A new conflict is developing around the general curriculum that is being used in elementary through high school education in the United States. The labels for the competing schools of thought are “21st century skills” and “core knowledge”. Both factions appear to be building lobbying organizations to encourage state education departments to commit to their approach.
The “21st century skills” movement is led by Partnership for 21st Century Skills (“P21″), with funding from several large technology firms and the national teachers’ union. P21 publishes a Framework for 21st Century Learning but there’s no specific curriculum guidance.
The “core knowledge” meme was started in the 1980s by E.D. Hirsch and is promoted by Hirsch’s Core Knowledge Foundation and by Common Core. CKF publishes specific curriculum guidelines in their Core Knowledge Sequence. CKF claims a large number of private schools as adopters of their approach, including the Stratford Schools in the San Francisco Bay Area.
