In today’s world, jobs are much more complicated than ever before. We are trying to prepare children for the 21st Century workplace in jobs that may not have even been created as of yet.  With the constant improvements and developing technology, the world is changing at a rapid rate. In the 21st century, people need skills that go far beyond the basic knowledge that was sufficient in the past. For this reason, students must be taught critical thinking and problem solving skills along with collaboration.

      In everyday work, employees must use critical thinking to better serve customers, develop better products, and continuously improve themselves within an ever-changing global economy. We no longer need skills that regurgitate information as we have the internet that is able to do that for us. We need students to be able to think and problem solve so they know how to use the internet as a resource in order to solve a bigger picture problem. This is the type of skill needed in today’s workplace. 

      The challenge in training students how to critically think is in the amount of curriculum teachers are given. Teachers feel the need to get through all the curriculum which encourages more memorization instead of understanding the process.  Teachers need to train students how to ask good questions, examine information, create using information gathered, interpret data and debate with their peers respectfully.  A great way to teach children critical thinking skills is through inquiry based lessons. This would allow children to ponder and research answers to a question.  They use books, articles, videos and the internet to find answers to the question given by the teacher.  After gathering information, students can meet in small groups and engage in discussions related to what they learned or discovered through these activities. This allows students to synthesize their new learning, reflect on the learning experiences they had, and make connections to how this new information relates to the essential question of their  inquiry unit.

      Another important 21st Century skill is collaboration. In jobs of today, employees do not work in isolation as once did in the past, rather work is done collaboratively. For this reason, it is imperative that teachers are training students in how to work cooperatively together. 

      Working effectively in groups does not happen naturally. This takes time and scaffolding. In order to ensure that each child is a productive unit of their group, assigning jobs is a good idea. This prevents one or two students doing all the work and others riding on their coattails. The teacher should also teach students how to listen. This may seem like a simple skill, but it can be very difficult for many. Children are often self-centered and only want to share their ideas. Students should understand a good listener makes eye contact and restrains themselves from cutting off other students. Lastly, students need to learn how to keep and open mind and negotiate.

      Students also learn to use communication for a range of purposes. These purposes include to inform, instruct, motivate and persuade. This can be accomplished through writing, power point presentations, blogs, etc.