Canada’s Skills Gap and the Federal Budget

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 By John Kershaw, President of C21 Canada, President of 21st Century Learning Associates, and the former Deputy Minister of Education for New Brunswick

C21 Canada applauds the federal budget’s focus on skills development. Our organization has consistently stated that highly skilled people are the economic and social drivers of the knowledge and digital age and more and more Canadians are recognizing this to be the new reality. C21 Canada will not debate the wisdom of the solutions to the current skills gap proposed in the budget; we just welcome the priority on education and human capital.

However, we offer a word of caution. While the federal government’s focus on skills is welcomed, any trend going forward to limiting the national debate on closing the skills gap to the post secondary sector is a mistake.

Fortunately, there is positive news in this regard. On March 25th the Canadian Council of Chief Executives hosted a forum on the K-12 system. John Manly chaired and signalled that the CCCE wishes to foster a national dialogue on whether Canada’s public education systems are where they need to be given the transformational changes being witnessed in the global economy and society.

At long last Canada’s economic leaders are recognizing Canada’s K-12 systems as an essential element of Canada’s economic competitiveness. Given that highly skilled people are now the economic drivers of the 21st Century, this should come as no surprise; but it is highly welcomed nonetheless.  A national dialogue on public education in the 21st Century is long overdue.

Why? C21 Canada is calling for Canada’s public education systems to be modernized to position Canadian youth for success in the knowledge and digital age. While repositioning the post secondary sector to the new reality is also critical, if Canada’s youth continue to disengage from learning and reach colleges and universities without the pre-requisite 21st century competencies and skills, the game is already lost.

What needs to be done? As first steps, Provinces and Territories must infuse 21st century competencies into their targeted learning outcomes and invest in technology enabled learning systems.  Differentiated learning and personalized access to the internet and digital learning resources must become the hallmarks of Canada’s public education systems.

If we are to nurture responsible citizens and productive innovators, we need to engage learners with the tools of their generation. Access to information for learning via technology should be an inherent right of citizenship. If we are to successfully close the skills gap long term, we must have a concerted national effort to equip our learners in the K-12 system with ICT rich learning environments, and have teachers trained to harness the power of technology enabled learning. We need to embrace personalized access to the internet as the most powerful learning opportunity in human history. And where affordability is an issue for some young learners and their families, the technology for learning must be provided.

Innovative 21st century inspired models of learning in public education are expanding globally, and while we have pockets of brilliance and innovation here in Canada as well, we are not embracing and investing in these models fast enough. As a result the majority of our youth are not being adequately prepared for their futures. This issue is particularly acute in many of our First Nation communities. By not equipping individual learners with the skills they will need for success in an innovation-driven world, Canada’s future competitiveness is at risk. The call to action is clear. Modernize Canada’s education systems for our K-12 learners on an urgent basis, or all the millions of dollars to be directed by the federal government in the years ahead to post secondary and adult training will not fix the skills gap long term.

C21 Canada’s Summit 13: Context and Outcomes

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By John Kershaw, President of C21 Canada, President of 21st Century Learning Associates, and the former Deputy Minister of Education for New Brunswick

C21 Canada’s Summit 2013 Convening Engaged Minds: Leader to Leader proves to be a resounding success!

Summit 2013, held February 12th and 13th in King City at the Kingbridge Institute and Convention Centre, convened over 100 leaders from various sectors of Canadian society to discuss the need for and how to modernize Canada’s public education systems.

C21 Canada was created two years ago with a vision of engaging Canadians in the need to modernize our public education systems across Canada. By modernize we mean to shift our education systems to ensure our students learn the competencies they will need for success in this new knowledge, digital and global world of ours.

Most people will agree that the world has changed dramatically over the past couple of decades. Globalization and the technology revolution have created a new environment offering Canadians both new opportunities and new challenges.

Structural changes to the economy and significant societal changes are occurring largely as a result of enhanced access to information through technology and it is predicted that technological advancements will continue to accelerate the pace of change.

This new digital landscape offers huge opportunities to connect with others and create new products and services. Value added knowledge creation has become the economic and social driver of our age. At the same time, significant and complex challenges also lie ahead, ranging from the world’s unsettled fiscal climate to the global climate itself.

We need to ensure that our children have access to modern learning environments and teaching practices if they are going to benefit from and be equipped for the uncertainties of this knowledge and digital age.

C21 Canada believes our education systems need to be modernized to reflect this new reality. And this means that what we teach and how we teach needs to change as well.

What has to change?
A vision of 21st century learning called Shifting Minds offers a framework to guide discussions on a way forward.  Shifting Minds describes how the  three foundations of learning, literacy, numeracy and science, must remain at the core of education and how students will a need to master the following key competencies to ensure their success in an unpredictable global world.

  1. Creative, innovative and entrepreneurial thinking
  2. Critical thinking
  3. Collaboration – often with people in other countries
  4. Communication – using the modern technologies of our time
  5. Culture and Ethical Citizenship
  6. Computer and Digital technologies
  7. Character

What was the Summit in King City all about?

Last year C21 Canada convened a Summit with 50 of Canada’s most innovative education leaders to help us design our Shifting Minds vision and framework. This year the invitation was extended to private sector business leaders and representatives from national leadership organizations to join educators in addressing the need for change. The primary goal of the Summit was to share common goals for learning and innovation and work together  to identify the best ways to engage Canadians in the discussion

Who was at the Summit?

The delegates reflected an inclusive mix of public and post secondary educators, including teachers, professors, principals, deans, superintendents and federal and provincial ministry people, along with business, financial, and economic leaders from the private sector. Organizations such as the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, national banks, publishers, knowledge-based companies, young Canadian research leaders from a group called Action Canada, and organizations representing the youth voice, such as TakingItGlobal, were present. A representative from the National Association for Workforce Improvement (NAWI) in the United States was also present to observe the discussions.

The Right Honourable Paul Martin, former Prime Minister, joined delegates on the evening of our first day and underlined the need for change as well as the imperative of ensuring Canada’s aboriginal students receive equitable learning opportunities and fiscal resources along with  culturally relevant learning resources.

Bruce Dixon, an international advisor for 21st Century learning and innovation reinforced the relevance of the Shifting Minds direction. Warren Jestin, Vice President and Chief Economist with Scotiabank, shared his insights on economic trends, highlighting the implications for young people and the competencies they will need in the future employment context. The group from Action Canada shared their findings and recommendations from a survey of teachers and analysis of policy documents in five Canadian provinces.

A business leader’s panel, education leader’s panel and a young research leader’s panel allowed a cross-section of perspectives from across Canada and from various sectors to be shared on what needed to change in education.  At the same time, the delegates interacted, infusing their perspectives and questions with interested parties via social media outlets.

What were the major outcomes?

From our keynote speakers and panel members we learned that there is a growing and shared interest in modernizing public education to meet the needs of our students and to position Canada for future economic and social success. The need to communicate effectively with Canadians using a variety of means and diversity of media outlets was highlighted. The need for clarity and simplicity in the messaging was underlined, as well as the need to provide evidence and celebrate existing examples of best practices.

Although by no means an exhaustive list of the discussions held at the Summit, examples of other outcomes of the meeting may be grouped under five themes:

  1. All agreed that meeting the learning needs of students should be the focal point of any effort to modernize the system.
  2. There is clearly a growing alignment of interest between various sectors of Canadian society in modernizing our public education systems. There is also a growing recognition that our children need different life skills today, and that employers are more and more looking for people with the competencies mentioned above.
  3. There is a growing sense of urgency given that other countries are already modernizing their systems, and in today’s global environment, our youth will be competing for spaces at universities and for jobs with young people from other countries.
  4. The need to design an effective means of communication to engage Canadians in this important discussion was highlighted. Delegates underlined the need to ensure the voices of students, parents and teachers were heard, to engage First Nation leaders, and to support Canada’s political leaders make the right policy and investment decisions.
  5. Delegates recognized that examples of modern and innovative learning and teaching practices already existed in Canada. They underlined the need to build on these successes and create education systems where all teachers could adopt modern instructional practices.

What are C21 Canada’s Next Steps?

C21 Canada’s next step is to reflect on what we have learned, not only from the Summit but from all the other forms of social media and interaction.  Perhaps the biggest challenge is to effectively communicate the need for change and what needs to change to Canadians, and find the right communication processes to effectively engage them in the conversation.

Canadians know we have one of the world’s best education systems and that our teachers are among the best in the world. What many Canadians may not know is that even countries with the best education systems are already investing in the kinds of changes we are talking about to better position their students for success in the future.

We need to ensure that we Canadians are not complacent based on our past success in education, but look forward and position our young people, and our country, for future success. All Canadians have a stake in getting this right.

We invite all Canadians to engage and join the conversation.

Innovative educators honoured at 2nd Annual C21 Canada Summit

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Photo Caption: L-R, Doug Prescott, Alexandra Dunn, The Right Honourable Paul Martin, Bill Kierstead, Naomi Johnson and Ron Owston

KING CITY, ONTARIO, Wednesday, February 13, 2013 – C21 Canada – Canadians for 21st Century Learning & Innovation, a not-for-profit organization made up of education organizations and knowledge sector companies, launched its inaugural national awards for Leadership and Innovation on February 12.

C21 Canada’s Shifting Minds National Awards for leadership in 21st century Learning and Innovation are presented in the following three categories:

The System Award is presented to a school district, board or Ministry that supports 21st century models of leadership and invests in ICT rich learning environments where learning and innovation is evident.
The School Award is presented to a school demonstrating culture and sustainable leadership in 21st century learning and innovation.

The Individual Awards are presented to a student or educator in the public education system, a private sector individual, or one who has provided support from outside the public education system.

The Shifting Minds School System Award was presented to Naomi Johnson, Chief Superintendent of Education on behalf of the Calgary Board of Education. Naomi champions the humanity of personalized learning where students are co-creators of knowledge, engaged to understand themselves as learners with a horizon beyond high school. The CBE has created an ICT environment that connects students to the future. At the CBE, technology and lifelong learning are woven together for the benefit of more than 107,000 students, reflecting Naomi’s vision for education.

The Shifting Minds School Award was presented to Doug Prescott, Head of School at the Canadian International School in Beijing. Founded in the fall of 2005, the Canadian International School of Beijing offers a world-class facility with an internationally recognized Canadian education curriculum and the International Baccalaureate Programme. CISB enrols students representing over 50 countries and offers programming in Montessori Nursery from 18 months to 3 years of age, and Pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12. As one of the leading educational institutions in Beijing, CISB’s main focus is to serve and provide children with the highest 21st century education standard possible. CISB teachers are well versed in 21st century teaching and learning methodologies offering a diverse blend of experiences and energies with the majority being recruited from Canada and a cultural balance of teachers from Asia.

“I was honoured to accept the inaugural C21 Canada Shifting Minds School Award on behalf of the staff and students of the Canadian International School of Beijing and our visionary school owner, Dr. Francis Pang. Being recognized by C21 Canada is  a confirmation that our 21st century student focused leadership initiatives are on target and valued,” states Mr. Prescott.

The Shifting Minds Individual Awards were awarded to Bill Kierstead, Alexandra Dunn and Dr. Ron Owston.

Bill Kierstead is a 26-year career educator who has worked throughout the New Brunswick Public Education system as a teacher, administrator, board supervisor, curriculum specialist and the Director of New Brunswick’s NB3-21C initiative. Bill has pioneered school-based video conferencing, signed the first Memorandum of understanding between a school and the Canadian Space Agency, and continues to share his wealth of knowledge and expertise with his professional learning network.

“I am honoured and humbled to be named alongside the other honourees as a recipient of C21 Canada’s Shifting Minds Award. To have my career’s work in the service of public education recognized by my peers is a thrill for me professionally and personally,” says Mr. Kierstead.

Alex Dunn is a Speech and Language Pathologist from the Upper Canada District School Board working extensively to increase achievement for all students, including those with significant disabilities, by incorporating emerging technologies in inclusive learning environments through the use of a Universal Design for Learning Toolkit. Sharing her own SMART inclusion research through publications and conferences around the world, her work in inclusive environments has sparked similar research projects and initiatives across Canada, and to a worldwide audience.

“This award, which acknowledges the leadership of the Smart Inclusion team comprised educators, students and parents at Upper Canada District School Board, will create more opportunities to share and learn with others across Canada and internationally and thus the potential for learning for ALL is unlimited,” says Ms. Dunn.

Dr. Ron Owston is Dean of the Faculty of Education and former Director of the Institute for Research in Learning Technologies (IRLT) at York University. He has spoken at numerous national and international conferences, and is published in a variety of fields including technology in education, program evaluation, and teacher development.  Ron has been a strong supporter of C21 Canada. He
participated in and hosted several founding member meetings of the fledgling organization and is a past member of the MindShare Learning Report Advisory Board.

“I’m honoured to be recognized by leading Canadian educators for my contributions in advancing innovation in our educational system,” says Dr. Owston.

Congratulations to our award recipients and a special thank you to our honorary presenter, The Right Honorable Paul Martin.

About C21 Canada
C21 Canada is a unique blend of national education associations and knowledge sector businesses united in their belief that 21st century models of learning must be adopted in public education on an urgent basis to position Canadians for economic, social and personal success in the high skills, knowledge and innovation based economy. www.c21canada.org
C21 Canada’s Founding Members: Canadian Education Association, Canadian School Board Association, Dell, EF Educational Tours, IBM, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Microsoft, Nelson Education, Oxford University Press, Pearson, Scholastic Education, SMART Technologies.

Secretariat: 21st Century Learning Associates, MindShare Learning

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For media inquiries, please contact:
Robert Martellacci
Vice-President, C21 Canada
416.569.2106
robert@mindsharelearning.com