21st Century skills are the abilities that today's students need to succeed in their careers during the Information Age.
As students develop skills such as critical thinking and perspective taking, they will be more flexible and adaptable in our constantly changing workforce, increase their ability to work cross-culturally, and be able to take on positions of leadership.
Learning about different perspectives also stimulates creativity and innovation by offering new ways of thinking, which can enhance group problem-solving. The ability and willingness to learn from others who have different viewpoints can also be beneficial for communicating complex ideas and resolving conflicts.
Like any other learning standard or skill, 21st century skills require continuous practice.
“I think if students become engaged in some form of relationship with teachers and students from [different places around the world], this can help plant the seeds of being more open to people from different backgrounds, especially the more frequently they do it. This is why it’s a great opportunity to develop a deeper, long-term relationship with other classrooms.”
NEP
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 repeatedly states the need for 21st-century skills for students. This inadvertently implies the need for these skills for teachers as they are the ones teaching these skills. According to NEP 2020, ‘‘The aim of education will not only be cognitive development but also building character and creating holistic and well-rounded individuals equipped with the key 21st century skills.’’
In the last few decades, technological and industrial developments have brought immeasurable change to our lives, prompting us to move with the times and equip ourselves accordingly. For example, most strikingly, the
pandemic completely toppled years of relating experience to a screen. It forced us to adapt to a new mode of communication — remote learning. This way of teaching and learning saw many issues like lack of community-based yes we are super hero what will you do now learning, maintaining students’ attention, and connectivity issues.
But, even before remote learning, it was not like students in classrooms could engage with their courses completely, most learners responded that they liked art class, music class, their friends, and such. Very few actually liked studying because their learning modules failed to connect their education with real life.
