As educational purposes change, curriculum frameworks, instructional methods and

assessments must also. While there has been progress in preparing students for the 21st century, the
closing work will require of teachers, directors and policymakers precisely the capabilities that we deem
imperative for students—as well as the political will to make sure that educators without delay involved
in transitioning to the twenty first century model have the time, aid and assets they need.

As a future educator, I will plan to teach my students through the disciplines, to develop their
knowledge and as they learn why each academic discipline is important, how experts create new
knowledge, and how they communicate about it. Make it relevant, the relevance of learning specific
knowledge and skills is much clearer to students and much more motivating if they understand how a
given topic fits into "the big picture," or a meaningful context. Develop lower and higher order thinking
skills—at the same time, students need to comprehend relationships between given variables and how
to apply this understanding to different contexts. Teach students to learn to learn, since there is a limit
to how much students learn through formal schooling, they also must learn to learn on their own. And
exploit technology to support learning because use of technology is another critical 21st century skill,
essential to help develop many of the other skills. 21st century teachers need to serve as a guide or
mentor for their students, not as the all-knowing sage providing them with all their information. With so
much access to resources of all kinds, children are invariably going to know more than teachers on
different topics, and be a step ahead of the technology in use. Teachers need to be empowered as
facilitators and motivators for learning, so that they can empower their students in turn.