Landfill Harmonics and 21st-Century Skills      

As educators, knowing about the 21st-century skills is important and being able to recognize the skills within specific examples is an indicator that you truly understand them and how they work in application. In Week One, we discussed the story of Caine and his arcade as a way to explore how culture influences creativity, imagination, and inventiveness. In this discussion, we go a step further by considering 21st-century skills in relation to another inspiring story of creativity, imagination, and inventiveness.

The Landfill Harmonic project showcases the story of a garbage picker, a music teacher, and a group of children from a Paraguayan slum that, out of necessity, started creating instruments entirely out of garbage found in a landfill.

Your reflections on this story will provide a rich backdrop for learning more about the impact that social and cross-cultural skills have on the more academic pursuit of keeping children engaged in learning 21st-century skills. After reviewing this week’s Instructor Guidance material, you will have a good working knowledge of social and cross-cultural skills and will be able to recognize how they might support the learning of 21st-century skills, especially within the Landfill Harmonic project.

Initial Post: View the

The landfill harmonic orchestra (Links to an external site.)

video about the Landfill Harmonic project, and then view more specific information about the project on the

Landfill Harmonic (Links to an external site.)

website. Next, review the

Framework for 21st Century Learning (Links to an external site.)

web page. Then, create an initial post that addresses the following in at least one paragraph for each:

• Describe the Learning and Innovation 4Cs (i.e., communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity) (click on the 4Cs Research Series tab on the right-hand side of the page) as well as Life and Career Skills from the Framework for 21st Century Learning (see item 4 under 21st Century Student Outcomes) that you perceive the students learned and applied as a result of their participation in the Landfill Harmonic project.
• Describe the cultural competencies you perceive were demonstrated by the students in the Landfill Harmonic project (these are summarized in the Instructor Guidance for this week).
• Describe the social factors and attitudes you perceive were needed to initiate the project, including a consideration of the cross-cultural skills that may be necessary for supporters to sustain the Landfill Harmonic project.

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts. In your responses, compare the 21st-century skills and cross-cultural skills your peers identified with the ones you described. You are encouraged to ask questions about their posts. Questions might include requests for clarification on points made or for elaboration on an area of their post. Though two replies is the basic expectation for this discussion, for deeper engagement and learning, you are encouraged to provide responses to any comments or questions others have given to you. This will further the conversation and provide you with opportunities to demonstrate your content expertise, critical thinking, and real world experiences with this topic.