The Explicit Nature of Educational Goals for the Twenty-first Century

This chapter includes the evidence of a shift in education towards an endorsement of the value of the acquisition of generalisable skills by students in their formal years of education. The skills of interest are often referred to as twenty-first century skills. The central question raised in this chapter concerns how education systems need to shift to accommodate an explicit focus on the development of twenty-first century skills rather than the adoption of broad frameworks. The position taken is that this shift cannot be successfully undertaken by focus on curriculum alone. The issue is discussed through highlighting the evidence of the shift and challenges to the shift. Two sources of data are brought to the discussion, in addition to the relevant literature. The first source of data is drawn from a global mapping of education systems’ adoption of a skills agenda; the second source of data is drawn from a regional study which explored the assessment of twenty-first century skills. These data are analysed to demonstrate both the ubiquity of the movement and the complexity of its implementation. Recommendations include the defining of key skills, development of practical approaches to early implementation through use of learning progressions and active pedagogies, and consideration of implications for teacher education.