Characteristics of

a 21 Century Educator
st
 “
Educators who adopt lifelong
learning mindset are more than
excellent: they are excellent
models for their student
-Gerhard Fischer
 1. Lifelong Learner
◆ “Lifelong learner is an essential challenge for
inventing the future of our societies. It creates the
challenge to understand, explore and supporting
on demand new essential dimensions of learning
such as: (1) self-learning, (2) learning on demand,
(3) informal learning and (4) collaborative and
organizational learning” –Gerhard Fischer,
Director of the Center for Lifelong Learning
and Design (L3D)
 1. Lifelong Learner
◆ Fischer explains that lifelong learning
“requires progress and an integration of new
theories, innovative systems, practices and
assessment”. It is in this sense that this kind
of lifelong work for educators will help better
hone their skills, team up with colleagues,
and transform their students to be
competitive and to thrive and navigate the
 1. Lifelong Learner
◆ Research has indicated that 21st century teachers
take pride in their knowledge base. They never
stop learning. They are willing to accept and
embrace change. They enjoy acquiring new
knowledge and are enthusiastic about new
experiences. They struggle to stay current and
know how to change old practices to new ones.
These are people who routinely seek out
opportunities to learn about new techniques and
 1. Lifelong Learner
◆ Educators who adopt a lifelong learning approach
have access to information and utilize it to
collaborate with others. Learning educators
understand that mistakes and challenges are part
of the learning process rather as failures.
 “
The trademark of effective
schools is a culture where all
teachers take responsibility for
the learning of all students
-Karry K. Wong
 2. collaborator
◆ This denotes that the 21st century educators
understands that students’ learning does not
depend solely on one’s teacher’s responsibility.
All teachers are accountable for students’
growth and development. Hence, sharing of
one’s expertise and experience, communicating
and learning from others is of paramount
importance in the teaching and learning
process.
 2. collaborator
◆ Learning has always been a collaborative effort
between teachers and student. The 21st century
educator must be willing to collaborate with
students in ways they have not done before. The
utilization of technology gives educator the
opportunity to work with students in small or large
groups, giving them more attention and
encouraging them to be actively involved in the
learning process.
 “
Technology is constantly
changing, advancing, developing
and mutating so fast and so the
role of a teacher is also gradually
changing from “sage on the
stage” to “guide on the side”
 3. techno-savy
◆ With the advent of new technologies being
integrated in school curricula, educators are
beginning to rethink all aspects in the teaching
and learning process to embrace the emerging
trends for the 21st century classrooms.
◆ The 21st century teacher act as facilitator, wherein
they lead discussion while guiding students in the
learning process. The traditional way of teaching is
no longer relevant to the 21st century classrooms
where emphasis is given on being a teacher as the
 3. techno-savy
◆ The most recent devices, applications, software
and websites enable astonishing transformation in
the way people learn. Learning with technology is
about discovering and using knowledge therefore
teachers today need a firm and discovering
firsthand tools and techniques that can enhance
both their own and their students’ learning.
Effective 21st century teachers are able to utilize
and integrate digital tools in the classroom to
inspire, encourage and improve student learning.
 4. innovator
◆ Most of the literature defines innovation as the
implementation not just of new ideas, knowledge
and practices but also of improved ideas,
knowledge and practice (Kostoff, 2003;
Mitchell, 2003)
◆ Innovation is thus different from reform or change,
which do not necessarily mean the application of
something new, nor do they imply the application
of improved ideas or knowledge (King and
Anderson, 2002)
 4. innovator
◆ This indicates that educators do not only need to
embrace meaningful change, but they need to
create it. Innovations is about creating “new and
better” things. As the skills of the students
become increasingly complex, innovation is now a
requirement not an exception. Teachers must be
innovative to engage and inspire 21st century
learners. In fact, gone are the day where rote
memorization and traditional arrangement of
desks in rows were evident.
 4. innovator
◆ The teachers now must acquire new approaches of
facilitating learning and enhancing student
engagement. Flipping the classroom, utilizing
digital tools, collaborating with colleagues, and
student-centered teaching are some of the
innovative practices that 21st century teacher
must learn in order to meet the needs of their
digital learners. If a teacher fails to deliver these
kinds of innovations in the classroom, he/she will
fail to remain relevant in the lives of his/her
 “
Creativity is about inventing new
ways to do the same things or
may involve the process of
discovering new things
 5. creative
◆ The technological advancement has simplified the
way people do things. It improves communication,
production and educational environment. Google
handles 1 billion queries every single day, which
implies that the Internet is a massive source of
information that billions of people use and depend
every day. In this case, students need more
opportunities to learn how to brainstorm and think
creatively in order to succeed.
 5. creative
◆ No matter what the concept of creativity is, the
21st century educator must think on how to
encourage his/her learners to be inventive,
resourceful, expressive and dependable.
Educators can only do these by effectively
implementing strategies in their daily teaching to
help students hone their creative skills.
 “
Educators turn out to be
facilitators, mentors, guides,
sources and resources who make
us of countless pedagocical
strategies to support student’s
thinking
 6. Critical thinker
◆ To function effectively in this fast changing world,
students must have critical thinking skills. Critical
thinking is the intentional application of rational,
higher order thinking skills such as analysis,
synthesis, problem recognition and problem
solving, inference and evaluation (Angelo, 1995)
◆ Basically, Angelo sees critical thinking as
conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing
and evaluating information.
 6. Critical thinker
◆ To function effectively in this fast changing world,
students must have critical thinking skills. Critical
thinking is the intentional application of rational,
higher order thinking skills such as analysis,
synthesis, problem recognition and problem
solving, inference and evaluation (Angelo, 1995)
◆ Basically, Angelo sees critical thinking as
conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing
and evaluating information.
 6. Critical thinker
◆ (Oliver and Utermohlen 1995) see students as too
often being passive and receptors of information.
Through technology, the amount of information
available today is massive. This information explosion is
likely to continue in the future. Students need a guide
to weed through the information and not just passively
accept it. Students need to “develop and effectively
apply critical thinking skills to their academic studies, to
the complex problem that they will face and to the
critical choices they will be forced to make as a result of
the information explosion and other rapid technological
 6. Critical thinker
◆ In order to be able to develop competencies, in
students, teachers need to be themselves in these
competencies. The demand being placed on the
teachers is to find approaches to integrate these skills
in their classroom practices and lessons so that
students have an adequate amount of time to practice
and master these skills in the course of their daily
routines. The role of teachers must be re-defined
mainly being the information keeper and information
dispenser to facilitator of learning where knowledge is
shared equally with the student.
 6. Critical thinker
◆ Educators turn out to be facilitators, mentors, guides,
sources, and resources who make use of countless
pedagogical strategies to support student’s learning.
Teaching strategies that foster open-ended questions,
encourage independent cognitive development and
challenge students to explore why they believe what
they do are paramount importace to develop critical
thinking skills among students. Collaborating with
them, connecting with them, relating to them, and
motivating them now requires educators who are open
and expose to new ways of teaching and supporting
 6. Critical thinker
◆ Educators of today must be innovators, mentors,
designers, catalysts, motivators and illuminators
because preparing the students in the 21st century is
not just just technology or skills for the global economy.
21st century education is about creativity, innovation,
problem solving, productivity, collaboration and making
your classroom as dynamic as the world around us.
 6. Critical thinker
◆ The challenge in the 21st century, therefore, is
restructuring schools as learning places for both
students and educators. Technology's role in the
transformation is critical and valuable in creating
learning environments that support teacher efficacy,
productivity, and professional practice. Lastly, effective
instructional and professional development strategies,
teacher-to-teacher collaboration, technology tools are
the driving force to deliver better academic
performance and are a core part of the foundation.