Module 2b

Lesson 2: The 21st Century Teacher

Four (4) Category of 21st Century Skills

1. Communication skills
2. Learning and innovation skills
3. Information, media and technology skills
4. Life and career skills

Four (4) Clusters of 21st century skills

1. Teaming
2. Collaboration
3. Interpersonal skills
4. Local, national and global orientedness
5. Interactive communication

The 3Cs of learning and innovation skills

1. Creativity
2. Curiosity
3. Critical thinking problem solving skills, and risk taking

Life and career skills embrace:

1. Flexibility and adaptability

2. Leadership and responsibility
3. Social and cross-cultural skills
4. Initiative and self-direction
5. Productivity and accountability
6. Ethical, moral and spiritual values

Information, media and technology skills:

1. Visual and information literacies. Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, make
meaning from information presented in the form of an image. It is also the ability to
evaluate, apply, or create conceptual visual representations. Information literacy is
the ability to identify what information is needed, identify the best sources of
information for a given need, locate those sources critically, and share that
information. Information literacy is most essential in the
2. Media literacy. It is the ability to critically analyze the messages that inform,
entertain and sell to us every day. It’s the ability to bring critical thinking skills to
bear on all forms of media asking pertinent questions about what’s there and
noticing what’s not there. It is the ability to question what lies behind media
productions – the motives, the money, the values and the ownership – and to be
aware of how these factors influence content of media productions.
3. Basic, scientific, economic and technological literacies. Scientific literacy
encompasses written, numerical, and digital literacy as they pertain to
understanding science, its methodology, observations, and theories. Scientific literacy
is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for
personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic
productivity. Economic literacy is the ability to apply basic economic concepts in
situations relevant to one’s life. It is about cultivating a working knowledge of the
economic way of thinking – understanding tradeoffs, recognizing the importance of
incentives. It encompasses a familiarity with fundamental economic concepts such as
 market forces or how the monetary system works. The US department of Education
(1996) defined technological literacy as “computer skills and ability to use computers
and other technology to improve learning productivity, and performance.”
Technological literacy is the ability to responsibly use appropriate technology to:
communicate, solve problems, access, manage, integrate, evaluate, design and create
information to improve learning in all subject areas, acquire lifelong knowledge and
skills in the 21st century.
4. Multicultural literacy

Another way of grouping the 21st century skills:

1. Ways of thinking. Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and

learning
2. Ways of working. Communication and collaboration
3. Tools for working. Information and communications technology (ICT) and information
literacy
4. Skills for living in the world. Citizenship, life and career, and personal and social
responsibility

Relate these 21st century skills to the characteristics of the 21st century educator presented
in the graphic organizer below.
Effective Learning
Communication and
21st
Skills Innovation Skills
Century
Info, Life
Skills
Media and and
Technology Skills Career Skills

Synapse Strengtheners
 1. Develop a questionnaire that makes use of a Likert scale to determine the extent to
which a teacher possesses the 21st century skills. The first is done for you.

Direction: To what extent do you do the following? Check the column that corresponds to
your answer.

Legend: 1 – never
2– rarely
3– sometimes
4– often
5– always

21st Century Skill 1 2 3 4 5

1. Use the computer with ease when I lecture
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

2. What is a tech-savvy person? What are the characteristics of a tech person? Are you a
tech-savvy person? Explain.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
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3. By means of a graphic organizer, describe the 21st century teacher by completely

presenting the 21st century skills.

“If we teach today as we taught yesterday we rob our children of tomorrow.”

- John Dewey