A curricular method for 21st century skills development: An investigation of best practice
About the researchers:
Hello! I am Kim Mohr, assistant principal for curriculum and instruction at St. John Vianney High School in St. Louis, Missouri. I have been an educator since 2008, spending the majority of my career in the classroom as a high school Spanish teacher in St. Charles, Missouri. My recent transition to administration has been challenging as well as exciting; and has given me a new perspective into the development of school-wide curriculum, professional learning communities and the sharing of best practices.
As a doctoal candidate at the University of Missouri- St. Louis studying curriculum and instruction, I am especially passionate about our current research into the integrated curriculum and 21st Century Skills because, as a classroom teacher, I experimented with both and began wondering how successful my instruction could be if I were to find a way to methodically combine the two. I am looking forward to discovering how talented teachers from the St. Louis area are doing just that, either intentionally or unintentionally, and analyzing our findings to share with others.
Greetings! I am Rob Welker, social studies teacher at Maplewood-Richmond Heights High School in St. Louis. I have been in the classroom for 10 years and enjoy teaching all students from freshmen through seniors. I have had the opportunity to work in a diverse and dynamic district for the entirety of my career, having served on numerous committees dedicated to curriculum development and improvement. Thus, the topic of this research intrigues me not only as a current practitioner, but as a dedicated contributor to the improvement of education as a whole.
Like Kim, I am a doctoral candidate at UM- St. Louis, specializing in curriculum and instruction. As secondary educators, we both have a commitment to exploring and implementing best practices for high school students. While each of our motivations for choosing this topic of research may be unique to our separate experiences in the classroom, we have come to appreciate the integrated curriculum model not only for the success that we have seen first hand; but also for the potential that we believe that it holds for preparing students to be successful, well informed contributors to the 21st century.