Characteristics of a 21st Century Classroom

One of the goals of education is to motivate and engage our students in learning, even the things that are difficult for them. This paper addresses the hopes and challenges of teacher’s today. Two key perspectives will be highlighted. First, can society find a balance of democracy and mastery of standards in today’s classroom? Second, is it possible to structure a classroom that is inclusive of each child’s individual traits and diversity?

Teaching is not merely about methods used and material presented in the classroom, but about shaping students’ lives to help them construct a firm foundation for a successful future. I desire to teach my students basic life skills as well as challenge them to set and reach their highest goals.

The contemporary education raises a number of challenges in face of educators, which they have to overcome to make the education process effective. In this regard, Brighouse distinguishes the diversity of the contemporary society and learning environment and the lifetime learning as the major issues that educators should address in their work with students.

I see students as the next generations’ heroes in so many fields. In my vision, I have to inspire students and prepare them with confidence, knowledge, experience and skills. Which means I encourage, communicate, guide, teach, and assess students in order to enrich their infrastructures.

Throughout the United States teachers consistently deal with annual changes to the education system, some that completely change the way they must teach in order to follow a strict teaching rule. Teachers cannot express the natural talent they own, without the freedom to use it.

Within the Inspiring Education document, the vision for core competencies in 21st century learning requires a “shift away from traditional dissemination of information and re-call of facts” (Alberta Education, 2010) and instead focuses on student centered learning models of inquiry and discovery. This shift in educational practice requires students to acquire new abilities and focus on “higher-order thinking skills, deeper learning outcomes, and complex thinking and communication skills” (Saavedra, 2012) and involves teachers creating appropriate instructional and assessment practices.

Teachers need to be flexible in how students learn and demonstrate their knowledge and understanding. For example, if a student is having trouble keeping up with written work, the student could accomplish a similar learning objective through a different method.

I strongly believe that there is an urgent need for new pedagogies that develop 21st century learning for students as they prepare for their future. Schools should be looking at rethinking purpose, pedagogies, curriculum, structures, assumptions and expectations. The old pedagogies persisting into the 21st century are no longer relevant. What’s needed is a 21st century pedagogy which will serve as a paradigm that reflects a strong and creative commitment to relevance and quality learning and teaching (Whitby,

In order for education to develop within schools, we need to provide students with skills and knowledge to be successful in life and to enter the 21st Century workforce

Bolstad defined 21st century learning as something that is not a fixed prescription or known formula. In fact 21st century learning is considered to be continually emerging of new ideas, beliefs, knowledge, theories and practises (Senge et. al. 2012, p.7). This then became visible in schools with an understanding of key features and themes stated by Bolstad as personalised learning, new views of equity, diversity, inclusivity, a curriculum that uses knowledge to develop learning capacity and a culture of continuous learning for teachers and educational leaders using partnerships and relationships. Teachers also have a large input into the key features of creating learning environments where students are able to work together as a team and also

There are two generational groups of teachers that exist within the Teaching and Learning Communities of the current Education Industry. The model of working with students in education is no longer traditional but dynamic and involves the teacher and the school system becoming diversity based to deal with the multitude of different types of people that use the education system. This new paradigm shift has promoted a new look at the difference in the generations of teaching and learning techniques. The landscape of education is extremely diverse today in every way. Even when working in the profession whether it is a public system or chartered system, schools have to hire and staff their schools that are also diverse in scope and

The role of a teacher in present context has remarkably changed because of the various factors such as social, cultural, economic and technology developments across the globe. “Teachers in today’s era must be innovative, imaginative, and resourceful and have thorough knowledge of the subject and adopt new techniques to teach innovatively.”

Imagine you are dreaming being a teacher, you must accept that there are no doubt that knowledge is the first quality of a good teacher. A good teacher need to enlarge his/her general knowledge on culture, society, biology, geography… to provide students what they want to know. Beside, a good teacher must be a person who are open to change. He/she must know “the only real constant in life is change”. There is a place not only for tradition but also for new ways,

Teachers in the 21st century approach, students learning in the classroom by making them the centre of their own learning. Therefore,

Being a teacher is not an easy task as many people could think. To be a teacher does not only imply to know the subject to be taught, it also includes being willing to constantly improve oneself integrally, as much as updating the resources and materials one uses in teaching. Reflecting and analyzing over and over again the best way to teach to learn and how to make students to extend what has been learned. The many hours spend in the classroom will never be enough to plan lessons, prepare materials, review pupils tasks and exams, as well, all the administrative requirements one has to cover for whatever institution we work. Besides all this a good teacher, a professional one, will have to find the time to keep preparing to improve