Results of a survey of 21st century skills of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity

According to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2013), twenty-first century skills of communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity (4Cs) are considered essential for achievement in today's society and are best taught within the context of core subject areas. Researchers know little about the prevalence of twenty-first century based activities in the classroom, despite a report citing a survey of chief executive officers of the global marketplace which stated the need for individuals who possess twenty-first century skills (IBM 2010 Global CEO Study, 2010). Associate professor and researcher Kyung Hee Kim published a study revealing that although the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) scores of American students continue to increase, creative thinking scores have decreased significantly since 1990 (Kim, 2011). Fisher (2009) suggested that in order to improve student achievement and increase motivation, high schools should develop collaborative learning activities. Arne Duncan, the U.S. Secretary of Education, asserted that the workforce of today requires individuals who must be both intelligent and innovative (PCAH, 2011). This study surveyed teachers about the prevalence of classroom assignments in grades 9 through 12 that rely on the twenty-first century learning skills of the 4Cs and analyzed and interpreted teachers' perceptions of the student benefits and teacher challenges involved in classroom assignments that foster these twenty-first century skills. An analysis of the research revealed that teachers with 17 years or more of teaching experience appear to be offering critical thinking opportunities in the classroom more frequently than teachers in the other experience brackets and those teachers with 11 to 16 years of experience seem to show the lowest prevalence of 4C application on many of the items. This research study revealed that math and science teachers tend not to provide students with opportunities to engage in collaborative work that requires students to share responsibility for achieving a goal. In contrast, art, music, and physical education teachers tended to provide opportunities for students to work effectively within a team environment and provide opportunities for students to be helpful to one another. Opportunities to help students acquire the twenty-first century skills of the 4Cs must be developed and used in school settings in an effort to prepare today's adolescents for the global marketplace.