Moving Towards the 21st Century

What exactly is meant by “21^st century”; what skills would constitute 21^st century skills and what would students in the 21^st century need?  Would these needs differ from the needs of students prior to the 21^st Century?

·         The 21^st Century:  Technically speaking, the 21^st century refers to the period of time between the years 2001 A.D. and 2100 A.D. However, that in itself does not mean much. When one speaks about the 21st century, what most people are referring to is the lifestyle that accompanies this day and age. The 21st century world is a modern, ever changing, increasingly complex environment that places high demands on the ability of people to adapt and change. It requires people to be more efficient, to know more, to achieve more, to continually and progressively improve. If one cannot keep up with its pace, you will inevitably be left behind. In this sense the world that we inhabit today can be a ruthlessly competitive and merciless place. It is for this reason that it is so important for education to prepare its learners for the demands that they will have to face in the 21st century.

·         Skills for the 21^st Century:  The concept of 21^st century skills originated in the movement that recognised the need for education to teach learners more than just what is stipulated in the traditional school curriculum, but also to include those skills that will enable them to succeed in our modern world (Partnership for 21^st Century Skills, 2009). In essence, the concept of teaching 21st century skills goes beyond the practice of simply imparting the necessary subject knowledge on learners, to that of providing learners with the skills needed to effectively make use of the knowledge that they have learnt (Silva, 2009). These skills are not necessarily new skills that have to be taught but rather they are already present within our school systems and only need to be taught more deliberately and effectively (Rotherham & Willingham, 2009; Silva, 2009). Therefore it is not a matter of skills versus knowledge but rather that both skills and knowledge are essential, they are intertwined and cannot be separated (Rotherham & Willingham, 2009). These 21st century skills generally include critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, written and oral communication, creativity, self-direction, leadership, adaptability, responsibility and global awareness (Manthey, 2008).

·         The Structure of 21^st Century Schools:

“Today’s education system faces irrelevance unless we bridge the gap between how students live and how they learn. Schools are struggling to keep pace with the astonishing rate of change in students’ lives outside of school. Students will spend their adult lives in a multitasking, multifaceted, technology driven, vibrant world- and they must arrive equipped to do so...Against this backdrop, literacy in the 21st century means more than basic reading, writing and computing skills. It means knowing how to use knowledge and skills in the context of modern life” (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2011, p.4).

From the above quote it is clear that education is facing a crisis, if it does not change and accommodate the increasing demands of the modern world, it will continue to produce learners that are ill-equipped and unprepared to cope with the unique challenges of living in a  21st century (Slabbert, de Kock & Hattingh, 2009). In order to address this issue, education needs to incorporate into its curriculum the combined use of 21st century skills and traditional academic content in such a way as to increase the learners chances of succeeding (Cisco, 2009; Rotherham & Willingham, 2009). Thus our future growth and stability depends on the transformation of education in line with the current trends and technological advancements of our society (Cisco, 2008). However, despite efforts to change, schools are still struggling to meet this demand and few have been able to include 21st century skills into their current curricula (Cisco, 2008).

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2011) suggests six key elements that schools may implement in order to foster 21st century learning:

1.         Emphasise core subjects

2.         Emphasise learning skills

3.         Use 21st century tools to develop learning skills

4.         Teach and learn a 21st century context

5.         Teach and learn 21st century content

6.         Use 21st century assessments that measure 21st century skills.

We’ve therefore encapsulated the environment that the 21^st century imposes on teachers and learners.  This brings forth a need to further understand the components of education.  What would a 21^st century school look like?  What would the teacher’s role be and what characteristics would define a learner?  To learn more about this, have a look at our blog “21^st Century Education”!

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References

1.        Cisco.  (2008).  Equipping every learner for the 21st century: a white paper. [Online],  Available from:  http://www.cisco.com/web/about/citizenship/socio-economic/docs/GlobalEdWP.pdf Accessed:  29-02-2012.

2.        Cisco.  (2009).  21st Century Schools Initiative (21S) at a glance. [Online],  Available from:  http://www.cisco.com/web/about/citizenship/socio-economic/docs/CSRexternalBrief21Sprogram2.pdf.   Accessed:  29-02-2012.

3.         Manthey, G.  (2008).  Attaining 21st century skills in a complex world. Leadership, November/December, 38(2), 15.

4.       Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2009). P21 Framework definitions. [Online],  Available from:  http://www.p21.org/overview/skills-framework,  Accessed:  29-02-2012.

5.       Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (2011). Learning for the 21st century: a report and MILE guide for 21st century skills.  Available from:   www.21stcenturyskills.org,  Accessed:  29-02-2012.

6.         Rotherham, A.J. & Willingham, D. (2009). 21st century skills: the challenges ahead. Educational Leadership, September, 16-21.

7.         Silva, E.  (2009). Measuring skills for 21st-century learning. Phi Delta Kappan, May, 630-634.

8.         Slabbert, J. A., de Kock, D. M., & Hattingh, A. (2009), The Brave "New" World of Education: Creating a unique professionalism,  Cape Town:   Juta and Company.