The 21st Century Child

Century means the duration of one hundred years. The 21st century is the current century of the Anno Domino (AD) era or the Common Era (CE) in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. It began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 2100.

21st century children have the following characters in him or her. They:

• Want to have a say in their education.

• Often have higher levels of digital literacy than their parents or teachers.

• Expect transparency in their parents, teachers and mentors.

• Want you to tell them when you have messed up, apologize for it and more on.

• Don’t care as much about having a job as they do about making a difference.

• Demand the freedom to show their wild creativity. They balk at rote learning and memorizing.

• Want to connect with others in real time on their own terms.

• Collaborate amazingly well. They love team work and figuring things out with their friends.

• Really can multi-task.

• Appreciate a trial and error approach to learning new skills.

• Learn by doing.

• Have a “can do” attitude.

• Thrive in an atmosphere of controlled challenge.

• Have multicultural awareness and appreciation.

• Open to change.

• Are equal part “consumer” and “creator”.

• Increasingly aware of the world around them.

• Know where to go find information.

• Are better educated than any generation before them.

• Know that they are the future.

By Daniel Fawoye

#21stcenturychild #mdschool #future