Today’s educators are constantly bombarded with higher expectations, less say about what to teach students, and fewer resources. Never before has the task of an educator been so challenging. Consider progress monitoring, RTI, AYP proficiency, Race to the Top, and other government mandates.
Recently eSchool News asked its readers: “What are the qualities of an effective 21st-century educator?”
Listed below is a summary of results.
1. Anticipates the future.
“Good 21st-century educators are always pushing the envelope to ensure that their students are not left behind in the wake of progress; in particular, he/she is one advocating constantly for change in educational thinking and planning to ensure that a district’s sub-group kids (minority and/or students at the poverty level) are not being left behind for lack of access to proper resources to allow them to compete with their suburban counterparts. Lastly, good 21st-century teachers are not teachers in a vacuum; they are progressive in pushing for systemic change via curriculum sequencing, prioritization of dollars, and prudent, strategic scrutiny of decision-making to ensure that the preparation of today’s children is always focused on preparing them for the world(s) in which they will live and work—not the current world in which the teachers have to navigate and dwell.” —Amy Baldridge, secondary curriculum supervisor, Xenia Community Schools
“The 21st-century educator must be a fluid thinker, ready to look at situations with fresh, creative eyes. He/she must go beyond the obvious to see the underlying patterns and core issues of a given circumstance. And—most importantly—an understanding of chaos theory is essential: The butterfly flaps its wings and 3000 miles away the weather changes.” —Donn K. Harris, executive director, artistic director, Oakland School for the Arts, Oakland, Calif.
2. Is a lifelong learner.
“A great … educator will embrace not only technology, but be willing to learn from colleagues and students.” —David Brandvold
“I believe that a good 21st-century educator should be able to pose open-ended questions to students without having to know one exact answer. This educator fosters students so that they become the captains of their own learning. Learning becomes purposeful and meaningful for students as they work through real-world activities.” —Jonna Wallis, 6-12 Language Arts academic coach, Professional Development Center, Scottsdale, Ariz.
3. Fosters peer relationships.
“In this technology-driven era, it is more critical than ever that we foster relationships with and between our students. We must model and demand courtesy, we must model and demand communication, and we must model and demand respect and cooperation—our students need us to show them how to treat each other. They may have 500 friends on Facebook, but do they know how to be a friend? Technology can foster isolation, therefore interpersonal relationship skills must be taught in our classrooms so that our students can go on to be effective in the workplace and fulfilled in their lives. Helping students learn life’s lessons is becoming increasingly more important—interpersonal relationships, letting students know teachers genuinely care for them—and will help students be more successful in life.” —Julia C. Bernath, District 7 board member, Fulton County Board of Education
4. Can teach and assess all levels of learners.
“To be an effective 21st-century teacher, a teacher must first possess the very same 21st-century skills that their students are expected to have. And, in addition to those skills, they must be able to help all of their students obtain and develop 21st-century skills.” —Mamzelle Adolphine
5. Is able to discern effective vs. non-effective technology.
“School-age children are by far the fastest adopters of communications and information technologies. The education system doesn’t need to teach them how to use these technologies, but it should recognize that technologies can help students learn more and faster. Classroom technologies can also make more efficient use of a teacher’s time, whether it’s with tools for lesson preparation, lesson presentation, lesson feedback, grading homework assignments, assessments, or grading. The effective 21st-century teacher will need to be adept in judging the educative and non-educative use of technologies made available to them and to their students at school and at home. The potential downside of technologies is their potential for non-productive use—wasting time and resources. The upside though, is significant if used properly.” —Doug Hatch, president & CEO, Core Learning
Our addition? Reading Horizons company president, Tyson Smith, said it best, “Technology should augment what students are learning through teacher instruction and allow students to move at an appropriate, individualized speed. [Reading] software that is created solely for student practice and that is not tied to teacher instruction produces questionable results.”
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