An International Context for 21st Century Learning

Sculture from Anthropolical Museum in Mexico City

Last week, I shared a stage in Mexico City with Pedro Ferriz de Con, a popular Mexican radio and TV news anchor. I was there to talk about Personal Learning Networks, and, in his own way, he was too…and a whole lot more. Here’s a paraphrase of the powerful and thought-provoking message he delivered to hundreds of Mexican school leaders.

The United States led the world in the 20^th Century in part because of their remarkable education system. But their system is not adapting quickly to changes of the 21^st Century. The countries that are the first to create a new system of education around new tools and new skills will be the ones that can challenge the U.S. for global dominance in the decades to come. If we change the way Mexican schools deliver an education by harnessing the remarkable potential of people and resources available online, we can be one of those countries. We can’t make this change next week or next year, it has to be today.

Whoa.

I don’t know about you, but when people from outside of education put forth a vision for our school systems, I usually get ready to cringe. Sometimes I cringe a little (like when Malcolm Gladwell spoke at ISTE about how to improve math scores), and sometimes it’s a lot (like when I see Congressional speeches in support of NCLB on C-SPAN). This was different. From reading his bio online, I get the sense that Pedro Ferriz de Con has no background in the education field, yet he conveyed a concise and powerful message about how Mexican leaders needed to change their schools to compete in the new century. It was really inspiring.

So since I returned to the states, I’ve been musing over some questions. I’ll serve them to you with your stuffing on this day before Turkey Day in the U.S..

Have you ever heard a public figure in the U.S. — such as a radio host or news anchor –  express such a clear understanding of how learning is shifting in the 21^st Century? (e.g. Brian Williams? Oprah Winfrey? Rush Limbaugh? Others?) If yes, was it  specific, contextualized and impassioned? If not, why not? Where are the Pedro Ferriz de Con’s in the U.S.? Finally, are we letting our public figures off the hook?

Happy Thanksgiving.

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