All about 21st Century Skills
The world is changing rapidly, and this is quite evident especially in these times when everything has been disrupted. The current time reminds me of a famous quote by Victor Frankl, “ When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
This is where 21st Century Skills come into the picture. Before diving into why one should possess these skill sets, let us try to understand what are the skills that come under the umbrella of 21st Century Skills.
An easy way to remember 21st Century skills is we have skills that are opposite in number to the present century i.e. 12 skills. Further, these skills are divided into 3 major headings- 3Ls:
1. Learning Skills
2. Literacy Skills
3. Life Skills
Learning Skills includes four Cs:
- Critical Thinking- Applying logic and reason to work and possessing heuristic thinking.
- Creativity-What differentiates you from the rest of the crowd.
- Collaboration- Working in diverse teams and groups.
- Communication- Talking to others is the first step towards understanding the situation.
Literacy Skills includes IMT:
- Information- Data is the new oil. Hence analyzing statistics and figures is the key.
- Media- Dissemination of information has become very powerful with enhancing technologies.
- Technology- Big Data, Internet of Things, etc. have become a necessity.
Life Skills includes FLIPS:
- Flexibility- Living in a constantly changing world requires adapting and adopting skills.
- Leadership- Providing a vision and motivating people is what makes a leader.
- Initiative- Initiating things provides an edge and confidence.
- Productivity- Quantity is not so important as to maintain efficiency and quality in work.
- Social Skills- Networking is the keyword.
Why are these skills important for you?
1. Path of Opportunities — Everything that one goes through in life acts as a form of opportunity; the only thing is that we fail to recognize it and let go of it. These skills will help one to comprehend the opportunities that lie ahead of us.
2. Upskilling — Just as machines become obsolete after a period, imagine your skills as assets whose lifespan depends on the ability to upskill oneself. People need to constantly adapt themselves by acquiring these skill sets because the only constant thing is change.
3. Differentiating Factor — Human beings tend to glimpse through various things and even after recognizing the gravity of the situation they would just sit and wait for the right time to come. This is where one can prove oneself and make oneself stand out from the crowd by not only learning these skills but also implementing it.
4. Easy to Learn — One of the most interesting things about these skills is that they are easy to learn! They can be acquired if one has the willingness and zeal to pursue them. We can apply the principle of “practice makes a man perfect” here.
21st Century is not only formed of one L i.e. Life but is home to 3 Ls- Learning, Literacy, and Life Skills. So open your wings and be ready to fly in the sky of the future. The future belongs to those who learn new skills and combine them in creative ways to be used in practical life.
