Creative, critical, collaborative: fostering future-proof children

We need to move away from rote learning to helping kids solve problems.

- By Mark Potterton and Julie Dawjee

We live in an increasingly interconnected world. Bookshops in Nairobi stock the same novels you'll find in London, and the fashion teens wear in Seoul influences young people around the world. It is more important than ever for students to develop skills that will prepare them for this rapidly changing world, and the 21st century demands a new approach to teaching and learning.

Global education expert Andreas Schleicher puts it this way: “In a world where the kind of things that are easy to teach and test have also become easy to digitise and automate, it will be our imagination, our awareness and our sense of responsibility that will enable us to harness the opportunities of the 21st century to shape the world for the better. Tomorrow's schools will need to help students think for themselves and join others, with empathy, in work and citizenship. They will need to help students develop a strong sense of right and wrong, and sensitivity to claims others make.”

This means teachers have to be knowledgeable about 21st-century learning.

The core of this idea goes beyond simply delivering facts and content knowledge.

Students should learn how to apply knowledge in real-world situations and use their learning to make a difference in their communities. This involves moving away from lecture-based teaching and focusing more on student engagement.

It is widely agreed that 21st-century teaching emphasises developing essential skills such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, active learning, problem-solving, educational technology and global awareness. Teachers must equip students with these skills, increase their engagement and promote a deeper understanding of the content.