The Impact of 21st Century Competencies on Future Job Seekers’ Diversity Readiness: A Developmental Perspective

Abstract

There has been much discussion among international institutions such as OECD, Partnership21 and even Singapore Ministry of Education for the call to better develop students equipping them for the future workplace. While there may be slight variation of 21st century competencies skills, however, the foci will largely be in the cognitive, intrapersonal and interpersonal domains. The purpose of this article is to propose possible approaches to facilitate 21st century competencies in the classroom; especially with the emphasis on how education systems are addressing 21st century skills and leadership perspective. First, the themes of 21st century competency are discussed. Then based on the literature, several strategies and ideas of promoting 21st century competencies are reviewed. Next, a possible model is proposed, including teachers’ and learners’ perspective and supportive educational leadership. With each component, several propositions are also provided. Finally, the implication of unifying theme is described, where we teach learners to teach themselves. to prepare learners for tomorrow, both learners and educators‟ perspectives are discussed with a view that they are closely intertwined and influence each other. transit from „show and tell‟, scaffolding the teaching/instruction according to learners‟ stage of development. The key consideration for teachers is therefore finding the right balance between stages of development and scaffolding of teaching delivery takes time and patience. It is what faculty rather than the mastery of technique and Collins 2001)