21st Century Demands:(according to the Partnership for 21 Century Skills)
The nation needs to do a much better job teaching and measuring advanced, 21st century skills that are the indispensable currency for participation, achievement and competitiveness in the global economy. Beyond the assessment of reading, mathematics and science, the United States does not assess other essential skills that are in demand in the 21st century. All Americans, not just an elite few, need 21st century skills that will increase their marketability, employability and readiness for citizenship, such as:
• Thinking critically and making judgments about the barrage of information that comes their way every day—on the Web, in the media, in homes, workplaces and everywhere else. Critical thinking empowers Americans to assess the credibility, accuracy and value of information, analyze and evaluate information, make reasoned decisions and take purposeful action.
• Solving complex, multidisciplinary, open-ended problems that all workers, in every kind of workplace, encounter routinely. The challenges workers face don’t come in a multiple-choice format and typically don’t have a single right answer. Nor can they be neatly categorized as “math problems,” for example, or passed off to someone at a higher pay grade. Businesses expect employees at all levels to identify problems, think through solutions and alternatives, and explore new options if their approaches don’t pan out. Often, this work involves groups of people with different knowledge and skills who, collectively, add value to their organizations.
• Creativity and entrepreneurial thinking—a skill set highly associated with job creation (Pink 2005, Robinson 2006, Sternberg 1996). Many of the fastest-growing jobs and emerging industries rely on workers’ creative capacity—the ability to think unconventionally, question the herd, imagine new scenarios and produce astonishing work. Likewise, Americans can create jobs for themselves and others with an entrepreneurial mindset—the ability to recognize and act on opportunities and the willingness to embrace risk and responsibility, for example.
• Communicating and collaborating with teams of people across cultural, geographic and language boundaries—a necessity in diverse and multinational workplaces and communities. Mutually beneficial relationships are a central undercurrent to accomplishments in businesses—and it’s not only top managers who represent companies anymore. All Americans must be skilled at interacting competently and respectfully with others.
• Making innovative use of knowledge, information and opportunities to create new services, processes and products. The global marketplace rewards organizations that rapidly and routinely find better ways of doing things. Companies want workers who can contribute in this environment.
• Taking charge of financial, health and civic responsibilities and making wise choices. From deciding how to invest their savings to choosing a health care plan, Americans need more specialized skills—simply because the options are increasingly complex and the consequences of poor decisions could be dire. These skills, comprehensively articulated by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills and highlighted on page 13, will withstand the test of time, fluctuations in the economy and the marketplace, and dynamic employment demands.
The Global Achievement Gap by Tony Wagner identifies the following seven survival skills needed to succeed in the 21st Century.
-Critical thinking and problem solving
-Collaboration
-Agility and adaptability
-Initiative and entrepreneurialism
-Effective oral and written communication
-Accessing and analyzing information
-Curiosity and imagination
Here is a Link to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills
