Page 8 - 21st Century Competencies: Foundation Document for Discussion

6 21st Century Competencies
The reasons why it is increasingly important to focus on 21st century competencies are multifaceted and well addressed in research studies, but are beyond the scope of this paper to explore in depth. In brief, calls for education systems to keep pace with changing times are often linked to:
• changes in the work force from an industrial model of production to a rapidly transforming, technology-driven, and interconnected globalized knowledge economy. Such an economy requires competencies suited to dynamic and unpredictable models of economic and social development;
• emerging evidence on how to optimize learning, including the use of technological innovations to deepen and transform learning; and
• changing expectations on the part of learners, who are demanding an education system that is more connected and relevant to their everyday lives.
(Tapscott, 1999; Prensky, 2001; Rychen & Salganik, 2001; Levy & Murnane, 2004; Ananiadou & Claro, 2009; Dumont, Istance, and Benavides, 2010; Dede, 2010; Griffin, McGaw, & Care, 2012; Pellegrino & Hilton, 2012; Fullan & Langworthy, 2014)
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has called on international governments to “make an effort to properly identify and conceptualise the set of skills and competencies required so as to incorporate them into the educational standards that every student should be able to reach by the end of compulsory schooling” (Ananiadou & Claro, 2009, p. 5).