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The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Our present school system will not provide the knowledge or skills our citizens will need for the 21 st Century. We need a pilot 21 st Century Knowledge Age School. Now.

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age (KA) School Why? The Educational Reasons: one third of Ontario’s elementary students fail to meet the provincial standards of literacy and numeracy one quarter of high school students drop out before graduation – a further one quarter of the students are arguably undereducated. one third of the Toronto students have no academic help outside the classroom.

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Why? The Economic Reasons: Manufacturing and Web 1.0 technology (20% of wealth base and diminishing) has moved to Mexico, China and India. Natural resources (10% of wealth base) are depleting and are more costly to harvest in a Green era, but will help in the short term. Service sector (70% of wealth base) is the potential remaining source for new long term wealth generation. Different skills and knowledge are required to build wealth in this sector. The old era is over Shift Happens

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Does that mean we’re lost? No. Fareed Zakaria Because we have: The foundation, funding and tradition of universal, compulsory, public education A diverse, multi-cultural and very ambitious population with major links to most other nations An economy that can support the transformation better than in most other countries No other country, except for the USA, is ahead of us so far.

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School What are these skills for the 21 st Century? Why can’t schools just adapt to them?

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School The 21 st Century skills Ken Kay Mastery of core skills and content Team work, partnerships and collaboration Critical thinking and analytical skills Problem solving skills Creative and innovative approaches Superior personal and technical communication skills Flexible organization skills Personal management skills Comfortably operating in a Web 2.0, 3.0 and future electronic environments Global awareness and understanding It’s not about laptops. It's about shouldertops.

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Why can’t the schools just change to meet the new needs? Because teachers are mandated first and foremost to deliver ‘subjects’ to ‘classes of students’ and only incidentally to build learning, solving and co-operative skills – even among themselves. Because ‘content’ is the master, not the servant. Because most of the requisite 21 st Century skills and technology are inconsequential in schools.

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Inconsequential? Key 21 st Century skills that are presently incidental or not commonly counted for marks: Collaboration/ teamwork/partnerships Most Web 2.0 programs and devices Team self-directed program organization Group problem solving for marks Schedule outside of timetabled subject classes Innovative/creative thinking Skills in Web 2.0 world Global awareness and understanding Learning is still a personal contract between individual teachers and students, K to 25.

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School But there are all sorts of reformed, ‘alternative schools’ and/or programs: Arts Athletics GBLT – diverse gender identity Sleep deprived Optional attendance Single sex Africentric Individually timetabled Distance These are socially reconfigured schools, not educationally reformed. Educational reform is creating a new system, no matter what the social configuration.

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School That being the case, what’s next? Putting the pieces together

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Key 21 st Century elements involved in creating the KA School: Curriculum/program (Results that Matter)(Results that Matter) Organization (The Economist, January 21, 2006)The Economist Facilities (The Language of School Design)The Language of School Design Prakash Nair Form follows function

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Curriculum/Program: From classroom to directed learning - Team based Problem solving design Key skills and content covered Organized around a growing understanding of community Schools organized in divisions by ages of students: Up to 7 years old; 8 and 9; 10 and 11; Middle I, 12 and 13; Middle II, 14 and 15; and Senior, 16 and 17.

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School The Learning Organization: Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline Teacher created/directed curriculum/program designed to a mandate from the Board: Vision: Prosperity in the Knowledge Age Mission: Create an organizational model that reflects and realizes the vision Goals: 90% of the students to graduate from school and 70% prepared to follow further education Values: No harm, inclusive, accountable Implementation: Community exploration frame, deepening over the years to grow into global partners.

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Facilities : From ‘cells and bells’ to ‘community’ learning centre. To accommodate at least 15 learning modalities Independent study Peer tutoring Team collaboration Teacher one-on-one Lectures Projects Web technology based Distance learning Individual/team exhibition/performance driven Problem-based team learning Community service-oriented Green and geothermal Collaborative and partnership-based Centred on the Personal Learning Profile Active, constructivist learning With acknowledgements to Piaget, Gardner and Nair et al.

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Facilities From this:

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School To this:

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Supported by this:

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School In Green From this:

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School To this

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School And over the longer term to this:

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School And Now to Action: Realizing the 21 st Century Knowledge Age School: The Pilot

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School The Action Plan Steering Team Management Team Operations Team Vision Mission Goals Values COO/Manager CFO Design/architect Organization facilitator Curriculum facilitator Tech facilitator Teachers Working with Management team

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School ItemLowHigh Steering team100,000200,000 Management team450,000600,000 Educators’ team1,250,0002,500,000 Facilities2,000,0003,000,000 Green/ Geothermal 500,000 Web 2.0/Eq’pm’t500,000 Totals$4,800,000$7,300,000 Cost Ranges for the Pilot Project

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School And the Payback is - ItemValue/costPayback Trained Core Team of 35 educators $2,500,000Seminal investment Green/geothermal$500,000 3 years’ payback 21 st C KA School$5 million to 7 million.Leading schools good for community prosperity “Annual budget $6,000,000With out-of-country paid enrolment: $3,000,000 p.a. “Marketing to global marketWhole new industry for job growth in the new economy. 1,000’s of export jobs. “NilAttract new students = more income “NilAnnual 20,000 dropouts mean $280,000,000 potential income gain “One saved student $ 760,000 lifetime earnings: + welfare, health care, detention savings

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Where do we find the investment? Public/private partnership Government (Ministry and School Board): (One half of funds) The facility The normal per pupil operating budget Share educational preparation Steering/management set-up Public subscription: (One quarter of funds) Foundations, Corporations and Chambers of Commerce Share educational preparation Share renovations Corporate providers (ground floor of huge new industry) (One quarter of funds) Green/geothermal Web 2.0 systems and equipment Share renovations

The 21st Century, Knowledge Age School Call to action What more do we need to know before we act? Nothing What have we to gain by creating the pilot 21 st Century, K A School Everything

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