Page 34 - 21st Century Competencies: Foundation Document for Discussion

32 21st Century Competencies
The Focus of Teaching: “Deeper learning” practices and new learning partnerships are required for students to develop 21st century competencies.
“Deeper learning” is “the process through which an individual becomes capable of taking what was learned in one situation and applying it to new situations” (Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012, p. 5). This is also known as the development and cross-disciplinary application of transferable skills. Deeper learning involves the interplay of cognitive, intrapersonal, and interpersonal competencies.
An emphasis on “deeper learning” requires a shift in the role of teaching from “focusing on covering all required content to focusing on the learning process, developing students’ ability to lead their own learning and to do things with their learning. Teachers are partners with students in deep learning tasks characterised by exploration, connectedness and broader, real-world purposes” (Fullan & Langworthy, 2014, p. 7).