Cultivate 21 Company Profile
Cultivate21 was created out of a need for high-quality professional development in STEM/STEAM and 21st century learning and skills. Just as small seedlings and plants need to be cared for with adequate soil, nutrients, water, and sunlight, educators need to be nurtured on their journey to becoming 21st century educators. Cultivate21’s mission is to provide exceptional support for educators to learn, grow, and innovate education for the future. By providing high-quality professional development in STEM/STEAM, standards-based Project-Based Learning (PBL), 21st century skills like the 4Cs (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity), 21st century literacy, as well as coaching and facilitation, Cultivate21 creates opportunities for educators to grow skills that will help them create the 21st century learning opportunities that today’s students need.
We believe that the best professional development is professional learning that is job-embedded, ongoing, and can be applied to everyday classroom practices. We believe that in order for professional learning to have an impact, teachers need to have the opportunity to build quality foundational knowledge based on research and best practice, be afforded the opportunity to experience the learning as a learner, be expected to create and go back to the classroom to implement new learning/ideas with students, take time to reflect on implementation, have an opportunity to reconnect with peers and the trainer for coaching, and then have the opportunity to do it all over again during the next cycle of training. This sustained support is what makes Cultivate21 the premier professional development company for 21st century best practice.
Embedded throughout all professional development is the importance of 21st century employability skills such as the 4Cs (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity). Business/Industry continues to indicate that these skills are what really matter when hiring new employees. Workplace skills can be taught onsite, but the skills of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity are skills that need to be nurtured before entering the workforce. That is why Cultivate21 emphasizes the importance of embedding the 4Cs into the curriculum, not as an add-on, but as a “both-and.” Students should be learning about and using 21st century skills every single day so that they are ready to be active, self-motivated, and contributing participants in their chosen career.