3 Review(s)

To prepare students for handling the complexity of modern societies, policy documents and educational reforms around the globe call for 21st-century skills. Teachers are vital in the execution of educational reforms, and several scholars stress that teachers need support to carry out this task. In the literature, we find ample suggestions for successful approaches and effective professional development programs. To bridge the gap between reform visions and the classroom, we believe it is important to accentuate the teacher voice. Therefore, we examined what teachers considered useful support in light of new demands from educational reforms. 21st century skills have been classified in three broad domains. The cognitive domain includes competencies related to cognitive processes and strategies, knowledge, and creativity, for example, critical thinking, reasoning, and argumentation. The intrapersonal domain concerns beliefs and motivation in learning, metacognition, and self-regulated learning. The interpersonal domain includes competencies related to collaboration and leadership, for example, effective communication and responsibility. In this renewal, the concept of "deeper learning" is emphasized and referred to as the development of students’ understanding of key elements within a subject and an ability to apply their knowledge and skills to novel problems and situations inside and outside of school, both individually and in collaboration with others.