"3 Rs" for the Twenty-First Century

In a “flattening” world, I hear more and more parents express concern about whether their children’s schooling is providing them with the 21st-century skills they will need to be successful in the global market. The next time you talk to your child about school, try asking the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of what you are learning?
2. How are you challenged to think in your classes?
3. How will you apply, assess, or communicate what you have learned?
4. Do you know how good your work is and how you can improve it?
5. Why is what you are learning important?
6. Do you feel respected by other students in your classes?
7. Do you feel respected by your teachers?

These seven questions, formulated by Professor Tony Wagner of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, are designed to measure how much schools demonstrate elements of rigor, relevance, and respect in their educational program: “3 Rs” that comprise a framework for effective teaching and learning

Rigor is often misinterpreted by schools and parents as simply giving more and harder work to students. A more thoughtful and humane demonstration of rigor is holding students responsible for clearly defined objectives with qualitative standards and regularly measuring students’ progress towards mastering these objectives. The first four questions above assess the rigor of a school or class.

Relevance is the key to students’ intrinsic motivation and drives students towards deep understanding and the achievement of rigor. This is different from external motivators – such as high-stakes testing or college admissions – that may result in learning that is shallow and temporary. To make lessons relevant, teachers must know students well enough to work with their current experiences and interests, and be passionate and knowledgeable enough to make meaningful connections to students’ lives. Question five assesses the relevance of a school or class.

Respectful relationships are key to students’ embracing rigor and understanding relevance. In research conducted by the Public Agenda Foundation, only forty percent of adolescents surveyed reported that they thought most of their teachers treated them with respect. Two-thirds of respondents also said that they “learned ‘a lot more’ from a teacher who treats them with respect, explained lessons carefully, and cared personally about them.” Questions six and seven assess levels of respect in a school or class.

I suspect that if you ask these questions of Park students you will receive very different than you might receive from students attending other schools.