Page 5 - 21st Century Competencies: Foundation Document for Discussion

PREFACE
Ontario is committed to helping every child and student achieve success and well-being. The primary goal of the province’s education system is to enable students to develop the knowledge, skills, and characteristics that will lead them to become personally successful, economically productive, and actively engaged citizens.
Researchers acknowledge that the need to engage in problem solving and critical and creative thinking has “always been at the core of learning and innovation” (Trilling & Fadel, 2009, p. 50). What’s new in the 21st century is the call for education systems to emphasize and develop these competencies in explicit and intentional ways through deliberate changes in curriculum design and pedagogical practice. The goal of these changes is to prepare students to solve messy, complex problems – including problems we don’t yet know about – associated with living in a competitive, globally connected, and technologically intensive world.
Key findings from in-depth literature reviews on 21st century competencies, completed by the Ministry of Education in 2014, are summarized in this foundation document. The full in-depth reviews will be made available in the near future.
The document comprises the following five sections:
1. Introduction – The rationale for defining and supporting the development of 21st century competencies.
2. Defining 21st Century Competencies – A high-level overview of the
21st century competencies that are most prominently featured in provincial, national, and international research and intellectual debate.
3. The Ontario Context – A high-level overview of the work being done in Ontario to identify and define 21st century competencies in teaching and learning.
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This document will provide a focus for discussions among ministry and external education, policy, and research experts about how best to shape provincial policy to help students develop the 21st century competencies they need to succeed. These discussions will build on the consultations to renew Ontario’s vision for education that took place in the autumn of 2013.