Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration: Assessment, Certification, and Promotion of 21st Century Skills for the Future of Work and Education

Abstract

This article addresses educational challenges posed by the future of work, examining “21st century skills”, their conception, assessment, and valorization. It focuses in particular on key soft skill competencies known as the “4Cs”: creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication. In a section on each C, we provide an overview of assessment at the level of individual performance, before focusing on the less common assessment of systemic support for the development of the 4Cs that can be measured at the institutional level (i.e., in schools, universities, professional training programs, etc.). We then present the process of official assessment and certification known as “labelization”, suggesting it as a solution both for establishing a publicly trusted assessment of the 4Cs and for promoting their cultural valorization. Next, two variations of the “International Institute for Competency Development’s 21st Century Skills Framework” are presented. The first of these comprehensive systems allows for the assessment and labelization of the extent to which development of the 4Cs is supported by a formal educational program or institution. The second assesses informal educational or training experiences, such as playing a game. We discuss the overlap between the 4Cs and the challenges of teaching and institutionalizing them, both of which may be assisted by adopting a dynamic interactionist model of the 4Cs—playfully entitled “Crea-Critical-Collab-ication”—for pedagogical and policy-promotion purposes. We conclude by briefly discussing opportunities presented by future research and new technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

Automated feedback and creativity: On the role of metacognitive monitoring in divergent thinking.

“…Creativity refers to the generation of ideas that are both original and useful (Runco & Jaeger, 2012). It is considered to be one of the most important skills of the 21st century (Thornhill-Miller et al, 2023) and one of the fundamental characteristics of human cognition. As creativity drives innovation and plays an important role in artistic, scientific, and technological progress, there has been much interest in finding ways to enhance creative thinking.…”

Education reform: educators` professional transformation in the context of war and the post-war period

“…В основу концептуальної структури ПТПП ми закладаємо ядро м'яких навичок «4К» -креативність, критичне мислення, комунікація, колаборація. Осмислення важливості розробки зазначеної структури ґрунтується на певному збігові наших підходів із основними положеннями статті «Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration: Assessment, Certification, and Promotion of 21st Century Skills for the Future of Work and Education» («Креативність, критичне мислення, комунікація та співпраця: оцінка, сертифікація та підтримка навичок 21-го століття для майбутньої роботи та освіти») науковців Торнгіл-Міллера, Брендена, Анаель Камарда, Максенса Мерсьє, Жан-Марі Буркгардт, Тіффані Моріссо, Саміра Буржуа-Бугрін, Флорента Віншона, Стефані Ель Хайєк, Міріам Ожеро-Ланде, Флоренса Муре [12], у якій учені подають і описують «Динамічну взаємодійну модель 4К», що демонструє не лише об'єднання навичок, а й напрям модернізації освіти для успішного майбутнього, зокрема в професійній діяльності.…”

Education and New Developments 2023 – Volume 1

“…"21 st -century skills" can be described as an umbrella term with a broad spectrum of different skills . Those skills vary from one source to another, there is no consensus nor consistency in what skills to implement in such framework (Kocak et al, 2021;Mitsea et al, 2021) but the 21 st century skills are often characterized as higher-order skills Thornhill-Miller et al, 2023).…”

“…Battelle for Kids (2019) proposes a model visually represented as a rainbow with different components: Life and Career Skills, Learning & Innovation skills-4Cs, Information, Media & Technology Skills, Key Subjects -3Rs & 21 st Century Themes. The 4C from Battelle for Kids stands for (1) creativity and innovation, (2) critical thinking and problem solving, (3) communication, and (4) collaboration (Syahril et al, 2022;Thornhill-Miller et al 2023) and are quite like the "Competencies" from the report by World Economic Forum (2015).…”