Society is developing more and more. The 21st century has its demands. That is why, as a result of international cooperation led by the United Nations, a very important and interesting document called Skills for the 21st Century was developed. Success in today's era requires 21st-century skills.
Wondering what skills are important for a 21st-century student?
Twenty-first-century skills include twelve components. All twelve of them are equally important. They are divided into three directions. These are:
- learning skills;
- literacy skills;
- life skills.
Learning skills include critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. These skills introduce students to the processes needed to quickly adapt to the modern work environment.
Literacy skills include information literacy, media literacy, and technology literacy. These three skills help students identify reliable sources, distinguish reliable factual material from the misinformation that fills the Internet, and be active creators of media products themselves.
Life skills include flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity, and social skills. These skills allow students to focus on personal and professional qualities in their daily lives, which makes it easier to settle in society.
A particularly good method for developing 21st-century functional skills of a student is project-based learning, which allows for the development of several competencies at the same time.
To develop these skills at school, I try to plan activities that help students develop these skills. I teach students independence from elementary school, I give them the right to choose, I often praise them even for small successes, and we plan projects together. I use group work, learning projects, learning by doing, and learning by playing.
Introducing one of the intellectual games of the elementary school palace: What? Where When This activity helps guests develop 21st-century skills. The game consists of stages. There are 4-5 students in the group. In the first stage, the captain of the group will be selected by voting. Before the start of the game, the teacher will announce all the players and invite them to the game table. Before starting the game, the teacher asks all students: what is their mood?
What do they think the outcome of the game will be?
The game starts in the second stage. The teacher spins the wheel. The arrow stops at the question. The teacher takes this question and reads it aloud. A 3-minute timer starts. Students discuss the question in groups. After the allotted time, the group captain names a player who will answer the question. The captain must ensure the active involvement of all students in group work. The quiz component is also the use of a single help or superblitz from the audience present.
In the third stage of the game, the game is summed up. The teacher listens to the opinions of the students regarding the game: were the expectations justified? What advice would you give to other players? How satisfied are you with yourself? What would you fix in the future? If the team answers 70% of the questions, the team becomes the winner of the game. In case of victory, participating students will be given a thinker's brooch.
The teacher can adapt this activity to all subjects. For example, choose questions from nature, mathematics, and art. The game can be used to summarize learning material. The activity helps develop 21st-century skills. Students work as a team, cooperate, develop leadership skills, and decision-making skills, become self-confident, and communicative, and respect each other and others. They respect the deadline.
It is important to develop learning, literacy, and life skills in parallel with the educational process. School curricula should focus on the development of the listed skills.
We, teachers, and parents must work every day to develop 21st-century skills to be able to raise competitive generations in the face of rapid globalization.