2.4. 21st-Century Skills

What we should remember:

⮚ Don't assume a priori that people are not willing to participate or are just playing around.

Maybe they just cannotdo that particular activity or have different perceptions. ⮚ Ask Open-Ended Questions. ⮚ Layer information. ⮚ Incorporate different kinds of activities (involving other learning styles,like writing, drawing, taking a pose or gesture of a particular figure in an artwork, etc.) to make room for responses you might not get through conversation alone. ⮚ Make connections (between information and ideas, personal experiences). ⮚ Reflect on and synthesise the ideas. ⮚ Realise that there is a difference between unwillingness and ignorance. ⮚ Be aware of cultural differences. ⮚ First listen carefullyandrepeat what you hear before judging. ⮚ Don't let your expectations guide your behaviour. ⮚ Watch out for possible deception of first impressions.

2.4. 21st-Century Skills

There are certain skills, abilities, and learning dispositions that have been identified by educators, business leaders, academics, and governmental agencies as being required for achieving success in 21st-century society and workplaces. New standards for what students should be able to do are slowly replacing the basic skills and knowledge expectations of the past. To meet this challenge, schools, non-formal and informal education needto be transformed to enable youngsters to acquire flexible problem solving, collaboration and communication skills, and in general, all those skills that will be used to be successful in work and life. Among the main objectives of education in the 21st century, there is the formation of creative, innovative, and effective graduates in order to allow youngsters to be active in the era of globalisation. With this, in the present century, youngsters are expected to master the 21st-century skills, which can be organised into three categories: learning skills, literacy skills and life skills.

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We will focus only on learning and life skills in this project. Within the learning skills, also called ways of thinking and ways of working (Binkley et al.,2012),we will limit ourselves to four areas: critical thinking (and problem solving), communication, collaboration, and creativity(Aslamiah et al.,2021): 1. Critical thinking (and problem solving): It is one of the learning skills essential to be developed during the education process. This skill is related to the ability to observe and find solutions, analyse problems from different perspectives, and find solutions through logical thinking. This is important in order to be able to make the right decision.In fact, youngsters will be able to express, analyse and solve problems. 2. Communication: These skills are important in order to interpret and express new thoughts and ideas, both orally and in writing. Good communication skills will support cooperation, negotiations and people's interactions. 3. Collaboration: They can be described as skills to work together by showing mutual respect, and making decisions needed to achieve common goals. Collaboration skills can be demonstrated by the attitude to help each other. 4. Creativity:It is the ability to find new solutions for every problem, to think outside the box, to be innovative. Creativity is related to several other skills, such as critical thinking,making decisions and solving problems, communication, and collaboration. Within the life skills also called ‘living in the World’ (Binkley et al., 2012), we will concentrate on the following skills: flexibility, leadership, initiative,and social skills. These skills are intangible and related to everyday life, both from a personal and professional point of view:

5. Flexibility: It is the expression of someone's ability to adapt to changing circumstances, deviating from plans as needed. It is one of the most challenging qualities to learn for young people because it is based on two uncomfortable ideas: ʻYour way is not always the best’ and ʻYou have to know and admit when you are wrong ’ . 6. Leadership: It is someone's desire for setting goals, motivating a team to accomplish a goal and walking them through the steps required, and achieving those goals collaboratively. 7. Initiative: It involves starting projects, strategies, and plans on one's own. This is one of the hardest skills to learn and practise. Initiative often means working on projects outside of regular school hours. 8. Social skills: These skills mean meeting and networking with others for mutual benefit. If applied properly, these types of skills are excellent tools for forging longlasting relationships.Sincethe rise of digital instruments and instant communications 13

has changed the nature of human interaction, today' s young people possess a wide range of social skills that need to be guided properly in an educational setting.

What we should remember:

⮚ For success in 21st-century society and workplaces, 21st-century skills have been identified as required. These abilities can be organised into three categories: learning, literacy and life skills. ⮚ The scientific literature on the subject provides useful tools for assessing the skills of young adults with respect to the three categories identified, in order to encourage them to achieve the objectives necessary in the globalised world of the 21st century (Binkley et. Al., 2012).

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