Preparing for the Future

Debbie Cargill
Aug 16, 2010

What can we plan to do to make our students globally competitive?

Creating schools for the future is certainly a challenge. Gary Marx, in "An Overview of Sixteen Trends: Their Profound Impact on Our Future" (2006), writes about the move from the Industrial Age to a Global Knowledge/Information Age and its impact on education. "The skills and knowledge students will need include: basic management and entrepreneurial skills; the ability to collaborate with others; the ability to separate truth from fiction as they explore conflicting information that is expanding exponentially; critical and creative thinking skills; technological savvy; and an understanding of different cultural backgrounds." (p. 15)

How can you plan and develop lessons and units that provide learning opportunities for students that address the need for global competence?

Below are just a few of the issues that were identified by Gary Marx as necessary in planning for a global education. The connection with the Learning-Focused Strategies Model follows.

Thinking and reasoning: Within the Learning-Focused unit framework, teachers are expected to provide opportunities for students to deepen their understanding of essential content. This understanding leads to retention, application, and transfer of knowledge. At Level II, Extending Thinking, students move beyond the acquisition level using higher order thinking strategies.

Collaboration: Collaborative pairs is a part of the Learning-Focused framework and is an organizational tool for grouping students for the purpose of engaging their thinking about new learning. Talking about the learning helps students to make sense of it and internalize it. Eric Jensen says that talking about new learning may be the single best memory device we have. In learning to work in a partnership or as a part of a team, students are learning those social skills that are so necessary for their future success.

Student engagement: The research says that students are more likely to retain new information if they are actively engaged. The Learning-Focused Strategies Model provides multiple opportunities for engagement throughout the lesson and the unit. Summarizing strategies, distributed guided practice, and collaborative pairs are a few examples.

Real-life connections: All learning occurs in levels. Level I is the acquisition level. At Level II, students deepen their understanding of content. Level III is the authentic, meaningful use, and maintenance level. At this level, students make the connections to real-life, applying and using their knowledge in meaningful ways. The Learning-Focused framework addresses each level of learning.

Designing learning experiences that will challenge and prepare students for a role in a global society is a goal all teachers. The Learning-Focused Strategies Model provides the framework for planning to meet the needs of all students.