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Using 21C skills or core skills

See this section to develop skills and understanding that you and your learners need in order to participate actively and critically in learning and in life.

Using 21C skills or core skills

In this section you can find useful professional development resources – including articles, webinars, podcast episodes, research and teaching tips and tools – all to help you develop your skills and knowledge of Using 21C skills or core skills.

What does Using 21C skills or core skills involve?

This professional practice is about the skills that learners and teachers need in order to develop agency, navigate a fast-changing and connected world and to participate actively and critically in learning and in life. It involves:

  • developing your own awareness of and proficiency in:

    Learning skills
    • critical thinking and problem solving
    • communication 
    • collaboration and interpersonal skills
    • creativity and innovation
     Life skills
    • active citizenship around social, political, environmental or economic issues and responsibilities
    • intercultural competence
    • developing and building on learner agency, autonomy and leadership
    • developing lifelong learning skills to support employability
     Literacy skills
    • digital literacy and critical digital literacy (including information literacy)
    • emotional literacy (e.g. self-awareness, maintaining well-being, resilience, motivation)
    • media literacy (e.g. receiving information, understanding and summarising it and then communicating it to others)
  • selecting appropriate methodologies, activities and resources for introducing, developing and evaluating your learners' skills in these areas

  • demonstrating the value and importance of 21C skills or core skills for learning and life for your learners (e.g. modelling your own development of literacy skills as part of your lifelong learning)

  • reflecting on your strengths and weaknesses in relation to your own proficiency in 21C skills or core skills for learning and life and your  ability to develop your learners' proficiency in these areas.

Explore resources on 'Using 21C skills or core skills'
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A group of people holding folders with educational icons above

Research and insight

Browse fascinating case studies, research papers, publications and books by researchers and ELT experts from around the world.

See our publications, research and insight