Key Skills for the 21st Century

Aim of Key Skills

To ensure that all learners have the interrelated transferable skills necessary for success in work and life in this ever-changing world.  

Our mission in iEARN is to 'connect youth to make a difference in the world' - but the curriculum in all of our countries is still stuck in the 19th century.   This outdated curriculum  is based on good attendance and remembering facts.  But the computer has liberated us.  We need to know how to find, evaluate and use information.  We need to know how to work together for a common cause.  We need to know how to solve the problems in the world around us. AND we need to know how to continue to learn and develop and change as the world changes around us.  In short - we need to develop SKILLS as much as we need to gain knowledge. 

My BIG idea is to change the culture of education in our countries.   Why not make a decision to change the educational goals in all of our countries  from being based solely on  knowledge  to teaching  the transferable skills that students learn through iEARN projects.  In the UK we have the curriculum, the standards and the experience in accrediting (recognising) skills that could be spread throughout iEARN.  Our gift to our children would be to give them the transferable key skills that they need to be successful in work and life.  The tools to meet the challenges of tomorrow.  

Measurable objectives of practice

•    Increase in Key Skills Awards achieved by learners

•    Change in practice from teacher-centred to student-centred learning based on Key Skills standards (as evidenced by external inspection through Estyn, (the national inspectorate in Wales)

•    Acceptance of Key Skills achievements by employers and Universities 

Description

Over the past 7 years we have reformed our education system in Wales. Our schools, FE Colleges and Work based learning providers are transforming their programmes to become learner centred while our teachers are working together to develop new tools to improve teaching and learning in the classrooms.  The Dysg Key Skills Support Programme Cymru has been at the heart of these changes.  

We have an active programme to up-skill our teachers in ICT digital learning techniques and celebrate the achievements of our youth through accredited key skills qualifications in 6 areas: communication, application of number, ICT, working with others, problem solving and improving own learning and programme.

A major new educational initiative, called the Welsh Bac is the centrepiece of this new educational vision in Wales. The Welsh Bac is an inclusive qualification available to all learners aged 14-19 years at Foundation, Intermediate or Advanced levels. The basis of the Welsh Bac is a strong learner support system to guide students through their learning pathways.  The Welsh Bac qualification is formed of two parts:

Core - consisting of four components i.e. Key Skills, Wales, Europe and the World, Work-related Education and Personal and Social Education.

Options – courses and qualifications in subject areas such as English, History, Mathematics etc.  or vocational study such as Health and Social Care, Business Studies, IT etc. 

The aims of the Dysg Key Skills Support Programme Cymru are to raise awareness of key skills with students, teachers, parents, employers and higher education; to train teachers to deliver and accredit key skills; to develop and test models of best practice for teaching and learning of key skills; and to develop bilingual materials and resources for teaching and learning key skills. 

We accomplish our objectives through providing networks for key skills managers, providing training for teachers, incubating good practice in delivery and assessment of key skills through commissioning development and embedding projects and developing high quality teaching and learning resources.  We disseminate models of good practice and resources through conferences and on-line. 

We are currently developing a new website for quality improvement called Gwella | Improve.  This website groups good practice advice and resources across themes.  The themes will be linked to cross cutting educational themes such as sustainability, digital learning, key skills and assessing and managing quality systems.

The Dysg Key Skills Support programme is an example of best practice because we work closely with teachers, managers and local education authorities to identify support needs and to develop programmes and resources to meet those needs.  We use a ‘push-pull’ methodology for programme development.  The ‘push’ is through the funding, policy and inspection mechanisms (ex. Key skills receive direct funding for post 16 students and are embedded within educational policy initiatives in Wales.  They are also embedded in the Inspection system and reviewed in schools’ annual Self-Assessment reports.)  Key Skills are ‘pulled’ through our on-going programmes of promoting and encouraging innovative practices developed and embedded within schools, FE Colleges and work-based training provision.  These innovative programmes are then showcased through our national conferences and promoted on our website and in training events. 

Evaluation of practice

Since its inception in 2000, over 2.2 million awards of key skills qualifications have been achieved across the UK.  The popularity of key skills has increased yearly with 692,000 awards of key skills achieved in 2005-06.  This was an increase of 19% for the main key skills of Communications, Application of Number and ICT and an increase of over 61% increase in the wider key skills (Improving own Learning and Performance, Working with Others and Problem Solving) over the previous year (Ref. Awards of Key Skills Qualifications:  2005/06. SFR 14/2007 National Statistics first release, April 2007, http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000724/index.shtml

The impact of Key Skills is demonstrated through the increase in the number of key skills awards made year on year since they were introduced in 2000.  It is also affirmed through a variety of research projects including:

 The most important impact measure in our minds is the positive attitude towards student centred active learning that is permeating schools, FE Colleges and work-based training providers in Wales.  Students with strong key skills are confident and competent independent learners ready for the challenges facing them in the new world of the 21st Century. 

Reflection

Our real mission has been to change hearts and minds in Wales.  Schools have traditionally been concerned with subject based teaching.  Their goal has been to ensure that their students achieve the highest possible exam scores in order to be accepted at the ‘best’ Universities in the UK (or in the world).  Our goal has been to change this exam based system to one that focused on giving students the tools for learning and the space to learn how to apply those tools in a meaningful and effective manner. In other words, to prepare students for an knowledge based economy in a digitally networked world. 

It has been a hard battle to convince teachers, students and parents that this was the right approach to preparing learners for the 21st Century challenges.  Vocational teachers have been the easiest to convince because they have long recognized that skills are as important as content.  Teachers in academic subjects have been more difficult to convince.  Teachers can achieve high exam scores (a measure of success) through ‘cramming’ and exam preparation.  They aren’t necessarily convinced of the larger and longer term goal of developing independent flexible learners through key skills. Neither are they convinced that student centred, portfolio assessed learning is ‘real learning’.

The success of the Key Skills Support Project Cymru has been due to the determination of our Minister of Education as well as committed educationalists to provide long-term sustainable support and development programmes based on models of organizational change and development.  In other words we have been able to nurture and sustain teachers and students to explore and develop this new educational vision.  We have been able to work together to make this vision a reality and to celebrate our success along the way. 

Links

For information about the Key Skills Support programme - www.dysg.org.uk 

For Key skills standards, example portfolios, etc.  http://www.qca.org.uk/

Other links and resources for key skills teaching and learning  - Key Skills resources