At the Forefront of 21st-Century Learning

At Poughkeepsie Day School, we know that the only constant in today's global landscape is change, and the pace of change is increasing rapidly. The working world our students will enter in five to ten years will be vastly different from the one we inhabit today. It will require global knowledge, communication and collaboration skills, creativity, technical expertise and entrepreneurship.

Milton Chen, Senior Fellow & Executive Director, Emeritus, The George Lucas Educational Foundation and author of Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in Our Schools, defines 21st-century learning:

Twenty-first-century learning shouldn’t be controversial. It is simply an effort to define modern learning using modern tools. 

Twenty-first-century learning builds upon such past conceptions of learning as “core knowledge in subject areas” and recasts them for today’s world, where a global perspective and collaboration skills are critical. It’s no longer enough to “know things.” It’s even more important to stay curious about finding out things.

The Internet, which has enabled instant global communication and access to information, likewise holds the key to enacting a new educational system, where students use information at their fingertips and work in teams to accomplish more than what one individual can alone, mirroring the 21st-century workplace.

Innovation at PDS highlights projects we have underway to ensure that we are at the forefront of 21st-century learning.