An analysis of 21st-century skills knowledge and experiences of primary school teachers

Abstract

21st century skills can be considered a tool to facilitate students' lives and prepare them for the world of the future. In this context, teachers' knowledge and experience of 21st century skills will be effective in solving possible problems that students will experience and in turning them into socially accepted, active, questioning, self-sufficient, well-equipped, determined, harmonious, social, and qualified individuals. In this study, phenomenological research design, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. The study group forthe research consisted of 26 primary school teachers working in Balıkesir. In the study, criterion sampling and maximum variation sampling methods, which are purposive sampling methods, were used. In the 4th Grade Social Studies course, teachers' experiences regarding how 21st century skills are perceived by teachers and how they are reflected in the program were collected by interview method. Content analysis was used in the analysis of the qualitative data obtained from the interviews. In this study, interview questions were evaluated in three different skill groups. Among the findings of the study, teachers see themselves as inadequate in "entrepreneurship" and "project management" and in parallel, they place less emphasis on activities for the development of these skills in students in the social studies program; they mostly find themselves in "Empathy", "Lifelong learning", "Problem Solving and Decision-Making." However, they mentioned the inadequacy of today's education system in acquiring skills because the curriculum is intense, resources or textbooks do not support skill-based activities, and our assessment-evaluation approach is exam-oriented.