MODULE 2

21ST CENTURY SKILL CATEGORIES

21st Century Skills refers to a broad set of knowledge, skills, work habit, and character traits that are deemed necessary in
coping with today’s world and future careers and workplaces. Thus, it can be applied in all academic subject areas and
educational setting throughout a student’s life.

THE 21ST CENTURY SKILLS MAY INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

1. Critical thinking, problem-solving, reasoning, analysis, interpretation, synthesizing information

2. Research skills and practices, interrogative questioning;
3. Creativity, artistry, curiosity, imagination, innovation, personal expression;
4. Perseverance, self-direction, planning, self-discipline, adaptability, initiative;
5. Oral and written communication, public speaking and presenting, listening;
6. Leadership, teamwork, collaboration, cooperation, facility in using virtual workplaces;
7. Information and communication technology (ICT) literacy, media and internet literacy, data interpretation and
analysis, computer programming;
8. Civic, ethical, and social justice literacy
9. Global awareness, multicultural literacy, humanitarianism;
10. Economic and financial literacy, entrepreneurialism;
11. Scientific literacy and reasoning, the scientific method;
12. Environmental and conservation literacy, ecosystem understanding; and
13. Health and wellness literacy, including nutrition, diet, exercise, and public health and safety,

FRAMEWORK FOR 21ST CENTURY

Learning and Innovation

Skills

CORE SUBJECTS AND 21ST

CENTURY THEMES

Standard and Assessment

Curriculum and Instruction

Professional Development

Learning Environment

According to the Partnership for 21st century skills, this concept encompasses a wide array of a body of
knowledge and skills that have to be categorized. Moreover, this concept has been interconnected with applied skills,
cross-curricular skills, cross-disciplinary skills, interdisciplinary skills, transferable skills, transversal skills, noncognitive
skills and soft skills.

The 21st Century Skills concept is grounded on the belief that students must be educated in a more relevant,
useful, in-demand and universally applicable manner. The idea simply lies in the fact that students needs to be taught
different skills and reflection the specific demand that will be place upon them in a complex, competitive, knowledge-
based, information-age and technology-driven society. therefore, 21st Century education addresses the whole child or the
whole person (AACTE,2010)

Hence, the curriculum should be designed to be interdisciplinary, integrated and project-based. Tony
Wagner (2010), in his book The Global Achievement Gap, advocated the seven survival skills, namely: critical thinking and
problem solving, collaboration across network and leading by influence, agility and adaptability, initiate and
entrepreneurialism, effective oral and written communication, accessing and analyzing information and curiosity and
imagination.

The term 21st Century Skills refers to certain core competencies, such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical
thinking and problem-solving that schools need to teach the students for them to thrive in today’s world.
LEARNING AND INNOVATION SKILLS

These are the primary skills orchestrated in the 21 st century. They are attributes that differentiate students who are
prepared for a complex life and works environment from those who are not. Therefore, there is a need to stress on
creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration in preparing learners for the future.

A. Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

- These may include effectively analyzing and evaluating evidence, argument, claims and beliefs; and solving
different kinds of non-familiar problems in both conventional and innovative ways.
SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Establish clear definition and agreement on
the roles of partners in the collaborative
process.
Work together effectively in them • Keep communication open within team to
carry out tasks.
• Carefully identify obstacles and address
problems cooperatively
• Use various types of reasoning (inductive,
deductive, etc) as appropriate to the
situation
Reason Effectively • Use systems thinking
• Analyze how parts of a whole interact with
each other to produce overall outcome in
complex systems
• Effective analyze and evaluate evidence,
arguments, claims and beliefs
• Analyze and evaluate major alternative point
of view
Make Judgements and Decisions
• Synthesize and make connection between
information and arguments
• Reflect critically on learning on experiences
and process
• Solve different kinds of non-familiar
problems in both conventional and
innovative ways
Solve Problems
• Identify and ask significant questions that
clarify various points of view and lead to
better solution
B. Communication
- This pertains to articulating thoughts and ideas effectively using oral and written communication skills in a
variety of forms and contexts.
SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Articulate thoughts and ideas effectively
using oral, written and non-verbal
communication skills in a variety of forms
and contexts
• Listen effectively to decipher meaning,
including knowledge, values, attitudes and
intention
• Synthesize and make connections between
information and arguments
• Reflect critically on learning on experiences
and process
• Use communication for a range of purpose
(e.g. to inform, instruct, motivate and
Communicate Clearly
persuade
• Utilize multiple media and technologies and
judge their effectiveness and priori, as well as
assess their impacts
• Communicate effectively in diverse
environment (including multi-lingual)
• Use technology as a tool to research,
organize, evaluate and communicate
information
• Use digital technology (computers, PDAs,
media players ,GPS, etc) communication/
networking tools and social networks
appropriately to access
 • Exercise flexibility and willingness in making
necessary compromises to accomplish a
common goal
• Assume share responsibility for a
collaborative work, and value the individual
contributions made by each team members.

C. Collaboration
- It entails demonstrating ability to work effectively and respectfully with diverse teams
SKILLS SUB-SKILLS
• Establish clear definitions and agreement on
the roles of partners in collaborative process
• Keep communication open within teams to
Work Effectively in Team
carry out tasks
• Carefully identify obstacle and address
problems cooperatively

D. Creativity and Innovation

- It denotes use of wide range of idea creation techniques to create new and worthwhile ideas.
SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Use wide range of idea creation techniques,
such as brainstorming
• Create new and worthwhile ideas (both
Think Creatively implemental and radical concepts)
• Elaborate, refine, analyze, and evaluate their
own ideas in order to improves and maximize
creative efforts
• Develop, implement and communicate new
ideas to others effectively
• Be open and responsive to new and diverse
Work Creatively with others perspectives ; incorporate group input and
feedback into the work
• Demonstrate originality and inventiveness in
work and understand the real world limits.
• Use wide range of idea creation techniques,
such as brainstorming
• Create new and worthwhile ideas (both
Implement Innovations implemental and radical concept)
• Elaborate, refine, analyze, and evaluate their
own ideas in order to improves and maximize
creative efforts

INFORMATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY SKILLS

People in the 21st century live in a technology and media saturated environment marked by the following: access to an
abundance of information, rapid changes in technology tools, and the ability to collaborate and make individual
contribution on an unprecedented scale.

A. Information Literacy
- It refers to accessing and evaluating information critically and competently and managing the flow of
information from a wide variety of sources.
SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Access information efficiently (time) and
effectively(sources)
Access and evaluate information
• Evaluates information critically and
competently
• Use information accurately and creatively for
the issue or problem at hand
• Manage the flow of information from a wide
Use and manage information variety of sources
• Apply a fundamental understanding of the
ethical/ legal issues surrounding the access
and use of information
 B. Media Literacy
- It undergoes understanding both how and why media messages are constructed; creating media products by
understanding and utilizing the most appropriate media creation tools, characteristics and conventions.
SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Understand both how and why media
messages are constructed and for what
purposes
• Examine how individuals interpret messages
differently, how values and points of view are
Analyze the media
included or excluded and how media can
influence beliefs and behavior.
• Apply a fundamental understanding of the
ethical/ legal issues surrounding the access
and use of media
• Understand and utilize the most appropriate
media creation tools, characteristics and
convention
Create media products
• Understand and effectively utilize the most
appropriate expression and interpretation in
diverse, multi-cultural environments.

C. Technology Literacy
- It pertains to the use of technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information.
SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Use technology as a tool to research,
organize, evaluate and communicate
information
• Use digital technologies (computers, PDAs,
media player, GPS etc.) communication
networking tools and social networks
Apply technology effectively appropriately to access, manage, integrate,
evaluate and create information to
successfully function in a knowledge
economy
• Apply a fundamental understanding of the
ethical/ legal issues surrounding the access
and use of information technologies

LIFE AND CAREER SKILLS

A. FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY

- Today’s life and work environments both require more than thinking skills and content knowledge. Cultivating
the ability to navigate the complex life requires students to develop the following life and career skills;
flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction social and cross-cultural skills, productivity and
accountability; and leadership and responsibility (AACTA).
SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Adopt to varied roles, job responsibilities,
schedules and context
Adapt to change
• Work effectively in a climate of ambiguity and
changing priorities
• Incorporate feedback effectively
• Deal positively with praise, setbacks and
criticism
Be flexible • Understand, negotiate, and balance diverse
views and beliefs to reach workable
solutions, particularly in multi-cultural
environments.

B. INITIATIVE AND SELF DIRECTION

SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Set goals with tangible and intangible success
criteria
Manage goals and time • Balance tactical (short-term) and strategic
(long-term) goals
• Utilize time and manage workload efficiently
 • Monitor, define, prioritize and complete tasks
Work independently
without direct oversight
• Go beyond basic mastery of skills and/or
curriculum to explore and expand one’s own
learning and opportunities to gain expertise
• Demonstrate initiative to advance skill levels
Be self – directed learner towards a professional level
• Demonstrate commitment to earning as a
lifelong process
• Demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior in
using influence and power
• Act responsibly with the interests of the larger
community in mind
Be responsible to others • Consider others ideas and view points
• Look for others welfare and safety in all
circumstances

C. SOCIAL AND CULTURAL SKILLS

SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Know when it is appropriate to listen and when
to speak
Interact effectively with others
• Conduct one’s self in a respectable,
professional manner
• Respect cultural differences and works
effectively with people from a range of social
and cultural backgrounds
• Respond open-mindedly to different ideas and
Work effectively in diverse team
values
• Leverage social and cultural differences to
create new ideas and increase both
innovations quality of works

D. PRODUCTIVITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Set and meet goals, even in the face of obstacles
and competing pressures
Manage projects • Prioritize, plan and manage work to achieve the
internal result
• Demonstrate additional attributes associated
with producing high quality products, including
the abilities are;
➢ Work positively and ethically
➢ Manage time and projects effectively
➢ Multi-task
➢ Participate actively, as well as be reliable
Produce Results
and punctual
➢ Present oneself professionally and will
proper etiquette
➢ Collaborate and cooperate effectively
with teams
➢ Respect and appreciate team diversity
• Be accountable for results

E. LEADERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY

SKILL SUB-SKILLS
• Use interpersonal and problem-solving skills to
influence and guide others towards a goal
• Leverage strengths of others to accomplish a
common goal
Guide and lead others
• Inspire others to reach their very best via
example and selflessness
• Demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior in
using influence and power
 • Demonstrate integrity and ethical behavior in
using influence and power
• Act responsibly with the interests of the larger
Be responsible to others
community in mind

INTEGRATING 21ST CENTURY SKILLS IN TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS

The 21st Century support systems. The following elements are the critical systems necessary to ensure student
mastery of 21st Century Skills: 21st Century standards, assessments, curriculum and instruction, professional development,
and learning environment. These must be aligned to produce a support system that produces 21 st century outcomes for
today’s students (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2008).

1. 21st Century Standards

1.1 Focus on 21st century skills, content knowledge and expertise.
1.2 Build understanding across and among the core subjects, as well as 21 st Century interdisciplinary
themes.
1.3 Emphasize deep understanding rather than shallow knowledge.
1.4 Engage students with the real-world data, tools and experts they will encounter in college, on the job,
and in life; students learn best when actively engaged in solving meaningful problems.
1.5 Allow for multiple measures of mastery.
2. Assessment of 21st Century Skills
2.1 Supports a balance of assessments, including high-quality standardized along with effective formative
and summative classroom assessments.
2.2 Emphasizes useful feedbacks on student performance that is embedded into everyday learning.
2.3 Requires a balance of technology – enhanced, formative and summative assessments that measure
student mastery of 21st Century skills.
2.4 Enables development of portfolios of student work that demonstrate mastery of 21 st century skills to
educators and prospective employers.
2.5 Enables a balanced portfolio of measures to assess the educational system’s effectiveness in reaching
high levels of student competency in 21st century skills (AACTE, 2010).
st
3. 21 Century Curriculum and Instruction
3.1 Teaches 21st century skills, discretely in the context of core subjects and 21 st century interdisciplinary
themes.
3.2 Focuses on providing opportunities for applying 21st century skills across content areas and for a
competency-based approach to learning.
3.3 Enables innovative learning methods that integrate the use of supportive technologies, inquiry-and
problem-based approaches and higher-order-thinking skills.
3.4 Encourages the integration of community resources beyond school walls (AACTE, 2010).
4. The 21st Century Professional Development
4.1 Highlights ways teachers can seize opportunities for integrating 21 st century skills, tools and teaching
strategies in to their classroom practice and help them identify what activities they can replace/
de-emphasize.
4.2 Balance direct instruction with project-oriented teaching methods.
4.3 Illustrates how a deeper understanding of subject matter can enhance problem-solving, critical
thinking, and other 21st century skills.
4.4 Enables 21st century professional learning communities for teachers that model the kinds of classroom
learning that best promotes 21st century skills for students.
4.5 Cultivates teachers ability to identify student’s particular learning styles, intelligences, strengths and
weaknesses.
4.6 Helps teachers develop their abilities to use various strategies (such as formative assessments) to
reach diverse students and create environments that support differentiated teaching and learning.
4.7 Supports the continuous evaluation of students 21st century skills development.
4.8 Encourages knowledge sharing among communities of practitioners using face-to-face, virtual and
blended communication.
4.9 Uses a scalable and sustainable model of professional development (AACTE, 2010).
5. The 21st Century Learning Environments
5.1 Create learning practices, human support and physical environments that will support the teaching
and learning of 21st Century skill outcome.
5.2 Support professional learning communities that enable educators to collaborate, share best practices
and integrate 21st Century skills into classroom practice.
5.3 Enable students to learn in relevant, real-world 21st century contexts (e.g through project-based or
other applied work).
5.4 Allow equitable access to quality learning tools, technologies and resources.
5.5 Provide 21st century architectural and interior designs for group, team and individual learning.
 5.6 Support expanded community and international involvement in learning both face-to-face and online
(AACTE, 2010).

IMPLICATIONS TO EDUCATORS

The advent of 21st Century skill enhancement among learners bring the following implications to educators in:

1. Successfully complementing technologies to content and pedagogy and developing the ability to
creatively use technologies to meet specific learning needs.
2. Aligning instruction with standards. Particularly those that embody 21 st century knowledge and skills.
3. Balancing direct instruction strategically with project-oriented teaching methods.
4. Applying child and adolescent development knowledge to educator preparation and education policy.
5. Using advent of assessment strategies to evaluate students performance undifferentiated instruction
(including but not limited to formative, portfolio-based, curriculum-embedded and summative).
6. Participating actively in learning communities, tapping the expertise within school or school district
through coaching, monitoring, knowledge sharing and team teaching.
7. Acting as mentors and peer coaches with fellow educators.
8. Using arrange of strategies (such as formative assessments) to reach diverse students and to create
environments that support differentiated teaching and learning.
9. Pursuing continuous learning opportunities and embracing career-long learning as professional ethics
(AACTE, 2010).
10. Establishing a conducive learning environment where learners can freely express themselves and explore
their potentials and capacities.

IMPLICATIONS TO PRE-SERVICE TEACHER PREPARATION

There is a need to understand the key elements of optimum curricula that will help pre-service teachers develop
the dispositions, habit of mind and confidence to enable students to develop 21 st century skills in a range of core academic
subject areas.

Since schools get rid of one-size-fits-all system, therefore, pre-service teachers are expected to play an active role
in developing and organizing content and instruction for their students.

AACTE (2010) asserts that a 21st century approach to curriculum is about more than just adding one extra course
or extra class time in the curriculum. Thus, pre-service teachers benefit from the ability to fully explore and understand
how to develop and use curriculum for deep understanding and mastery of academic subject knowledge and 21st century
skills.

As a starting point, a teacher education program can be aligned with student and teacher standard in ways that
blend thinking and innovation skills, ICT literacy and life and career skills in the context of all academic subjects and across
interdisciplinary themes.

An effective 21st century skills approach to curriculum, in other words, is designed for understanding (Mc Tighe
and Wiggins, 2005 in AACTE, 2010). The Program’s curriculum will be most beneficial to pre-service teachers if it is
designed to produced deep understanding and authentic application of 21 st century skills in all subject areas.

INSTRUCTIONAL MODELS

- Are important component of any teacher preparation program. AACTE (2010) pointed out that the integration
of innovative and research-proven teaching strategies, modern learning technologies and real-world
resources and contexts are all imperative in:
1. Integrating ‘teach for understanding’ principles. When pre-service teachers can prepare and present
lesson that can develop student’s essential concepts and skills with the integration of technologies, the
latter can reciprocally demonstrate critical thinking and problem-solving in class.
2. Creating rich practice teaching experiences. Strong practice teaching experience allow pre-service
teachers to connect theory and practice.
3. Creating dynamic learning communities and peer mentoring networks. Pre-service teachers benefit
greatly from service-learning as part of their experiential learning courses. It provides time to reflect on
relevant pedagogic strategies that enhance 21st century skills in classroom practice.
4. Examining the role of content, pedagogy and technologies in developing higher-order thinking skills.
The ability to teach for content mastery is a challenging task for most pre-service teachers. Teaching for
content mastery:
a) Supports a range of high-quality standardized testing along formative and summative
assessments;
b) Emphasizes useful feedback on student performance;
c) Requires balanced technology-enhanced, formative and summative assessments;
d) Enables development of student portfolios that demonstrate mastery of 21 st century knowledge
and skills; and
e) Enables a balanced score card to assess the educational system’s effectiveness.
 Teacher preparation programs can play a vital role in developing education leaders who understand and
can influence current trends in assessment through.

a) Research and evaluation test for innovative approaches;

b) 21st century knowledge and skills assessments strategies and
c) Mastery of a wide range of student assessment methods.

The following are initiative in creating 21 st century teacher education learning environment

a) Establish a 21st century vision for learning environments in the program and the university;
b) Ensure that the physical infrastructure supports 21st century knowledge and skills;
c) Practice flexibility in time for project-based work and competency-based assessment;
d) Ensure technical infrastructure that sufficiently supports learning; and
e) Strengthen networking engagement in the learning environment.

LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

Partnership are extraordinary important in the work of transforming 21 st century teacher preparation programs.
Along the line, teamwork within the program and the institution is imperative for sustainability and development. The
partnership forged with community leaders, business industry, professional associations, government agencies, non-
government organizations, other institutions, parents, other stakeholders, and the community creates high impact
outcome.

The powerful partnerships are created through strong collaboration towards enabling innovation in the
teaching and learning for the 21st century.

Continuous improvement. Continuous improvement represents willingness to commit revisiting the process
overtime. For AACTE (2010), any implementation effort should include continuous improvement steps to wit:

1. Clearly identify measurable goals;

2. Track progress regularly against these goals;
3. Communicate progress to all stakeholders; and
4. Engage all participants in refining and improving success over time. (AACTE, 2010)

INFORMATION LITERACY

MEDIA LITERACY

➢ Develop critical thinking skills

➢ Understand how media messages are delivered
➢ Recognize what the media maker wants us to believe or do
➢ Name the techniques of persuasion used
➢ Recognized bias, spin, misinformation, and lies
➢
➢ Evaluate media message based on our own experiences, skills, beliefs and values
➢ Create and distribute our own media messages

Making media education a meaningful and integrated part of classroom practice

1. Exploit ‘teachable moments’

2. Give students a chance to create media, not just analyze it
3. Recognize that kids-and-adults enjoy media
4. Teach about media, not just with media
5. Fight the perception that ‘it doesn’t matter’
6. Assess and evaluate media literacy work
7. Keep up to date with media trends and development

ICT LITERACY

Plan and Question

Gather and make

Reflect on their
learning

Produce to show
Communication understanding
 Literacy with ICT

Critical and creative Ethics and

ICT Literacy
thinking responsibility