Just like the list above, there are no comprehensive and universal guidelines as to the

ultimate characteristics of the 21st-century educator. Just as well, there are no clear-
cut teaching methodologies for learning in the 21st-century classroom.

Still, a few important factors explained below should suffice most of the time.

Many of these are centered around personalized learning. In this scenario, education is

centered around learner uniqueness, interests, needs, strengths, and skills. 

1. The teacher of the 21st century is flexible & adaptive

The 21st-century teacher is expected to be flexible & adaptive enough to
the emerging teaching/learning environments.

Teaching has moved away from the 20th-century classroom into the learner-centered
environment, for a more personalized model of learning. The old ‘top-down’ model of
teaching is being cast aside, given the power of the internet, where information is
available in plenty and always on.

Part of the reason for the shift stems from the desire to take full advantage of learner
abilities to make him more aware of himself.

Learners can do a lot more on their own without constant supervision by the educator.

Still, the teacher is challenged to work with learners to understand their needs,

strengths, weaknesses, and the influence of technology in their lives.

Learners today utilize mobile gadgets and applications as their primary sources of
information, knowledge, and social discourse. However, despite these advances in educational
technologies and the way learners have adapted to their changing environments, many
classrooms today still employ teaching methods of the past: lecture formats, unauthentic
assessments, and rote learning.

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Of course, the acknowledgment comes with its boons and banes. The 21 st century is
loaded with innovations and dependencies that keep changing, and the teacher must
change with these realities.

Flexibility in the classroom necessitates realizing that learners are different, and that
information and educational settings are always changing.

The modern teacher must be aware that learners too can acquire and challenge
incorrect information from the teacher. It is upon the teacher to accept the changes
and adapt accordingly.  

Also true is the explosion of FAKE data and information, where the teacher has the
uphill task to sort through this, to find out what is right and wrong information.
2. The 21st century educator is a lifelong learner
To appreciate the benefits of a lifelong learner, it is necessary to recognize why it is no
longer sufficient to just know things, but also to be intrigued about what the future
holds.

Whereas your typical teacher focuses on facilitating knowledge and skill acquisition –
and most of the time BASED on what he too acquired from previous teachers, the new
educator focuses on reading wide and on the hunt for new information.

He must stay on top of the knowledge curve with new information and innovations, to

produce learners who are explorers of knowledge.

To do this correctly, he must read wide and be an ardent follower of global trends in

education and other disciplines.

The educator, therefore, is a persistent learner, and avid reader of emerging knowledge-

base and technology trends.

He should also remain informed about the following global realities:

 cultural relativism
 religious relativism
 racial diversity
 civil literacy
 etc.

The drive to remain current and informed becomes a motivating factor, which should
trickle down to the learners.

3. The new educator is tech savvy

Technology is the fulcrum upon which productivity and socio-economic activities
rotate in the 21st century.

It is used in science, finance, manufacturing, the labor market, communication, and

domestic entertainment. It will ultimately take over all areas of life as the years go by.

New technology means new ways to affect productivity, communicate, and teach.
Technology is designed to explore and store data, improve productivity, and make life
better for all of us.

For the Teacher, it calls for the readiness to try out new technology devices, and to
discover the right balance between old learning models and emerging learning
realities.

As it stands, promoting technology in the classroom is done through blended

learning and other teaching methodologies.
formal education program in which a student learns at least in part through online
delivery of content and instruction with some element of student control over time,
place, path, and/or pace  and  at least in part at a supervised brick-and-mortar location
away from home.

This is how Christensen Institute defines Blended Learning:

Another way to integrate technology involves the implementation of the Smart

Learning Environment (SLE) to ensure that learning remains relevant.

smart learning is founded on two different types of technology: smart devices and
intelligent technologies. Smart devices refer to artefacts that exhibit some properties of
ubiquitous computing, including (although not necessarily) artificial intelligence; for
instance, the Internet of things, wearable technology in the form of an accessory such as
glasses, a backpack, or even clothing’ (p. 3). Intelligent technologies refer to learning
analytics, cloud computing and AI capabilities, and are vital in capturing valuable
learning data that can effectively enhance the development of personalized and
adaptive learning

Regardless, the teacher has to evolve with the advancements, experiment with new
hardware and software, and seek relevant components for improved learning
experiences.  

Better use of multimedia content in the classroom will also facilitate interest,
engagement, creativity, and ultimately better use of information learned in the
classroom.

Below are some focal points for the tech-savvy teacher:

 Integrate multiple technologies in the classroom

 Integrate apps, multimedia, and e-learning tools
 Track learner progress as an attribute of SLE
 Analyze and explore technology smartly and extensively
 Discover and recognize new learning environment
 Promote the use of online virtual and other smart tools
 Get to understand Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning better
 Integrate augmented reality(AR) and virtual realty(VR) in the classroom
 Bridge learning communities and environment

A deeper look into the workings of technology will motivate the tech-savvy teacher to
design even better syllabuses for future educators and learners.

4. The new educator is a team leader & collaborator

The teacher of the 21st century no longer teaches in isolation, as has been the case for
ages. He collaborates with learners and other staff at school and around the world to
cultivate a cohesive teaching-learning environment.

This must reflect the working environment in the real world.

The reality about work today is the ability among employers and employees to
communicate effectively while executing their respective roles.

This is done easily through the inclusion of technology in the workplace, where new
information is shared and moved around quickly. This facilitates faster acquisition of
information for improved productivity.

This emerging environment in the workplace must be harnessed in the education

sector before it makes complete sense in the workplace. The teacher must be willing to
share information equally and learn from students who are ‘now’ capable of sourcing
for more relevant learning material online.

This perhaps explains how information has moved away from the textbook and
teacher only, to the internet, and therefore at the fingertips of learners.

Unlike the traditional modal of learning, where knowledge was a reserve of the
teacher, information today is no longer a monopoly of any one person.

Through internet repositories, collaborations, and public libraries, information is available

through a click, a swipe, a tap on mobile screens, and audio-visual interactions with
voice assistants.

With new innovations and variant lines of thoughts, the teacher of the 21 st century
should get out of his shell and,

 be a team leader
 become a collaborator
 encourage learner-centered education – cooperative learning
 is inclusive of all learners
 promote smart communication skills
 preach accountability and responsibility
 encourage digital citizenship
 create new learning avenues
 enable critical thinking and problem solving
 become visionary and inspirational
 encourage career learning and guidance
 promote hands-on knowledge and skills
 integrate the family, community, and leaders to enhance learner experience
 invite subject professionals or science experts
 cultivate sensitivity/tolerance to different cultures, race, and religions

The learners should master the same skills and become masters in all, or most of them.

5. The new teacher is creative & innovative

It is incumbent upon the teacher of the 21st century to instill a sense of creativity and
innovation in young learners, based on their interests and motivational factors.
Creativity in teaching can help learners cultivate original thought and imagination as
a gateway to 21st-century challenges. On the other hand, innovative learning prepares
children to create new ideas, tools, and dimensions relevant to real life.

Most of these are also cemented through interdisciplinary and applied learning, where
learners are encouraged to integrate ideas and thoughts from different areas of the
curriculum.

This prepares them for a broader marketplace when they leave school. They will
become more than only salary earners, but innovative and creative individuals set for a
much bigger world of opportunities.

The antiquated education system prepared learners for static job markets where they
did not have to think beyond the month-end salary. Whereas the strategy worked for
decades, the dawn of technology has dented the status quo in the second and third
waves of digital transformation.

Besides technology, challenges such as rising urbanization, overpopulation, changing

climate, and unpredictability of life, require that the upcoming adults learn to think out
of the box!

To do this, they need the right educators in and outside the classroom.

In any case, the job market is evolving exponentially with open spaces and work skills.

Out of the many, the teacher can participate and encourage some or all of the
following:

 flipped learning
 playful learning
 critical thinking in solving problems
 creative collaborations
 imaginative games
 innovative thinking
 cooperative learning
 design tests
 relevant instructional scaffolding

These are helpful for established and startup firms, who are constantly looking for new
ideas to create better and new products for emerging markets.

Likewise, the realities of urbanization and globalization demand that creative learners
come up with smart ideas appropriate in the 21st century.

6. The 21st century teacher is a mentor & role model

Today, more than ever, learners are at crossroads in their journey towards adulthood.
They wade their way through untold challenges where they can easily buckle under
pressure.
Placed along their journeys include evolving global cultures, emerging morals, and the
vast world of the internet. These are complicated by urbanization, street violence,
substance abuse, and wanton cyber criminality.

The youth must endure these and more if they are to grow into responsible adults.

For this and other challenges, the teacher of the 21st century is meant to be someone
they can lean on, to model the responsible citizen of the 21st century.

The teacher should be:

 sensitive to learner real-life challenges

 reflective of leaner emotional challenges
 sensitive to learner challenges in children
 teach ethical values
 appropriately religious and aware of divergent views
 a mentor on cyberbullying
 aware and mentor on inappropriate content online
 appropriately sociable
 a champion of physical wellness in the tech era of a sedentary lifestyle

Additional characteristics of the aspiring teacher of the 21st century:

The teacher of the new century is

 dynamic
 a storyteller
 a personalized instructor
 enthusiastic about the teaching-learning experience