Facilitating Student Exploration of the Four Keys to College and Career Readiness
INTRO
If the Center for Disease Control can facetiously use a hypothetical zombie apocalypse to emphasize the importance of emergency preparedness, why not use the same scenario to engage students in conversation around the skills they need for life readiness? The first protocol in this resource introduces the Four Keys to students and can be used to facilitate a general conversation about all of the Keys. The subsequent protocols give students the opportunity to spend more time thinking about the specific skills and learning techniques identified in each Key (THINK, KNOW, ACT, GO).
OBJECTIVES
- Introduce the Four Keys to students
- Give students the opportunity to spend more time thinking about the specific skills and learning techniques identified in each Key (THINK, KNOW, ACT, GO).
The Four Keys to Surviving a Zombie Apocalypse
Life is full of unexpected transitions. Imagine that 80% of the world’s population is dead, but some are UNDEAD…and zombies are taking over the earth. Somehow, you’ve managed to be one of the lucky ones, but in this new world with unknown variables, how will you navigate the daily challenges and survive?
We’ve all watched a movie or read a book that pushes us to imagine what the world would be like if zombies walked among us (and ate our brains). While we don’t expect this hypothetical scenario to become a reality anytime soon, the imagined world of a zombie apocalypse gives us a good setting to think about new applications for the Four Keys. Even the Center for Disease Control thinks a hypothetical zombie apocalypse is an ideal situation to consider what it means to be prepared.
The Four Keys are intended to be a framework for lifelong learning, and part of being a lifelong learner involves navigating new and unexpected situations that challenge us to develop and grow. The following activity is intended to get you thinking creatively about each of the Four Keys and how they can apply to a novel (even if unrealistic) experience. You can use this activity for personal reflection and with a group – make it fun and don’t be afraid to get creative!
What are the Four Keys to College and Career Readiness?
Many educators, families, and students are taking a hard look at the current educational system in the United States and finding there is a significant gap between what is and what ought to be if we want our country to succeed in the 21st century.
The Four Keys to College and Career Readiness (the Four Keys) provides a framework and common language to use as we work to close this gap by developing systems that support all students as they prepare for the future.
Based on over a decade of research and 20 years of experience in the public education system, Dr. David T. Conley developed the Four Keys so students, families, and educators can identify and prioritize the skills that are needed to be successful after high school. In it’s simplest form, we refer to the Four Keys as THINK, KNOW, ACT, and GO. In order to prepare students to be lifelong learners, they need the ability to THINK deeply about what they are doing; KNOW contextually why they learn; ACT purposefully to achieve their goals; and GO successfully through life’s transitions.
INDIVIDUAL REFLECTION
Keeping this new and dangerous world in mind, think about the Four Keys and how each one can help you survive.
Use the following questions as prompts if you need inspiration:
What problems will I need to solve in a world full of zombies?
Where can I find the information I will need to survive, and how will I make sense of it?
What knowledge do I have that will help me live another day (or many days)?
How will I challenge myself to tackle new and scary situations and learn new skills to help me survive?
What habits and skills will I need to master and practice?
How will I identify goals for my future and work towards them?
How will I obtain and
manage the resources I will need to survive?
Can I advocate for myself and others when necessary?
GROUP REFLECTION
Discuss your thinking as a group. What thoughts or ideas were common among group members? Are there ideas that only one group member came up with? What do you think now that you have heard a variety of perspectives?
THINK Your Way Through a Zombie Apocalypse
Scenario: Imagine the world has been overrun by zombies. You have fled your home and neighborhood to an unfamiliar suburb outside of a major U.S. city. The government and infrastructures that keep our society functioning have crumbled and the only resources you have to help you survive are your own wits, good health, a functioning vehicle, and five gallons of gas. And you want to live.
Facilitation Guide for THINK
Individually, spend two minutes reflecting on your current situation, and think about the following:
- What problems do you face?
- What solutions can you imagine to those problems?
As a group, discuss the problems you identified and your potential solutions to those problems.
- What emerged as the group’s highest priorities?
- Do you agree on what problems are the highest priorities?
- What solutions did others identify that you may not have considered?
Select one problem as a group, and brainstorm a list of possible solutions to overcome that problem. Then, try to answer the questions below as a group.
- How will you find the information you need? Think about what information may not be available because of constraints in the zombie-filled world (i.e. do you need to send out a scout to find out where food is located?)
- How will you make sense of the information you have (or don’t have)? Will the information you have be impacted by unexpected new information (like a zombie horde blocking the highway)?
- How will you record or communicate your plan? You may need to find ways to organize varying information (such as a map of locations where zombie hordes are rumored to be, or locations of blocked roads).
- How will you know if your solution will work? Some of your information may be outdated, causing your solution to fail. How will you adapt your solution to accommodate new information that changes the likelihood of success?
Is there any information you are learning right now in your classes that could help you in a zombie-filled world– like calculating the speed of zombies and plotting intersecting arcs, or using map drawing skills? How can the questions above and the strategies you use to answer them be applied to what you are learning throughout the day?
KNOW You Can Solve the Apocalypse
Scenario: You are the newly appointed interim head of the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Your predecessor was a mega-genius who single-handedly was very close to reversing the apocalypse. Unfortunately, she recently lost her head and the main CDC facility was taken over by zombies.
As the new leader you need to rebuild the lab and lead a small team of the brilliant (but terrified) scientists who are still alive in order to solve the zombie apocalypse. You’ve lost much of the research data in the recent zombie attack, but your team has salvaged some files and you need to use your collective strengths to recreate the progress you had made before the attack.
Facilitation Guide for KNOW
Spend two minutes reflecting on your new role, and think about the following responsibilities you have:
- How will you integrate the information from various sources into a framework of what you already know?
- What attitudes will help you and your team be successful?
As a group, discuss your approaches to this incredibly important responsibility. The lives of every living person depend on your success.
- How will you create a way to organize your knowledge as a team?
- What attitudes did you identify as important and why?
As a leader it’s critical that you develop a growth mindset along with supporting your team to do the same.
- How will you model growth mindset behavior?
- How will you encourage your team to develop a growth mindset?
- In this high-stakes setting, how will you communicate that failing on small tasks can help lead to success on the overall goal?
- How will you encourage your team to challenge themselves to try new approaches?
What Does Growth Mindset Look Like?
Students who have a growth mindset know that their behavior and the decisions they make matter. They know that learning is not always easy, and it’s the time, energy, and learning strategies devoted to understanding a subject area that can make a big difference.
ACT Like You Can Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
Scenario: You’ve recently become a member of a rag-tag group of survivors of a zombie apocalypse. In a world dominated by the undead you are happy to be among the living– at least for now. Some members of your group you’ve known for a long time, and some are relative strangers. All things considered, with so few humans left on earth, you can’t afford to be picky about who is part of your group and it’s a necessity that you work together effectively. Now that you aren’t alone in the world, the prospect of surviving this apocalypse seems possible. For the first time in a long time, you can think beyond the chaos of the moment and look towards the future with a sense of hope.
Facilitation Guide for ACT
Spend one minute reflecting on your dreams for the future.
- What are your goals for one week from now? Two months from now? Three years from now?
As a group, discuss the goals you share. Then discuss the following topics, and identify how as a group you can work together to:
- Set short- and long-term goals and monitor your progress towards goals.
- Persist in the face of setbacks, challenges, and zombies.
- Be aware of your strengths/weaknesses, and reflect on how they impact your survival.
- Stay motivated even when things seem hopeless.
- Ask for help when you need it, and proactively identify when you need assistance.
Think about your shared goals, and individually rank order the following skills in terms of how helpful they will be toward your group’s survival goals. Then compare and discuss your individual rankings as a group.
- Time management
- Test taking
- Note taking
- Information retention/memorization
- Strategic reading
- Collaboration and group learning
- Technological proficiency
GO Into the Future Like a Zombie Wants to Eat Your Brains
Scenario: The world has changed, and despite the best efforts of scientists nobody can reverse the zombie apocalypse. It’s up to you to adapt to this strange and horrifying new world and find a way to survive amongst the undead. As difficult as it may seem, you aren’t completely alone and whether you know it or not there are resources you can access to increase your odds of survival.
Facilitation Guide for GO
Think about the types of issues that will make your transition challenging.
Which of the categories below will be most challenging for you personally?
- Contextual: You need to understand the motivation of zombies and options for the survival strategies you have chosen. Specifically this includes knowing the types of strategies available and why one might be a good match; identifying backup options if your first choice does not work out; and having a sense of the probability that you will actually survive.
- Procedural: You must be able to address the “how to” of the survival process. Survival strategies are not easy, often requiring multiple steps. Navigating through the steps in a timely manner is crucial to staying.
- Resources: You must be aware of the resources you need to survive, and what options are available to obtain the necessary resources.
- Cultural: You need to understand the differences between the cultural norms in pre-apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic worlds. You should be ready to be more independent and self-reliant.
- Personal: You should be able to advocate for yourself and others in complex environments and be prepared to pursue your interests assertively with a range of adults in positions of authority, including sheriffs, scientists, bandits, zombies, etc. You should be prepared to effectively challenge a decision that affects you negatively, like being asked to be zombie bait.
As a group, discuss the categories you each selected as most challenging. Was there a particular category that stood out as being more difficult for folks?
Brainstorm how you can individually or as a group access supports in areas where the transition will be challenging. If possible, identify at least one resource that is available in your post-apocalyptic world for each area of challenge.
This work by Inflexion is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
Responses