The Four C's: Making 21st Century Education Happen

What might the 21st Century skills for learning be?  What it is that schools, leaders and educators must do to make 21st Century Education happen?  What are we doing with the valuable time that we, as educators, have with children and young people?  The video clip below is based on the lived experience of a whole school district that is committed to develop these four important and essential skills for any 21st century student - Critical thinking, Creativity, Collaboration and Communication.  These skills are incorporated not only in the curricular content and pedagogy adopted to facilitate the learning process, but are also embedded in school leaders', mentors' and teachers' way of learning and interacting with each other and with their students.  The four C's inform and also serve as the driving force behind professional development, planning and assessment.  

I believe that such an approach could be applied at all levels of education, adjusting it and making it fit both the cultural and educational context of a particular school, district or college.  The new Maltese National Curriculum Framework includes all four C's within each level of education - the challenge now is for us to find effective ways to work together nationally and locally, implementing these ideas, skills and attitudes in practice.