Task I. Use the external sources and broaden the information about the EU formation. Present it in class

Task II. Work in pairs. Speak on strong and weak points of the single European currency.

Task III. Prepare a report on the current economic development of the euro area. Has it been a success or failure? Give reasons.

Task IV. Act as an interpreter for parts A and B.

1. Сегодня мы рады приветствовать в нашем университете ведущего специалиста Европейского Центрального Банка, профессора Штейна. Он любезно согласился ответить на наши вопросы касательно истории создания Европейского Союза, важнейших событий, связанных с этим, критериев и требований к странам-участницам. Конечно, мы хотели бы также коснуться и вопросов введения и функционирования единой Европейской валюты – евро. Итак, профессор, наш первый вопрос: каковы предпосылки создания Евросоюза? 2. Как мы видим, процесс интеграции Европейских стран был очень сложным и постепенным. Каковы основные стадии этого объединения? 3. Мы знаем, что страна, желающая стать членом ЕС, должна отвечать определенным требованиям, касающимся ее кредитно-денежной, экономической, социальной и даже внешней политики. Каковы условия вступления в Европейский Союз, и какими критериями они определяются? 4.Европейская интеграция рассматривается некоторыми экспертами как процесс «непрерывного сближения». Что стоит за этим термином? 5. А теперь давайте коснемся вопроса о введении евро – единой Европейской валюты. Какую роль сыграла единая валюта в экономическом объединении стран еврозоны? 6. И последний вопрос. Мы знаем, что не все страны, являющиеся членами Евросоюза, пошли на введение евро. Как вы это объясните? 7. В заключение хотелось бы поблагодарить профессора Штейна и выразить надежду на наше дальнейшее сотрудничество.

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Part 2

Defining a 21^st Century Education: At a Glance

The last few years have brought much talk of “21st century skills” but little certainty about why and how skill demands are actually changing. Will students really need better or different skills to succeed in life and work in the 21st century? If so what trends are behind such changes? And what specific kinds of knowledge and skills will be most important?

Broadly speaking, five major lessons emerge from the expert research and opinion on what kinds of knowledge and skills will most benefit students in the future:

1. Students who obtain more education will be at a great advantage; increasingly, some postsecondary education or technical training is essential for an opportunity to support a family or secure a middle-class lifestyle.

2. The need for traditional knowledge and skills in school subjects like math, language arts, and science is not being “displaced” by a new set of skills; in fact, students who take more advanced math courses and master higher math skills, for example, will have a distinct advantage over their peers.

3. At the same time, for success both on the job and in their personal lives, students must also better learn how to apply what they learn in those subjects to deal with real world challenges, rather than simply “reproduce” the information on tests.

4. Students who develop an even broader set of in-demand competencies—the ability to think critically about information, solve novel problems, communicate and collaborate, create new products and processes, and adapt to change—will be at an even greater advantage in work and life.

5. Applied skills and competencies can best be taught in the context of the academic curriculum, not as a replacement for it or “add on” to it; in fact, cognitive research suggests that some competencies like critical thinking and problem solving are highly dependent on deep content knowledge and cannot be taught in isolation.

A number of major forces are reshaping skill demands. Those forces include:

Automation. Because computers are good at following rules and recognizing simple patterns, they are increasingly being used to substitute for human labor in “routine” jobs. Therefore, any job that mostly entails following directions is vulnerable to automation, including so-called “white collar” jobs like accounting. As a result, there are fewer jobs that call for routine thinking work and routine manual work; between 1969 and 1999, the share of Americans in blue collar and administrative support jobs plummeted from 56 to 39 percent. At the same time, there is increasing demand for skills that computers cannot mimic, such as the ability to solve unpredictable problems and the ability to engage in “complex communications” with other humans, along with foundational skills in math, reading, and writing.

Globalization. Advances in digital technology and telecommunications now enable companies to carve up work and send tasks to be done wherever they can be completed best and cheapest. At the same time, political and economic changes in places like Russia, Eastern Europe, China, and India have freed up many more workers who can potentially perform such jobs. As a result, many people are competing for jobs with a huge number of foreigners in an increasingly global labor market and—just as significantly—collaborating with workers in other countries when they do land a job.

Corporate change. Because of technology, globalization, and other competitive forces, companies have radically restructured how work gets done. Workers experience greater autonomy and personal responsibility for the work they do. Work also has become much more collaborative, with self-managing work teams increasingly responsible for tackling major projects. Increasingly, such work teams are global in nature, which much of the interaction taking place electronically. Jobs have become less predictable and stable. From project to project and from year to year, employees must adapt to new challenges and demands.

Demographics. The population is rapidly becoming both older and more diverse. That creates a two-fold challenge for schools: First, they will need to be able to teach a more diverse group of students. Second, they will need to prepare those students to collaborate in diverse job settings and function in a diverse society.

Risk and responsibility. Individuals increasingly shoulder a greater burden of risk and responsibility for their personal well-being. Three intersecting spheres that illustrate the trend are job security, health care, and financial planning.

As a result of these forces, three kinds of learning are becoming increasingly important if not essential for students to succeed in work and life:

1) Traditional academic knowledge and skills. The belief that students will no longer need to learn the academic content traditionally taught in the school curriculum is false. Students will need strong math and English skills to succeed in work and life, for example. A strong academic foundation also is essential for success in postsecondary education and training, which itself is increasingly necessary for anyone who wants to earn a middle class wage.

2) Real world application, or “applied literacies." Students will need not just knowledge but also “literacy”—the ability to apply their learning to meet real-world challenges. That applies to all subjects, including English, math, science, and social studies.

3) Broader competencies. Students who develop an even broader set of competencies will be at an increasing advantage in work and life. Based on employer surveys and other evidence, the most important seem to be:

- the ability to solve new problems and think critically;

- strong interpersonal skills necessary for communication and collaboration;

- creativity and intellectual flexibility; and

- self-sufficiency, including the ability to learn new things when necessary.