Best of the Fischbowl June 2007

In "21st Century Business Panel Blog" Fisch discussed how a group of forty-four or so teachers in his staff development, their district Director of Career and Technical Education, their district CIO, their Superintendent, and four of our five school board members in their district meet to discuss what students would need to know in order to be successful on the 21st Century. Fisch and Kelly Dignan sat this meeting up and provided guided questions that the panel could think about before the meeting was to take place.

I found the results and answers given very interesting. They discussed everything from values to becoming a leader and how teamwork and collaboration are a major key to success. Here a few of the notes which Fisch wrote from his meeting: "Acceptance of differences/diversity is important. Everything is global and folks need to work hard to understand different countries and cultures – as well as the cultures of other companies. Norms are very important."; "Students need to find their passion and learn all they can about it."; and "We need to focus on life skills for students, on creating an environment where students can do their best work. Students need to learn by doing – applied learning, internships."

The two notes that I liked most about Fisch's meeting were: "Both written and verbal communication skills are essential for everyone."; and "There is no one right answer – there are lots of answers, some are better than others – and critical thinking skills are paramount."