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What Are The 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?
What Are The 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?
As a middle or high school career readiness teacher, you likely need to teach
21st century skills as part of your curriculum.
While all twelve of those skills are necessary to teach, the "four C's" are often
considered to be the most important.
The four C’s of 21st Century skills are:
1. Critical thinking
2. Creativity
3. Collaboration
4. Communication
These four skills are essential for modern students to succeed in school and
the workplace.
They often make the biggest impact in terms of setting your students apart
when applying for and starting their careers.
In this article, you'll discover what each skill entails and why they are so
important to teach.
You'll also be able to download a free guide on how you can teach the 4 C's of
21st Century skills in middle or high school courses.
1. Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the practice of solving problems, among other qualities.
This is important in the 21st Century because it’s harder than ever to verify
accurate information (mostly thanks to the Internet).
With critical thinking, students don’t just learn a set of facts or figures.
Instead, they learn how to discover the facts and figures for themselves.
They ask questions. They become engaged in the world around them. They
help others think critically, too.
That might be the most important part of critical thinking. Once one student
has it mastered, it quickly spreads to their peers.
Whether they learn how to think critically from spending time online or simply
asking “Why?” in everyday life, this skill prepares students for a life of
independence and purposeful thought.
Still, critical thinking is just one of the four C’s in 21st Century skills.
It works just fine when students use it alone. But when students combine it
with the next skill, the sky is the limit to what they can achieve.
2. Creativity
As a student learns about their creativity, they also learn how to express it in
healthy and productive ways.
That’s not to say every single creative endeavor will be a ringing success.
Students will fail at some point, and some of their ideas simply won’t work.
They don’t have to do things the way they’ve always been done.
In fact, creativity works best when combined with the next 21st Century skill.
3. Collaboration
Virtually every job requires someone to work with another person at some
point, even if it’s for something as simple as what to get for lunch.
It’s also helpful for them to learn that other people don’t always have the same
ideas that they do.
In fact, as students practice collaboration more and more, they’ll learn that
they have almost none of the same ideas that others do.
This can affect students in one of two ways. First, it could discourage them
since nobody seems to agree with them that often. Second, it could embolden
them because they realize they’re bringing something unique to every
conversation.
That way, students learn that they should speak up when they have an idea.
They may not be on the money 100% of the time — and some of their peers
may have strong, opinionated reactions — but it’ll teach them to speak up
when they’re working with others.
4. Communication
Communication is often taken for granted in today’s society. After all, if you
say something, that means you conveyed an idea, right?
Not exactly.
Still, even in situations where vocal tone is available, students need to learn
how to communicate effectively.
Still, it’s important to note that communication isn’t enough on its own to help
students with 21st Century skills.
To really succeed, students need to use all four of these skills together.
The four C’s of 21st Century skills let students create a whole that’s greater
than the sum of its parts.
That may sound overly-generalized, and you may be right. But the skills
themselves are so general that it’s difficult to pin down what, why, or how
students should learn the four C’s.
It’s most accurate to say that students need the four C’s for any and every
reason.
Combined, the four C’s empower students to become one-person think tanks.