1. 21st Century Pillar Narrative
Kayla Triplett
CI 350
My group and I were assigned the Language pillar of 21st century education.
Before defining what language is, we wanted to define what exactly 21st century
education means. Ultimately it is Project and hands-on based learning that is flexible
and causes the student to be creative and think critically. It also addresses
communication as well as the six pillars: Language, Critical Thinking, Math and
Science, Character Education, Project Based Learning, and Globalization. Why is 21st
century education important? It adds perspective to view diversity positively, and
assists in creating a Globalized world where everyone is connected and in
collaboration. We defined language acquisition as “the process used by humans to
acquire the ability to understand language and to produce and use words and
speech to communicate.” Why is the pillar of language acquisition important?
Incorporation of foreign language in the everyday classroom is important for many
reasons, most importantly, fostering a greater understanding of other cultures and
countries than our own, as well as helping to breakdown language barriers, widen
career opportunity, and add versatility to the student.
Educators can apply language to their classroom in many different ways.
Language that is learned through projects is mainly student driven, and can be
focused on real-life, understandable tasks. An example of incorporating language
would be: In a high school class room where you are discussing World War I, and
students don’t really understand the cultural aspects that played a role in starting
the war. In order to help the cultures resonate with the students, split them up into
groups where each group will be assigned a different country to create a
presentation where they explain the country’s involvement in the war. They will use
letters written about the war by their countries citizens during the war and try to
write their own translation to use in their presentation. To incorporate technology
into the presentation students can: watch videos on YouTube about the country and
people they are studying. Another way to incorporate technology is to play
interactive smart board games that are centered around World War I.