21st Century Skills – What are they really?

Almost a decade into the 21st Century, our schools are still using agrarian-society schedules and industrial age methods to prepare our children for the hyper speed of the information age. The disconnects are not only clear, they are ominous. Critical deficits in math, science and engineering are compounded by sub-par development of critical thinking, communication and creative skills. We suffer through a credit crisis, but most high school graduates do not understand the impact of credit card interest. We live in a global economy, but our students know too little about world geography (or even US Geography) let alone speak a second world language. We need to do a better job of preparing our kids for life today and in the future.

Within educational circles, “21st Century Skills” have become part of the vernacular. Like Mom and apple pie everyone thinks they are good thing. But there is little clarity about what is meant by 21st Century Skills. Some believe these skills are nothing more than the ability to use technology appropriately. Others feel that they are all about becoming more competitive in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).  Technology and STEM are certainly parts of 21st Century Skills, but the real scope is much much broader. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has done some outstanding work with industry and business to determine the skills they expect in ideal workers.  Based on their work, augmented by other sources, and adding our own bias for student-centric education the following chart summarizes these skills:

21st Century Skills

Clearly,many of the skills mentioned here are already being taught in our schools. What I believe is important are the Learning and Innovation Skills listed in the gold quadrant and the Life Skills listed in the red quadrant. These do not typically form part of school curricula. Furthermore these aren’t skills that can be taught on a standalone basis (the way most core subjects are typically taught); students master these skills in the context of their coursework and by applying their learning to real-world situations. This is why most of the skills in the gold and red quadrants don’t add to the curriculum, but they are addressed by changing the way in which core subjects are taught. Teachers who enable their students to explore, who challenge their students with critical questions, who use the “real world” as their teaching lab are the ones who are blazing the trail to 21st Century skill mastery.

What do you think of the skills list? Is anything important missing?  Do you have examples of how learning and innovation skills are being taught in your district? Chime in!

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Tags: 21st Century skills, curriculum, Education, innovation, learning, schools, STEM, teaching, technology