Montana’s Challenge: Rethinking Education for the 21st Century
September 20th & 21st, 2010
Ralph Johnson
Executive Director, The Burton K. Wheeler Center
The Burton K. Wheeler Center for Public Policy’s Fall 2010 conference in Helena,
Montana, underwritten by Exergy Development, NorthWestern Energy, the Dennis and Phyllis
Washington Foundation and Tom and Teresa Quinn Fund of the Whitefish Community
Foundation, focused on the issues and opportunities which must be considered in developing
policies that promote the best possible teaching and learning environment for all Montanans.
Speakers were asked to articulate their vision for what a “21st century”education would look like
and how it could be achieved.
Ken Kay, President of The Partnership for 21st Century Skills opened the conference
with a concise presentation regarding the skills employers are seeking in today’s workplace.
This theme was in direct response to the most commonly shared view of all the speakers at our
spring 2010 conference on the “Next Economy,” that Montana’s future economic success is
directly related to the quality of education available to Montanans.
So what are the skills sought by today’s business leaders? In his survey of American
Management Association (AMA) executives, Kay learned that the majority indicated that their
employees are measured in communication skills (80.4%), critical thinking (72.4%),
collaboration (71.2%), and creativity (57.3%) during annual performance appraisals. In addition,
job applicants are assessed in these areas during the hiring process. When asked why they
believe these skills and competencies are taking on critical importance in the business
environment, 91% rated the pace of change in business today as the leading cause, followed by
global competitiveness (86.5%), and the nature of how work is accomplished today (77.5%).
This last observation illustrates the radical changes in job responsibilities over the last 25 years.
While routine tasks have diminished in direct relationship to mechanization and technological
advancements in all businesses, the demand for critical thinking, creativity, collaboration and
communication has dramatically increased.
If these are the skills needed to ensure the success of Montanans, where and how are they
acquired? In our traditional educational system, content drawn from reading, writing and
arithmetic (the three R’s) is emphasized and measured to the near exclusion of communication,
critical thinking, collaboration and creativity (the four C’s). According to the AMA survey, 80%
of executives believe that fusing the three R’s and four C’s would ensure that students are better
prepared to enter the workforce. Proficiency in reading, writing and math is not sufficient if
workers are unable to think critically, solve problems, collaborate, or communicate effectively.
In today’s educational environment great emphasis has been placed on the three R’s by
virtue of funding systems linked to performance standards and testing, which measure student
success in mastery of those areas. Neither funding, nor measurement strategies have been
proposed to bring equal emphasis to the four C’s, the 21st century skills. If Montana is to be a
leader in 21st century education, Kay recommended the following:
Education reform in Montana needs to be led by a collaborative effort of
the education, research and business communities.
Montana needs to focus education on integration of the three R’s and four
C’s skills, outcomes and attributes required for success in the 21st century.
Education support systems (standards, assessments and professional
development) in Montana must be aligned to support 21st century
outcomes.
The State’s elected officials need to implement policies that align education,
workforce development and economic development around 21st century skills.
Mr. Kay did not suggest this would be easy. Tremendous effort and innovation will be required
to move from an education system created in response to the skills necessary for success in the
20th century to one conceived to meet the changing needs of the 21st century. The 21st century is
upon us and the need for change is urgent. To achieve these changes all of us, whether in
education, research, business, or as committed citizens must be intentional and purposeful in our
actions. If we are not intentional and purposeful we are to easily diverted by the momentum of
the present condition.
Four panel discussions followed Kay’s articulation of the issues facing Montana. The
first identified strategies currently being pursued by innovative teachers and institutions in
Montana through classrooms that adopt digital technologies, are accessible to all, are compatible
with contemporary socio/cultural conditions and promote transferability.
To begin the session the audience was given the very unusual charge to “turn on your cell
phone and any other communication device you have with you!” Additionally participants were
provided with individual response devices if they lacked a communication tool. This created an
interactive teaching and learning environment where members of the audience could and did
offer questions, comments and observations throughout the session directly to members of the
panel. In reality the audience could have been dispersed throughout the state rather than in the
conference room thus demonstrating the potential of digital devices to make an interactive
teaching and learning experience accessible to anyone regardless of their location or ability to
travel.
Panelists pointed out that today’s students are “digital natives” and thus blend social
interaction, learning and recreation in a manner unfathomable even ten years ago. If we
recognize that teaching is not about teaching but about students learning then we now have the
opportunity through existing media and technology to create extraordinary learning
environments consistent with the socio/cultural tendencies of today’s students. In so doing we
can create “messy” problems for our students that not only require skill in the three R’s but
development of critical thinking skills, multiple means of expression and collaboration to
achieve success. In this manner the learning experience becomes transformative as it extends
outside of the classroom. As Joules Kilmurray, a student in Paul Andersen’s award winning
biology classroom at Bozeman HS said: “The lecture is not enough to engage me.” She expects
more resources and opportunities for active engagement linked to a social network system that
permits exchanges with her teacher, classmates, and others twenty-four hours a day. Learning is
no longer something that is private and limited to 50 minutes in the classroom plus an hour of
outside reading of texts. It becomes an interactive, engaging experience that is highly dependent,
not upon new networks or expensive technological devices but on existing social networking
programs. The critical element is not the technology but the quality, equity and access to
resources available to students.
The creation of extraordinary learning environments is not limited to the individual
classroom or even a physical presence. For example Montana’s Digital Academy, an online
educational resource available to every Montanan has enrolled over 1,500 students in over 2,000
courses in this, its first year. In higher education the Extended University at Montana State
offers over 2,000 courses and 150 degree opportunities. Montana has the tools to deliver
educational opportunities to every individual in Montana in a manner that is accessible,
compatible and transferable, whether the student resides in a rural or urban community, whether
the student is young or old, rich or poor. Our challenge is to deliver these educational
opportunities in a manner that creates a learning environment rich in form, content, and 21st
century skill development.
The second panel moved the discussion from the classroom to the policy centers of the
nation and Montana’s educational system. Bob Hawks, Denise Juneau, Helen Littlejohn,
Sheila Sterns, and Dan Villa each expressed views from their respective centers of
responsibility. In so doing they revealed a consistent thread of aspirations for Montana’s
educational system. First they agreed that, to quote Missoula’s Russ Fletcher: “The state with
the best education wins!” and that it is their responsibility to guide and promote the best possible
educational opportunities, teaching and learning environments for all Montanans. To do so they
have adopted a collaborative strategy that seeks to integrate learning from kindergarten through
all forms of continuing education. It is thus the state’s responsibility to ensure that the policies
are relevant, rigorous, and quantifiable if attainment rates are to be increased and the challenge
of infusing education with both the three R’s and four C’s is to be achieved. All agreed that
communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity are historic skills that have
potentially been undervalued in our emphasis upon the more readily measurable and quantifiable
reading, writing and arithmetic.
This condition raises the question of how we create the cultural shift that endorses a 21st
century education. Panelists agreed that budgets should not be the defining and limiting issue;
that all socio/cultural and economic groups must be engaged in the process of change; and that
collaboration in forming and promoting the outcomes desired and valued must be significant. To
further these aspirations it was announced that Montana has been accepted as a candidate for
joining the 15 states that are now a part of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.
The luncheon discussion focused on teacher preparation and their continuing education.
To most teachers in Montana the most important thing in their lives, perhaps second only to their
families, is the classroom. Yet, the constraints on creating a learning environment that
maximizes the potential of every student are overwhelming. In today’s classrooms the
conditions of student home life play a major role in achievement; time required to teach
socio/cultural behavior diminishes content teaching time; and frequent testing to meet
standardized expectations reduces learning opportunities for students of varying leaning skills.
Additionally for every teacher the responsibility to accommodate new knowledge and knowledge
that is changing rapidly is such that teachers constantly need to know more and thus teach more.
The only means of acquiring this knowledge is through continuing education which must be
accomplished in addition to a teachers “normal” work load and may be at the teacher’s own
expense.
In response to these conditions the panelists identified numerous strategies. Professional
learning communities, which take advantage of today’s social network opportunities, permit the
creation of interest groups irrespective of location. Mentoring opportunities, whether within a
school or via the internet can provide excellent support for both early career teachers and those
seeking help in responding to new knowledge or changing conditions and expectations. The
concept of co-teaching was offered as a means of bringing the greatest strengths of each teacher
to students and through collaboration creating the best possible learning environments. In an
effort to make learning more relevant it was suggested that teachers engage community members
in teaching collaborations. By learning how the grocery store works, for example, and solving
the problems faced by management, students of all ages will be required to utilize both the three
R’s and four C’s. Additionally, the implementation of such a teaching model brings education
out of the school and into the presence of those who are paying taxes to support the schools and
who will ultimately be the employers of its graduates. With engagement comes responsibility.
The panelists indicated that if we want the best and brightest of our youth to enter the teaching
profession we must be willing to pay them salaries that are competitive with the degree of
preparation they are expected to achieve and maintain. They felt that without such inducement
we are relying on altruism to attract our best students to a profession which has been identified
by both our political and business communities as essential to maximizing economic, social,
cultural and environmental success.
Our last panel focused on the kinds of business partnerships that can enhance education.
Direct partnerships between industries and educational institutions can result in job training
programs that provide specific skills for entry into a profession, or continuing education that can
support changing industrial demands. The institutions meeting these needs must be flexible and
capable of responding quickly to the rapid changes of our capitalistic and entrepreneurial
economy. The creation of hybrid institutions that blend traditional education models of funding,
administration, and teaching with industrial models of education may be required if Montana is
to effectively meet this challenge and opportunity. In addition to these direct linkages with
potential business partners, educators and education institutions are encouraged to seek support
for innovation from non-profits and businesses involved in education. Rarely do these
partnerships provide capital investments, more often opting to invest in education initiatives and
models that directly enhance the learning of students, are transferable and broadly applicable.
All of the panelists emphasized the desire, upon the part of the business community, to support
education in an active manner, providing learning opportunities, case studies, and in-class
support when called upon. The business community clearly recognizes the importance of
education in creating the foundation upon which the future of Montana depends.
Those involved in education recognize its importance, not only to the future economic
success of Montana but also to the ability of our citizens to make well informed, thoughtful and
rigorous decisions about their social, cultural and environmental future as well as that of our
state. To do so requires us to be highly skilled in reading, writing and arithmetic, and excel in
communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity. Throughout history it has been
the combination of these skills that has led to the success of our nation. Our earliest national
leaders; Hamilton, Jefferson, Franklin and Washington were masters of these skills, as were
Burton K. Wheeler and Jeanette Rankin.
Montanans may well wish to develop our education system to emphasize both the three
R’s and four C’s (and some may be doing so already). If so, lawmakers and policy makers,
including the Montana legislature and local school boards, with input from their communities,
must identify educational goals, objectives and implementation strategies for such an effort. In
this manner, it may be possible for 21st century educational opportunities to be enjoyed by the
citizens of Montana and the generations to follow.
The Burton K. Wheeler Center wishes to thank all of the individuals who participated in
the conference and contributed so thoughtfully to the dialogue. In addition to the Burton K.
Wheeler Center Underwriters: Exergy Development, NorthWestern Energy, the Dennis and
Phyllis Washington Foundation and the Tom and Teresa Quinn Fund of the Whitefish
Community Foundation, and PPL Montana, we owe a special debt of gratitude to the conference
sponsors: College Now! a Lumina funded initiative of the Montana University System, and the
Gannett Foundation. Without their generous contributions the conference would not have been
possible.