Empowering Teachers for 21st Century Education: Need of the Hour

I. What is 21st Century Education ?

To understand 21st century education, one must first of all understand what a 21st century education is not. A 21st century education isn’t a class of students sitting quietly in a classroom, taking notes of everything that the teacher says or writes on the blackboard. It’s not a teacher-centric approach, teaching students for the examination, telling students what they need to mug up to get 90%+ marks , assuming every student learns in an identical way. A 21st century education is actually much more than all this.
A 21st century education is one that responds to the economical, technological, and societal shifts that are happening at an ever-increasing pace in this complex world. It’s an education which shifts focus from examination and rote learning to conceptual clarity, critical thinking, problem solving, innovation and creativity in conformity with the goals of New Education Policy (NEP-2020). It’s an education that prepares students to succeed in a world where more than half of the jobs they’ll have over their careers don’t even exist yet. It is an education which prepares students for an age where artificial intelligence will be equal to their intelligence by the time they finish education. In short, it’s an education that provides students with the skills and competencies they need to thrive in the 21st century.

II. How to Foster 21st Century Education ?
In order to impart 21st century education, we must foster deeper learning in every student through the purposeful integration of rigorous modern academic content with experiences that intentionally cultivate the 21st century skills, mindsets, and literacies needed for students to become lifelong learners and contributors in our ever-changing world.

21st Century Skills
21st Century skills are a group of abilities which students need to possess in order to achieve success in this modern era . These include, besides the literacy ( viz. information, media and technology) and life skills (viz. flexibility, leadership, initiative, productivity and social )the four ‘Learning Skills’ viz. creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration. These four themes are not to be only understood as such but rather they should also be part of every lesson in each discipline in the same way as literacy and numeracy.
The ability to think critically and creatively, to collaborate with others, and to communicate clearly will not only set students up for success in their careers, but also will empowers them to lead happier, healthier lives These are the skills students need to develop in order to thrive in today’s and tomorrow’s dynamic workplace.

Experiential learning
Experiential learning i.e. learning by doing is one of the best ways to teach students creative problem solving. By engaging students in hands-on practical experiments and reflection, they’re better ready to connect theories and knowledge learned within the classroom to world situations. This approach is extremely effective in helping the students to understand , explain and retain otherwise difficult concepts.

Digital Technology
Digital integration is fundamental to a thorough 21st century education but it is not enough to simply add technology to the prevailing educational methods. Technology must be used strategically to benefit students. 21st century students have grown with technology and internet. They know technology makes lives easier and more convenient- then why not their education? However an excessive use of technology must be avoided as it may impact adversely the generation of original ideas, plans and hence creativity in students.

III. 21st Century Teachers
Teachers have a very important role to play in imparting 21st century education. Unfortunately in India, most students continue to be educated in the same way as they were in the past. Past methods of teaching -learning make little sense to today’s 21st century students who learn and think differently, and for whom making use of information is far more valuable than simply knowing things. Why go to school or college when you could learn the same information faster by watching a Youtube video or playing a computer game? Why memorise facts for a test when you have all the information available with a click of mouse. These are some of the questions constantly pricking the minds of the present-day students

Innovative teaching Methods
21st century teachers must embrace new ways of teaching and learning like flipped classroom model which focuses on higher order thinking skills and encourages thinking, innovation and creativity amongst students. Further, there needs to be more focus on case-studies, project-based and problem-based learning rather than lecture-based learning. Simply asking questions like “what will my students need twenty or forty years from now? How am i able to assist in giving them those skills?” can change teachers’ mindset, make them a pacesetter , and help them cause change in their classroom, school and community. The teachers need to be empowered in adopting these modern approaches to teaching through their regular professional development

Reforms in Assessment Pattern
Assessment drives learning. Teachers need to be trained through workshops in setting examination questions which test out of box thinking and hence creativity. Assessment process needs to be made more scientific to encourage multiple skills of the students. The way we assess our students, the students will learn in that way. That is the best way to slowly draw our students away from rote learning towards innovation and creativity.

Proficiency in ICT skills
21st century teachers also need to become tech savvy and understand their changing roles as mentors or coaches rather than merely knowledge providers. With the popularity of online education and coming of virtual universities in India in the near future, teachers need to become proficient in development of MOOCs, management of virtual classroom and discussion forum. Technology in the hands of a great teacher can be highly transformational. Teachers need to be empowered as facilitators and motivators for learning, so that they can empower their students in turn. The quality of an educational system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers and therefore their regular training is the need of the hour.