Pilot Program on 21st Century Skills

Collaboration and Critical Thinking Skills Pilot:
A Year-long Program with the Springfield School District

The district leaders and teachers in the Springfield Township School District (NJ) are participating in a year-long pilot program on collaboration and critical thinking skills that has been developed by Vince Arecchi, the founder of Time To Change.

The pilot will combine two onsite workshops with a year of collaboration using the edWeb to promote collaboration, extend the effectiveness of the training sessions, build on the concepts that are introduced, and most importantly help teachers and learn from each other throughout the year.

Vince Arecchi has over 25 years experience as a trainer in organizational development and effectiveness. Building on his corporate experience and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills goals, Vince has created a unique program that will help educators understand their own personality types and the importance of foundation critical thinking skills. Teachers will work collaboratively to apply those insights to their own teaching styles and their students' learning styles.

The pilot begins by having all teachers and participating administrators take the Golden Personality Type Profiler. Each teacher receives his/her own personal evaluation, and then participates in a full-day on-site workshop to understand how factors like being an introvert or an extrovert affect behavior. Throughout the year, teachers will continue to use the edWeb as the online collaboration platform. They will connect with Vince, as moderator, but also teach and learn from each other about how understanding personality types can help improve collaboration within the school, teaching practice, and understanding how student's learn.

A second track in the pilot will be focused on critical thinking skills. The teachers and administrators will take the Watson-Glaser II Critical Thinking Appraisal and receive a personal evaluation that will be presented and reviewed in a full-day on-site workshop. Critical thinking skills are the foundation of learning, so providing teachers with a better understanding of how to develop these skills in their students is a building block for all future learning.

Time To Change offers workshops that help educators and students understand their individual personality and learning styles. This enhanced self-understanding can help educators improve their communication skills and collaborate peer to peer and with students. For students, they need to learn how to learn before they can realize their potential with the core academic skills.

Four companies are collaborating to support this pilot project: Time To Change, Pearson Talent Lens, Golden LLC, and edWeb.net.

To learn more, join the Time to Change communities on the edWeb:
Use Type to Foster Collaboration in Your Classroom - Join at www.edweb.net/type
Bring Critical Thinking Skills Into Your Classroom - Join at www.edweb.net/CTWorkshop

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