam.” A Rich Seam, Pearson, Jan. 2014, michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/3897.Rich_Seam_web.pdf.
The 6 Deep Learning Competencies are directly related to learners in the 21st Century because the students who are in elementary school now, will be graduating into a world that demands certain qualities and skills from people in order to succeed in many fields. The 21st century presents educators with an opportunity to redefine what learning and education should look like and what it should achieve. As we move into a world where many jobs can be done by robots, we need to help students engage with their world in meaningful ways, develop their curiosity, and help build students’ confidence so that they can create and develop new ideas and projects. It is so important that we help young students begin to question things, and develop their creativity because they are the people that will be in charge of making innovative technology. 21st century learners, as humans, need to be able to do what robots cannot. In A Rich Seam, Deep Learning is described as an important part of education going forward. It “ goes beyond the mastery of existing content knowledge” (Fullan & Langworthy 7) and asks students to engage fully in issues and topics that are relevant in the real world. This means that in order to be successful in new, forward-thinking projects that incorporate the 6 C’s students need to be able to think outside of the box, problem solve, create, and use digital tools.
A Rich Seam calls on educators to create projects for students that allow each student to connect “to personal interests and aspirations” (Fullan & Langworthy 34). The teacher who developed The Enigma Project in the video has succeeded in creating this type of project. In this project, there is room for student choice which allows each student to explore a topic of personal interest which could spark an interest in a particular career. One student said that this project ‘changed what she wants to be when she grows up’ and another explains how her understanding and perspective regarding people with autism has changed after exploring her topic. Here, we clearly see that the student is developing empathy and understanding for others, which is part of the Character Education component of the 6 C’s. This video also outlines the ability for a project to develop citizenship as students explore different cultures and peoples. I would imagine that these projects would be shared with the class when complete, so each student would learn from their peers about a unique and important topic. The video also highlighted the fact that students were writing to community members, researchers, and doctors to find more information about their topics. This not only develops their communication skills, but it also shows students how helpful community members can be. These types of connections are wonderful because they introduce students to people in a field that they have an interest.
The Enigma Project is a type of project that I would hope to incorporate into my own future junior classroom because it gives students the opportunity to be in charge of their own topic and developing their own way of finding and presenting their research. While teaching grade 2 last year, our class worked together to learn and understand the differences between people. One of the topics that really hit home with my students was the fact that some children do not live with their biological parents. The concept of an orphanage was new for most of my students, and something they were very curious about. So, we all came up with different things we could do to help children that live different lives than ourselves. We explored places where there is not enough water, and places where children don’t get to attend school, along with children in orphanages. After exploring these topics as a class, the students began choosing their topic and problem solving. Each student presented their idea to the class and we all voted on which project we wanted to make happen. As a class, our goal was set after the presentations; we were going to put together pencil cases and have them delivered to an orphanage. Since I was going on a trip to Medellin, Colombia that year over March Break, I connected with an orphanage there before I left. I was then able to give the students a clear picture of where their efforts were going and deliver the pencil cases myself. The students’ curiosity about other cultures, and about the different lives that children lead all over the world was sparked and explored through this project.
Works Cited
Fullan, Michael, and Maria Langworthy. “A Rich Seam.” A Rich Seam, Pearson, Jan. 2014, michaelfullan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/3897.Rich_Seam_web.pdf.
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