Celebrations to welcome a New Year filled with promise, possibility, optimism and change are just hours away.
For Australians, the celebrations have even greater significance. The first day of January is the anniversary of the greatest document ever negotiated in the history of our nation.
After a series of conventions and referendums, the composition, power and workings of the Australian Parliament and the High Court were agreed, and the nation’s Constitution took effect on 1 January 1901.
Today, according to educationists and commentators, in order to thrive in a rapidly changing society, we require key 21st century skills. Collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, flexibility, literacy, citizenship, ethics and leadership are just some of the skills noted as being essential.
More than 100 years ago, citizens of our young nation understood they, too, were living in a rapidly changing world. They demonstrated the very skills that are seen as so vital if we are to flourish in the years ahead.
2019 will be a year of promise, possibility, optimism and change. Let’s also make sure it’s one that promises to honour our nation’s history and our own remarkable family histories.
And let’s hope that ’21st century skills’ are recognised – certainly as those that are required today, but also as those that have served humankind for centuries.
Happy New Year!
Copyright © Cheryl Lacey 2018
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Cheryl Lacey is an educationist and advocate of agitating change in Australian education to face global challenges facing Australia and Australians.
If you would like to learn more about the outcomes achieved by educational leaders and teams who have worked with me, contact me at cheryl@cheryllacey.com or visit www.cheryllacey.com
