Teaching, learning and assessing 21st century skills

This chapter draws upon the report Education for Life and Work: Developing Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century (Pellegrino and Hilton, 2012) to address questions about why the terms labelled “deeper learning” and “21st century skills” have achieved prominence in the thinking and actions of multiple stakeholder groups and what we know from research to help us think productively about their educational and social implications.In particular, the chapter considers issues of construct definition and identifies three important domains of competence – cognitive, intrapersonal and interpersonal. It then considers research evidence related to these domains including their importance for success in education and work, their representation in disciplinary standards, and the design of instruction in areas such as reading, mathematics and science to promote their development. It concludes with implications for curriculum, instruction, assessment, teacher learning and professional development.