21st Century Skills?
Stephen Krashen
Yogi Berra: "It's hard to predict, especially about the future."
"I contend that, instead of insisting on more and more standardization, we should be increasing variety, flexibility, and choice in what we offer in our schools (Noddings, 2009, p.243).
" ... useful knowledge changes as societies change" (Zhao, 2009, p. 135).
It is often stated that new standards are necessary so that children will develop "21st Century Skills." Education Secretary Duncan behaves, at times, as if he knows what these skills are (but see below). Most of us have no idea.
The history of science and technology has taught us that new developments are nearly always a surprise. Secretary Duncan expressed this idea himself, in an interview with USA Today:
"As we get more and more of these technological breakthroughs, there are going to be jobs in fields available that don't even exist today. If these guys [sic] can come out and be those