What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?

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By: Bri Staufer on May 7th, 2020

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/four-cs-21st-century-skills[08-Sep-21 12:09:53 AM]

What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?

What Are the 4 C's of 21s

Century Skills?
21ST CENTURY SKILLS

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As a middle or high school career readiness teacher, you likely need to

teach 21s century skills as part of your curriculum.

While all twelve of those skills are necessary to teach, the "four C's" are
often considered to be the mos important. 

The four C’s of 21s Century skills are:

1. Critical thinking
2. Creativity
3. Collaboration
4. Communication

These four skills are essential for modern sudents to succeed in school
and the workplace.

They often make the bigges impact in terms of setting your sudents apart
when applying for and sarting their careers.

In this article, you'll discover what each skill entails and why they are
so important to teach.

You'll also be able to download a free guide on how you can teach
the 4 C's of 21s Century skills in middle or high school courses.

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/four-cs-21st-century-skills[08-Sep-21 12:09:53 AM]

What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?

1. Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the practice of solving problems, among other

qualities.

In addition to working through problems, solving puzzles, and similar

activities, critical thinking also includes an element of skepticism.

This is important in the 21s Century because it’s harder than ever to
verify accurate information (mosly thanks to the Internet).

Critical thinking empowers sudents to discover the truth in assertions,

especially when it comes to separating fact from opinion.

With critical thinking, sudents don’t jus learn a set of facts or fgures.
Insead, they learn how to discover the facts and fgures for themselves.

They ask quesions. They become engaged in the world around them.
They help others think critically, too.

That might be the mos important part of critical thinking. Once one
sudent has it masered, it quickly spreads to their peers.

Whether they learn how to think critically from spending time online or
simply asking “Why?” in everyday life, this skill prepares sudents for a
life of independence and purposeful thought.

Still, critical thinking is jus one of the four C’s in 21s Century skills.

It works jus fne when sudents use it alone. But when sudents combine it
with the next skill, the sky is the limit to what they can achieve. 

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/four-cs-21st-century-skills[08-Sep-21 12:09:53 AM]

What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?

2. Creativity

Creativity is the practice of thinking outside the box.

While creativity is often treated like a you-have-it-or-you-don’t quality,

sudents can learn how to be creative by solving problems, creating
sysems, or jus trying something they haven’t tried before. 

That doesn’t mean every sudent will become an artis or a writer.

Insead, it means they’ll be able to look at a problem from multiple

perspectives — including those that others may not see.

Creativity allows sudents to embrace their inner srengths from big-

picture planning to meticulous organization.

As a sudent learns about their creativity, they also learn how to express it
in healthy and productive ways.

More importantly, they also become motivated to share that creativity with

others.

Jus like with critical thinking, that makes creativity contagious.

One sudent creates an interesing or innovative solution to a problem.

Then, when they share it, the next sudent can become inspired to try
something similar.

That’s not to say every single creative endeavor will be a ringing success.
Students will fail at some point, and some of their ideas simply won’t
work.

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/four-cs-21st-century-skills[08-Sep-21 12:09:53 AM]

What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?

But that’s okay. The point of creativity is to encourage sudents to think

diferently than convention demands.

They don’t have to do things the way they’ve always been done.

Insead, they can fgure out a better way.

Students don’t have to embrace their creativity alone, either.

In fact, creativity works bes when combined with the next 21s Century
skill.

3. Collaboration

Collaboration is the practice of working together to achieve a common

goal.

Collaboration is important because whether sudents realize it or not,

they’ll probably work with other people for the res of their lives.

Virtually every job requires someone to work with another person at some
point, even if it’s for something as simple as what to get for lunch.

Practicing collaboration and teamwork helps sudents undersand how

to address a problem, pitch solutions, and decide the bes course of action.

It’s also helpful for them to learn that other people don’t always have the
same ideas that they do.

In fact, as sudents practice collaboration more and more, they’ll learn that
they have almos none of the same ideas that others do.

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/four-cs-21st-century-skills[08-Sep-21 12:09:53 AM]

What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?

This can afect sudents in one of two ways. Firs, it could discourage them
since nobody seems to agree with them that often. Second, it could
embolden them because they realize they’re bringing something unique to
every conversation.

As a teacher, it’s crucial that you encourage sudents to look at themselves

through that second lens.

That way, sudents learn that they should speak up when they have an
idea.

They may not be on the money 100% of the time — and some of their
peers may have srong, opinionated reactions — but it’ll teach them to
speak up when they’re working with others. 

4. Communication

Communication is the practice of conveying ideas quickly and clearly.

Communication is often taken for granted in today’s society. After all, if

you say something, that means you conveyed an idea, right?

Not exactly.

In the age of text-based communications — SMS, emails, social media,

etc. — it’s never been more important for sudents to learn how to convey
their thoughts in a way that others can undersand them.

That’s because text-based communications lack tone, which is critical

to undersanding the context of someone’s words.

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/four-cs-21st-century-skills[08-Sep-21 12:09:53 AM]

What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?

Still, even in situations where vocal tone is available, sudents need to

learn how to communicate efectively.

That includes minimizing tangents, speaking directly to an idea, and

checking other participants to make sure they’re engaged.

Reading an audience — even if it’s jus two other people in a group

discussion — lets sudents determine whether they should keep expanding
on an idea or wrap up their point.

Their audience could even be their family at Thanksgiving dinner.

The point is that as sudents practice communication, they become better

at efciently conveying an idea without losing their point “in the weeds,”
so to speak.

With communication locked down, sudents can sreamline their ideas

and make a positive impression on those around them.

Still, it’s important to note that communication isn’t enough on its own to
help sudents with 21s Century skills.

To really succeed, sudents need to use all four of these skills together.

How Do the Four C’s Work Together?

The four C’s of 21s Century skills let sudents create a whole that’s
greater than the sum of its parts.

That may sound overly-generalized, and you may be right. But the skills
themselves are so general that it’s difcult to pin down what, why, or how
sudents should learn the four C’s.

It’s mos accurate to say that sudents need the four C’s for any and every
reason.

Critical thinking teaches sudents to quesion claims and seek truth.

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/four-cs-21st-century-skills[08-Sep-21 12:09:53 AM]

What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?

Creativity teaches sudents to think in a way that’s unique to them.

Collaboration teaches sudents that groups can create something bigger

and better than you can on your own.

Communication teaches sudents how to efciently convey ideas.

Combined, the four C’s empower sudents to become one-person think

tanks.

Then, when those sudents get together, they can achieve almos anything!

How Do You Teach the  Four C's of 21s

Century Skills?
Now you know what the four C's of 21s Century skills are and why
employers want new hires to have them.

So how do you teach them in your daily middle and high school classes?

Click below to get your free guide on teaching critical thinking,

creativity, collaboration, and communication!

About Bri Staufer

Bri collaborates with others at AES to create content that answers your
quesions about teaching classes, preparing sudents for certifcations, and
making the mos of the AES digital curriculum.

https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/four-cs-21st-century-skills[08-Sep-21 12:09:53 AM]

What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?

Connect with Bri Staufer

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Comments
Krisin Wilcox

11/5/2020 10:11:29

This looks great.

Tammy Cumberbatch
3/8/2020 00:49:05

Thank you for such valuable information. Very handy in this

unprecedented period of unexpected challenges with learning.

Maria Elena Alvarez

17/2/2021 09:52:48

Thank you for sharing the information. Helped me in my teaching

course.

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What Are the 4 C's of 21st Century Skills?

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https://www.aeseducation.com/blog/four-cs-21st-century-skills[08-Sep-21 12:09:53 AM]