The value of teaching 21st-century skills
What are 21st-century skills? And how should higher education adapt to teach those skills? University of Phoenix recently launched a project to evaluate just that, as well as demonstrate how its various colleges and degree programs prepare students to succeed in our fast-changing world.
“University of Phoenix decided to look at the skills people need to succeed in the new economy,” says Natasha Dalzell-Martinez, a consultant with Apollo Group, University of Phoenix’s parent company. “We wanted to first evaluate what 21st-century skills are, and then work with the deans of each College to identify how the skills are aligned with our current programs,” she explains.
Why is this so important? Dalzell-Martinez puts it very bluntly. “We are no longer competing with people in our own town, or even our own country,” she says. “We’re now competing with people throughout the world.”
After doing some internal analysis of University of Phoenix’s own programs and student demographics, as well as studying recent reports on 21st-century higher education and workplace economics published by Harvard and Stanford, Dalzell-Martinez and her colleagues decided it was time to define what a 21st-century university and 21st-century skills means to the University and its students. “The average person changes jobs every few years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,” she says. “Once upon a time, people would work for the Ford Motor Company for 35 years, then retire. That really doesn’t happen anymore. These days, you can’t get used to one way of doing things your whole career.”
If she had to sum up the concept of “21st-century skills” in two words, Dalzell-Martinez would say they are flexibility and resilience. Why? According to her, the reason is simple. “There’s no linear career path anymore,” she explains. “The days where you worked in a vacuum for a single boss, using a single skill, with no real say or control over your own job or assignments are over. People now wear many hats, and have many skills. That’s why it’s important we make sure our students are resilient and prepared for that ever-changing landscape."
“When we first launched this initiative, we met with University of Phoenix leadership and found that our institution is uniquely positioned to teach 21st-century skills, not only because of our blend of online interactive and brick-and-mortar teaching, but also because of our unique student body,” Dalzell-Martinez explains. “We have working adult learners, a very culturally diverse student body, and a large proportion (more than 50%) of female students as well. All of these students are working flexibly to make higher education fit around their existing jobs and lives. That kind of flexibility and adaptability is very relevant to the 21st-century work force.”
University of Phoenix is already a leader when it comes to fostering an innovative, technology-focused learning environment, as well as providing a flexible and adaptable education experience for its students. “Flexibility and adaptability are key 21st-century skills,” says Dalzell-Martinez. “Technology is changing at an exponential rate. When you consider that your new smartphone is already obsolete by the time you buy it, you can imagine what that means for your job skills.”
Over the next several months, we’ll be featuring a series of articles that focus on the various 21st-century skills University of Phoenix has identified in-depth. But a key component in all of those skills will be flexibility and adaptability, according to Dalzell-Martinez. ”Technology is a tool, rather than a skill. You have to learn to adapt to changes in technology.”
Flexibility and adaptability, along with independence, resilience, critical thinking, curiosity, ethics, and entrepreneurialism are some of the most important skills for any 21st-century worker to have. “Critical thinking and leadership are essential to any job now, not just managers,” Dalzell-Martinez says. “We want all our academic programs to reflect that.”
