The 21st Century Teacher

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday we rob our children of tomorrow”- John Dewey
The 21st Century Skills

To remain relevant and interesting, the teacher must possess 21st century skills.
The 21st century skills can be categorized into four (4) namely:
1) communication skills
2) learning and innovation skills
3) information, media and technology skills and
4) life and career skills.

A teacher must possess them in order to survive in this 21st century and be able to
contribute to the development of the 21st century learners.

Effective communication skills include

1) teaming
2) collaboration
3) interpersonal skills
4) local, national and global oriented and
5) interactive communication.

The learning and innovation skills are the 3C’s namely

1)creativity
2) curiosity
3) critical thinking problem solving skills

Life and career skills embrace

1) flexibility and adaptability
2) leadership and responsibility
3) social and cross cultural skills
4) initiative and self-direction
5) productivity and accountability and 6) ethical, moral and spiritual values.

Information, media and technology skills are

1) visual and information literacies
2) media literacy
3) basic, scientific, economic and technological literacies and
4) multicultural literacy.

The first three (3) categories of life skills are self-explanatory. The last category (information,
media and technology skills) needs further explanation. They are explained below.
Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, make meaning from information presented in
the form of an image. It is also the ability to evaluate, apply or create conceptual visual
representation.
Information literacy is the ability to identify what information is needed, identify the
best sources of information for a given need, locate those sources, evaluate the sources critically
and share that information. Information literacy is most essential in the conduct of research.
Media literacy is the ability to critically analyze the messages that inform, entertain and
sell to us every day. It’s the ability to bring critical thinking skills to bear on all forms of media
asking pertinent questions about what’s there and noticing what’s not there. It is the ability to
question what lies behind media productions-the motives, the money, the values and the
ownership and to be aware of how these factors influence content of media production.
Scientific literacy encompasses written, numerical and digital literacy as they pertain to
understanding science, its methodology, observations and theories. Scientific literacy is the
knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision
making, participation in civic and cultural affairs and economic productivity.
 Economic literacy is the ability to apply basic economic concepts in situations relevant
to one’s life. It is about cultivating a working knowledge of the economic way of thinking-
understanding tradeoffs, recognizing the importance of incentives. It encompasses a familiarity
with fundamental economic concepts such as market forces or how the monetary system works.
What is technological literacy? The US Department of Education (1996) defined
technology literacy as “computer skills” and the ability to use computer and other technology to
improve learning, productivity and performance”. Page 30
Technological literacy is the ability to responsibly use appropriate technology to
- Communicate
- Solve problems
- Access, manage, integrate, evaluate, design and create information to improve learning in
all subject areas
- Acquire life -long knowledge and skills in the 21st century
Another way of grouping the 21st century skills is shown below
-Ways of thinking. Creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, decision making and learning
- Ways of working. Communication and collaboration
- Tools for working. Information and communications technology (ICT) and information literacy
- Skills for living in the world. Citizenship, life and career and personal and social responsibility
Relate these 21st century skills to the characteristics of the 21st century educator presented in the
graphic organizer below

Are all 21st century skills reflected by the characteristics of the 21st century teacher? If not, feel
free to add to the graphic organizer.

Effective Communication Learning and Innovation

Skills Skills

21st century
skills

Info, Media and Technology Life and Career Skills

Skills