Abstract
As economies increasingly globalize and digital technologies assume ubiquitous presence and functional utility in peoples’ lives outside educational contexts, there is an increasing realization among pedagogues that education designed to equip graduates of the Digital Economy requires the teaching of new skills rather than the traditional core subjects. This realization has led to the emergence of what is called the New Learning Paradigm which postulates that students now need to be taught the skills most in demand in the 21st century. Those skills are epitomized in what The Partnership for 21st Century Skills calls the Framework for 21st Century Skills. Keys among those skills are what The Partnership characterizes as the 4Cs super skills.. What are those skills? Why are they essential for successful learning, teaching, assessment, working and living in today’s Digital Economy? How do they align with the full set of 21st century skills? What are the pedagogical implications of these 4Cs super skills? This paper answers these questions in four steps. Firstly, it articulates the 4Cs super skills. Secondly, it explains the “Rainbow” framework of the full set of essential 21st century skills as conceptualized by The Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Thirdly, it outlines Bruner’s 5E Instructional Model and explains how it provides an excellent lens through which to approach learning, teaching, assessment and curriculum development for the 4Cs super skills in Kivunja’s New Learning Paradigm.
Highlights
How to cite this paper: Kivunja, C. (2015)
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is an organization that was formed in 2002 in the USA out of concern that American education was failing graduates because they were graduating without the skills needed to be productive citizens in the Digital Economy
Teaching our students so that they become well-equipped with the 21st century skills is the new learning paradigm” (p. 85)
Summary
Several bloggers have endorsed the importance of the 4Cs. For example, Gerald (2015) refers to “the concept of 4Cs as the core of teaching and learning process in 21st century education...which take center stage in schools and transform learning opportunities for all kids and is important for enrollment into a good university, career and success in today’s world” Gerald (2015) refers to “the concept of 4Cs as the core of teaching and learning process in 21st century education...which take center stage in schools and transform learning opportunities for all kids and is important for enrollment into a good university, career and success in today’s world”
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