I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how visual literacy shows up in the charts, maps and diagrams that schools and organizations create to illustrate what they mean by 21st century skills. The term means different things to different people, but since almost every inventory of 21st century skills includes visual literacy, it’s not surprising that lists of 21st century skills and knowledge are often organized and communicated graphically.

One of the original visual frameworks of 21st century learning comes from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21). P21’s signature rainbow image represents student outcomes. The pools under the rainbow show the support systems necessary for those outcomes.

I spoke to Vice President Valerie Greenhill about the thinking behind the P21 rainbow.

“We wanted the image to illustrate the integrated way in which skills and content work together,� Valerie told me. “So we thought carefully about whether to blur the boundaries between colors of the rainbow, to show a smooth transition between the concepts. But the gradients looked awful, like a muddy watercolor painting.�

“In the name of good design we didn’t go that route,� Valerie said, “but still, it’s a shame we had to put those solid lines between the bands of color, because you can’t really talk about skills and content as if there’s a solid boundary between them. Their relationship is interdependent and fluid.�

Here’s my collection of visual representations of 21st century teaching and learning. When I look at these diagrams, I see a snapshot of each group’s vision for education in the 21st century, and I get a glimpse into the discussions, negotiations and compromises that must have been made in the process of their creation.

1. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills rainbow

2. Catalina Foothills School District’s 21st Century learning triangle

3. Jordon School District’s 21st Century Engaged Classroom image

4. Goochland County Public Schools flow chart of 21st century learning

5. SREB’s graphical representation of 21st Century Skills and Information and Communication Technologies Literacies

6. ISTE’s Student Educational Technology Skills diagram

7. Colorado’s Council on 21st Century Learning mind map

8. Metiri Group’s enGauge grid of 21st Century Skills

9. West Virginia Department of Education Teach 21 triangle

If you have additional charts or diagrams of 21st century skills, please leave a comment with a link.