Haiti, The GG, and My Cousin Phyllis – Leading in the 21^st century

[Update: Read Phyllis’s  bio in Canadian Nurse.]

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about how the catastrophe in Haiti has highlighted the need for 21^st century learning – and teaching – skills. As I watch the news about Haiti, and research and read about 21^st century skills, I see clearly that what is essential in our society is global awareness.

 My Hero

This is my cousin Phyllis (actually she’s my husband’s cousin, but I claim her too). Phyllis, a retired community health nurse, university professor, and motel owner/manager, is my hero. She brought both her parents into her home and nursed them with grace and dignity through their final illnesses. She developed cancer in 2004, underwent treatment, and in 2005 spent a month in Indonesia nursing tsunami victims.

Today Phyllis left for Haiti. As part of a medical group working with Food for the Hungry Canada, she travels with two doctors, two other nurses, and a load of medical supplies. Unless plans change once they arrive, they are headed for Child Hope, an orphanage in Port-au-Prince that has been deluged with injured quake survivors. One of the mission workers has been posting updates about conditions. Like so many other people, they are relying on individuals who hear about their needs and help as they can.

Phyllis, a true 21^st century learner and teacher who lives global awareness, is taking a camera to Haiti. As she did in Indonesia, she will photograph her journey and create a presentation when she returns. She is determined that people will see the needs in Haiti as long term.

The GG

Another 21^st century leader is Michaelle Jean, our governor-general. During the telethon Canada for Haiti, she said,

 “We are right now in an era where what we call the civil society is something big and international. There is this sense of togetherness that is happening in the world today, and what Haiti is experiencing has touched the hearts of everyone on this planet. So we must come out of this stronger than ever. We must grow from this and learn from this and also know that it’s Haiti today, but it’s also around us in our communities. We can make a difference to bring about change, and this dream of a better world — it has to be a shared responsibility; it has to be everyone’s business.”

Indeed it does.

What do the experts say about global awareness as a 21^st century skill?

Here are some excerpts from the research: the emphasis (bold) is mine.

In her ASCD article “The 21st Century Skills Movement,” Paige Johnson summarizes the skills and knowledge included in the Framework for 21st Century Learning:

1. Core subjects and 21st century themes (such as language arts, mathematics, science, global awareness, and financial literacy).

2. Learning and innovation skills (such as creativity and innovation and critical thinking and problem solving).

3. Information, media, and technology skills.

4. Life and career skills (such as initiative and self-direction).

In its Framework for 21^st  Century Learning, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills actually lists Global Awareness first under its Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes.

In his article, “Missing: Students’ Global Outlook,” Daniel S. Alemu says, “Schools of the 21st century must be capable of equipping students with appropriate tools—knowledge, skills, and disposition—needed not only to excel in academic subjects and fit in the rapidly changing technological world, but also to become functional global citizens.”

Howard Rheingold, in his July 09 address to Reboot Britain, (found on Helene Blowers’ blog LibraryBytes), discusses his 21st century literacies. I’ve added some thoughts:

Critical consumption – Everyone needs a “crap detector;” the ability to differentiate good from bad information. [Could we explore with students how many fake Help Haiti sites have sprung up on the web?]

Attention – learning when focused attention or multi-tasking is appropriate; being aware of paying attention

Participation – Young people create as well as consume online. These media enable (don’t guarantee) that people can inform, persuade, and influence the beliefs of others. They can help people organize collective action on all scales. [Could we encourage our students to create and participate in the global response to Haiti?]

Collaboration – Using the technologies and techniques of participation and attention to organize collaborative efforts. Rheingold points out that emergent collective responses (he cites examples of children in California and in Chile using social networks to organize protests) have now become global responses, as with the 2005 tsunami [and now, of course, Haiti].

Network awareness – (I quote Helene Blowers for this) “the combination of reputation, social capital, “presentation of self” and other sensitivity to individual positioning within the network collective.” [Could we help our students to see that building their reputation and social capital can be done while using their skills to help others around the world?]

Good News and Bad News

The world responded dramatically and quickly to help Haiti, most immediately through online technology. Our own Ruth Elliott (@RIElliott) devoted hundreds of hours to coordinating tweets and creating Twitter lists on Haiti to enable information to get to the people who needed it. Dozens of volunteers organized and attended crisis camps like this one at USC where volunteers worked “to design improved maps of battered Port-au-Prince neighborhoods, concoct better family-locater services for quake victims and speed more accurate and timely relief information from more closely coordinated data feeds.”

Geoff Livingston details 5 Social Media Lessons From the Haiti Earthquake Relief Effort. There were mixed results. ‘“Mobile raised tons of money in the world that still had a power grid and IT infrastructure,” said Tom Watson, author of CauseWired. “And it failed rather completely in a world devoid of those industrial luxuries. No ‘app’ was capable of getting anything done in Haiti itself. And we should be up front about that.”’

Social media contributed heavily to the traditional media with local bloggers and photographers providing material to the networks. While the earthquake and its effects were explored, the background story of poverty and violent history was not. And there is no guarantee that the long-term effects of the earthquake will hold our attention for long.

What Next?

I’ll be looking for examples of students using their 21^st century skills to respond to and help their fellow global citizens in Haiti, and I hope to share some with you.   

And by the way, if you could take a moment to include Phyllis and her group in your prayers, I know they’d appreciate it.