知识优先抑或技能优先？——美国关于21世纪技能教育改革的争论

Is Knowledge Prioritized or Skill?The Debates Over the Educational Reform of 21st Century Skills in United States

新世纪以来,美国出现了21世纪技能教育改革运动,旨在将'21世纪技能'置于基础教育的中心,但也引起了广泛争论。部分学者和组织强烈反对推动21世纪技能教育改革,他们责难所谓的'21世纪技能'是无意义的术语,会干扰更为重要的核心知识教学,会削弱标准和弱化教学。围绕21世纪技能的争论以知识优先还是技能优先为核心,具体聚焦三个方面:一是课程之争,知识和技能谁应被置于课程的中心;二是教学方法之争,基于项目的探究性学习是否有效;三是评价之争,技能是否可以被大规模有效测量。最后,本文从美国教育史来考察这一争论,指出技能优先是美国教育传统的基本特征,并通过探讨美国目前的教育政策和未来需求,指出迈向21世纪技能是一场教育范式的转向,也代表着美国教育改革的方向。

Since the beginning of the 21 st century,the 21 st century skills movement has emerged in the United States,aiming to place'21 st century skills'at the center of K-12 education,which caused widespread controversy.Some scholars and organizations strongly opposed the 21 st century skills movement,blaming the so-called'21 st Century Skills'as a meaningless terminology that interferes with the teaching of more important core knowledge,and weakens the standards and teaching.The debates over the 21 st century skills focus on the question whether we should prioritize knowledge or skills,which can be further divided into three aspects:one is the debate on curriculum,that is whether knowledge or skills should be placed in the center of the curriculum;the second is on teaching methods,that is whether project-based inquiry learning is effective;and the third is on evaluation,that is whether the skills can be effectively measured on a large scale.Finally,this paper examines the debates from the perspective of American educational history,pointing out that emphasis on skills is the basic feature of the American educational tradition.By exploring the current policy and future needs of American education,it is argued that the 21 st century skills movement is a transition of educational paradigm which represents the direction of American education reform.