The integration of 21st century skills into education: an evaluation based on an activity example

Year 2020, Volume: 7 Issue: 3, 105 - 114, 15.12.2020

Onur Agaoglu , Murat Demir

Abstract

Changes have been made in education systems within the changing and developing structure of our age. In this context, while achieving 21st century skills is among the most important achievements, determining the activities to be prepared for students to acquire 21st century skills and arranging the classroom environments according to these activities impose new and important tasks on teachers. In this study, evaluations based on a performed activity are presented in the context of the integration of 21st Century Skills into Turkish National Education system. The “Where are we?” activity which is presented in detail in the study is an interdisciplinary activity carried out in Mamak Science and Arts Centre with 4th graders. The activity is described in three steps, namely preparation, implementation and evaluation, and its significance in providing students with 4C (Creativity, Communication, Critical Thinking and Collaboration) skills, which are regarded as the foundation of 21st Century Skills, is underlined. The activity is also evaluated in terms of applicability and popularization, and special emphasis is put on the importance of class environment in gaining 21st Century Skills. Within this framework, it is recommended to enhance teacher trainings and activity samples in quantity and quality for the acquisition of 21st Century Skills in students and also suggestions were made to policy makers for the process of integrating 21st century skills into the education system. The study has a unique structure as it is exemplified through an activity example. It is thought to be a resource for all academicians, teachers and policy makers interested in the subject.

Keywords

21st Century Skills, 4C Skills, Teacher Training, Activity Example

Thanks

In effect, this study started to maturate and take form thanks to the teacher trainings that authors of this study, who are teachers in Mamak Science and Arts Centre, got, titled “I Am Learning/Teaching in the Light of 21st Century Skills” which were funded by Turkish National Agency in 2019 within the scope of Erasmus+ K101 Staff Mobility Project. The authors have better understood the significance of 21st Century Skills for societies thanks to their participation in the trainer training titled “4C Skills” in Florence, Italy, which awarded them the international trainer certificate. In that process, the authors came to notice that the “Where are we?” activity which they had been conducting in the institution they worked at may actually be an important source in terms of developing 21st Century Skills in students, and then was formed the thought of conducting an academic study about the integration of 21st Century Skills into education in Turkey through the mentioned activity, adding the training experiences of the authors to it. That the two authors were working at the same institution while preparing the study, and together they have conducted many studies and projects have affected the writing process of the paper positively. Thus, we would like to give our thanks to all the teachers who gave their support for the “Where are we?” activity, Dr. Sheila CORWIN, who trained the trainers in “4C Skills” in Florence, and Assoc. Prof. Hasan Said TORTOP, who is the editor of the study.

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