Analysis of masters degree attaining teachers’ opinions on developing 21st-century life skills of students

Abstract

There will inevitably be development, change, differentiation, progress, innovations and modernizations in the rapidly passing human life. To be able to keep up with these rapid life changes depends on some basic skills that the individual should have. The World Health Organization has determined these 21st-century basic life skills that everyone should have for a quality life as decision-making, problem-solving, creative thinking, effective communication skills, interpersonal relations, critical thinking, self-awareness, empathy, coping with emotions and coping with stress. In order to guarantee their future, societies should provide their new generations, especially their students, with these life skills in schools. This research aims to determine the knowledge levels of teachers about 21st-century life skills and to determine their opinions on developing 21st-century life skills in their students. The case study design, which is one of the qualitative research methods, was used in the research. The study group of the research consists of 8 teachers, 2 male and 6 female, who are graduate students in Hatay Mustafa Kemal University, Department of Educational Sciences and also work in public schools affiliated with Hatay Provincial Directorate of National Education. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher was used as a data collection tool in the research. Research data were collected through face-to-face interviews with teachers. In the research, it was concluded that the teachers experienced the most problems in transferring their life skills due to the lack of time, the intensity of the curriculum, and the arrangement of appropriate materials and classroom environment.