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21st Century Professional Skills:
I keep hearing and reading that companies are looking for professionals with 21stCentury Skills, but when I ask managers, CEOs, and the like, about these skills, I get a blank stare. “What do you mean 21st Century Skills?!” OK, maybe most people don’t know them by this moniker, but that’s the term most commonly used (some people know them by 21st Century Learning, but that has to do with school curricula to develop these skills in students). 21st Century Skills are the skills that professionals, people, even companies, will need to develop in the new century to prevail and make it in the Global Market. Consider this: In 1991, the total money spent on Industrial Age goods in the United States --things like engines and machines for agriculture, manufacturing, mining, construction, transportation, energy production, and so on-- was exceeded for the first time in history by the amount spent on information and communications technologies: computers, servers, printers, software, phones, networking devices and systems, and the like. In 1991, “Knowledge Age” expenditures exceeded Industrial Age spending by $5 billion ($112 billion versus $107 billion). This made 1991 the first year of a new Age of information, knowledge, and innovation. Countries around the globe have increasingly been spending more on making, manipulating, managing, and moving bits and bytes of information than on handling physical goods. This monumental shift from Industrial Age production to that of the knowledge age economy—information-driven, globally networked—is as world-changing and life-altering as the shift from the Agrarian to the Industrial Age three hundred and fifty years ago.1
Because of the ever changing technology, and the way companies are doing business in the Information Era, people are not just competing locally, not even nationally; they are competing with the whole world. 20th Century skills will not suffice anymore; they are completely and utterly obsolete. So, what are 21stCentury skills?, they are, according to Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., NCC, author of The Foundation Skills, the skills to effectively deal with the New Contents of the 21st Century. There are four main Skills: Basic, Thinking, People and Personal Skills; each one composed of several core skills: Basic Skills: Reading: Identify relevant details, facts, and specification; locate information in books/manuals, from graphs; find meaning of unknown words; judge accuracy of reports; use computer to find information. Writing: Write ideas completely and accurately in letters and reports with proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation; check, edit, and revise for accuracy and emphasis, use computer to communicate information. Mathematics: Use numbers, fractions, and percentages to solve problems; use tables, graphs, diagrams, and charts; use computer to enter, retrieve, change, and communicate numerical information. Speaking: Organize and communicate ideas clearly; speak clearly; select language, tone of voice, and gestures appropriate to audience. Listening: Listen carefully to what person says, noting tone of voice, and other body language; respond in a way that shows understanding of what is said. Thinking Skills: Creative Thinking: Use imagination freely, combining ideas or information in new ways; make connections between ideas that seem unrelated. Problem-Solving Skills: Recognize problem; identify why it is a problem; create and implement a solution; watch to see how well solution works; revise as needed. Decision Making Skills: Identify goal; generate alternatives and gather information about them; weigh pros and cons; choose best alternative; plan how to carry out choice. Visualization: See a building or object by looking at a blueprint, drawing, or sketch; imagine how a system works by looking at a schematic drawing. People Skills: Social: Show understanding, friendliness, and respect for feelings; assert oneself when appropriate; take an interest in what people say and why they think and act as they do. Negotiation: Identify common goals among different parties in conflict; clearly present the facts and arguments of your position; listen to and understand other party's position; create possible ways to resolve conflict; make reasonable compromises. Leadership: Communicate thoughts and feelings to justify a position; encourage or convince others; make positive use of rules or values; demonstrate ability to have others believe in and trust you because of your competence and honesty. Teamwork: Work cooperatively with others; contribute to group with ideas and effort; do own share of work; encourage team members; resolve differences for the benefit of the team; responsibly challenge existing procedures, policies, or authorities. Cultural Diversity: Work well with people having different ethnic, social, or educational backgrounds; understand the concerns of members of other ethnic and gender groups; base impressions on a person's behavior, not stereotypes; understand one's own culture and those of others and how they differ; respectfully help people in these groups make cultural adjustments when necessary Personal Qualities: Self-Esteem: Understand how beliefs affect how a person feels and acts; "listen" to and identify irrational or harmful beliefs you may have; and understand how to change these negative beliefs when they occur. Self-Management: Assess your knowledge and skills accurately; set specific, realistic personal goals; monitor progress toward your goal. Responsibility: Work hard to reach goals, even if task is unpleasant; do quality work; display high standard of attendance, honesty, energy, and optimism.2 Why do we need these skills? Take a look at the following new contents of the new century and the skills they require: |
1.- Global Competition:
- Global Awareness.
- Self-Direction.
- Self-Direction.
2.- Global Cooperation:
- Global Awareness
- Collaboration
- Information & Communication Technology (ICT)
- Literacy
- Collaboration
- Information & Communication Technology (ICT)
- Literacy
3. Information Growth:
- Information Literacy
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
4. More Jobs & Careers:
- Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
- Innovation & Improvement
- Flexibility & Adaptability
- Innovation & Improvement
- Flexibility & Adaptability
5. Growing Service Economy:
- Communication Skills
- Life and Career Awareness Skills
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/graduationproject/
- Life and Career Awareness Skills
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/graduationproject/
We are already over a decade into the 21st Century and the world is changing faster than ever, the new paradigm is EVERY THING IS CONSTANTLY CHANGING. Professionals and people in general –not to mention companies– need to understand that it is not business as usual. As each one of us competes with the whole world, the ones that don’t incorporate and utilize these skills will go the way of the dinosaurs.
Bibliography:
1 21stCentury Skills, Learning for Life in our Times, page 3. Bernie Thrilling & Charles Fadel.
2 THE FOUNDATION SKILLS by Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., NCC.
http://www.careerkey.org/asp/career_development/foundation_skills.html
Bibliography:
1 21stCentury Skills, Learning for Life in our Times, page 3. Bernie Thrilling & Charles Fadel.
2 THE FOUNDATION SKILLS by Lawrence K. Jones, Ph.D., NCC.
http://www.careerkey.org/asp/career_development/foundation_skills.html