Empowering our Students with 21st Century Skills for Today
Lucila B. Salac
In this globally and digitally interconnected world, all learners, from cradle to career, need new skills and knowledge to succeed. If we want to prepare our children for success in school, work and life, opportunities to learn 21st-century skills are essential.These 21st-century skills are more important to students now than ever before.
They not only provide a framework for successful learning in the classroom, but ensure students can thrive in a world where change is constant and learning never stops. And they are also tremendously important for our nation’s well being. Our business community demands a workforce with these skills to ensure our competitiveness in a global economy. And at a time when our civic life feels strained, we want our learners to enter the world with an understanding of what it takes to be a good citizen—one who can be civically engaged, critically thinking, digitally literate, globally aware, and an effective communicator.
The 21st century is not in the distant future – it is today. We do not have a moment to lose in preparing our students, and our nation, to compete and to succeed. The building blocks for a successful 21st-century learning experience are the following: Children have early opportunities to develop the foundational skills that will help them reason, think creatively, analyze data and work collaboratively in the future. Out-of-school programs—a vital part of learning—instill the 4Cs beyond the classroom; ensuring students have the academic, social-emotional and workforce skills to succeed in the 21st century. Schools and companies can work together to encourage and support children as they develop the core STEAM skills (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) that are essential to success in school and in today’s economy. Students should have the opportunities to develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge to understand and participate in a globally connected world.
With these foundational outcomes and the 4Cs in mind, we will see that today’s classrooms are focusing not only on content knowledge—but also on ensuring that students develop innovative solutions, critically think through complex problems, and the ability to work and communicate across diverse teams.
In the process, we can then ensure that all of our learners are empowered to succeed with the skills for today.
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The author is Teacher III at Cupang ES, Arayat East District