Hey Friends!
I have an interesting take to share with you as it relates
to 21st Century Skills. In my surfing and looking around in regards
to what skills and competencies are need from our high school graduates, I ran
across this acronym…SCANS
SCANS stands for: Secretary’s Commission on Achieving
Necessary Skills.
According to the United States’ Department of Labor website,
in 1990, the Secretary of Labor appointed a commission to determine the skills
our young people need to succeed in the world of work. Although the commission
completed its work in 1992, its findings and recommendations continued to be a
valuable source of information for individuals and organizations involved in
education and workforce development.
SCANS is made up of 5 competencies and a 3 -part foundational skills and personal qualities that are need for solid job
performance.
These skills include:
Workplace Skills
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Effective workers can productively utilize:
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Resources
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They
know how to allocate time, money, materials, space, and staff.
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Interpersonal Skills
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They
can work on teams, teach others, serve customers, lead, negotiate, and work
well with people from culturally diverse backgrounds.
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Information
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They
can acquire and evaluate data, organize and maintain files, interpret and
communicate, and use computers to process information.
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Systems
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They
understand social, organizational, and technological systems; they can
monitor and correct performance; and they can design or improve systems.
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Technology
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They
can select equipment and tools, apply technology to specific tasks, and
maintain and troubleshoot equipment.
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Foundation Competencies
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Competent workers need:
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Basic Skills
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Reading,
writing, arithmetic, and mathematics, speaking and listening.
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Thinking Skills
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The
ability to learn, reason, think creatively, make decisions, and solve
problems.
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Personal Qualities
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Individual
responsibility, self-esteem, self-management, sociability, and integrity.
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Now here is my take
that I would like to share... It may even be a question. SCANS sound very much like what we are embracing with 21st Century Skills.
Question: Are we re-inventing the wheel when we think about 21st Century Skills?
What do you think!?
Question: Are we re-inventing the wheel when we think about 21st Century Skills?
What do you think!?
OT
The skills listed describe a well-rounded person that we all look for in government, the academy, athletics, etc. We expect all of these things to have successful lives. There is a need to be informed and make the right decisions. In the 21st century, we have a new set of tools to achieve our goals. Research and development is an ongoing process. The new tools require life-long learning.
ReplyDeleteThis is a GREAT blog post. I totally agree that these skills are definitely needed when leaving high school and college. These foundational skills will spark the creative learning process even further. In the work place you have to have these skills in order to survive. THe 21st century learning is moving onward and upward.
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