"21st Century Education" holds a unique opportunity for the Montessori community. Montessorians and progressive educators can lead by preparing for a century beyond our imagination. While learning how to use technology is important, the new world of today's children will require students who are creative and who are capable of thoughtfully addressing a rapidly changing world filled with incredible possibilities and unthought- of problems.
Link to Video: Exponential Times
Link to Video: Renewable Education
"Our world has been torn to pieces, and is in need of reconstruction. But humanity is not yet ready for the evolution that it desires so ardently, the construction of a peaceful and harmonious society that shall eliminate war. Men are not sufficiently educated to control events, so become their victims. Noble ideas, great sentiments have always found utterance, but wars have not ceased! If education were to continue along the old lines of mere transmission of knowledge, the problem would be insoluble and there would be no hope for the world. Only a scientific enquiry into human personality can lead us to salvation, and we have before us in the child a psychic entity, a social group of immense size, a veritable world-power if rightly used. If salvation and help are to come, it is from the child, for the child is the constructor of man, and so of society. The child is endowed with an inner power which can guide us to a more enlightened future. Education should no longer be mostly imparting of knowledge, but must take a new path, seeking the release of human potentialities."
Howard Gardner's book, Five Minds for the Future promotes the cultivation of thinking skills. "“…We must immediately expand our vision beyond standard educational institutions. In our cultures of today – and of tomorrow – parents, peers, and media play roles at least as significant as do authorized teachers and formal schools…if any cliché of recent years ring true, it is the acknowledgment that learning must be lifelong.” – Howard Gardner
Tony Wagner in his book outlines the following skills as key to survival in the 21st century, The Global Achievement Gap:
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Collaboration across Networks and Leading by Influence
- Agility and Adaptability
- Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
- Effective Oral and Written Communication
- Accessing and Analyzing Information
- Curiosity and Imagination
