Measuring 21st Century Skills: Guidance for Educators

The world is changing at seemingly breakneck speed. Around the globe, a wide-ranging debate is taking place about what knowledge and skills are most important for the increasingly diverse, interconnected, and innovation-oriented societies of the 21st century. The cities in Asia Society’s Global Cities Education Network all agree that the goals of education can no longer simply be to provide basic literacy skills for the majority of students and higher order skills only for a small elite. The skills that are easiest to teach and easiest to test are now also the skills that are easiest to automate, digitize, and outsource. Instead, cities are directing their attention to developing so-called 21st century skills and competencies for all students. Cities differ in exactly how they define and prioritize these skills and competencies, but they generally include: Cognitive skills: critical thinking, problem-solving and knowledge application, creativity Interpersonal skills: communication and collaboration, leadership, global and cross-cultural awareness Intrapersonal skills: self-direction, motivation, learning how to learn