How do 20th and 21st century skills differ? Do we need both?

20th century education skills were constructed for a different time - the industrial revolution. These skills were made for a time when education was required to be contained, controlled, predictable, scalable, repetitive and measurable. The skills for this era appear to assume that all children are the same and are to come out of the education system the same. The skills taught were for specific jobs and each child was assumed to work in one of these jobs. These skills don’t appear to allow for much creativity, problem solving or individualism. There is no space for a learner to express themselves or step outside of the box. It seems very regimented and in today’s society, this is not what we want for our learners and not the skills they require to succeed in the future.

Contrasting these skills to 21st century skills such creativity, adaptability and the ability to self correct, these skills allow for much more individually among students. It allows them to drive their own learning, explore their passions, it allows learning to be intrinsically motivating as students interests and individuality is taken into account. We know these skills are transferable. We are teaching students skills they can take into different contexts and environments as opposed to just knowing specific knowledge. By teaching students these skills we are preparing for the future, these are life skills and are more important in the modern world than teaching children knowledge and facts. We know that children have the capacity continually grow and develop their knowledge, but they need the skills in which to use this knowledge in the future.

I think these skills differ dramatically and I think that the 21st century skills are much more valuable. While there is a place for some of the 20th century skills such as the initial teaching of reading, writing and math. I think that once children have got these basic skills there is no need to continue their learning journey this way. We can't put all children in the same box, I think this is where the 20th century skills are completely flawed for our future students and by valuing these skills in today's education system we are failing our students for their future. 

TED talk - "What 60 schools can tell us about teaching 21st century skills"