Skills for the 21st Century

SCANS* - Schools must teach a new set of skills so that young people entering the work force know how to identify and organize information and resources, relate well with others in work teams, and understand social and organizational systems.

Basic Skills

Reads, writies, performs arithmetica and mathematical operations, listens and speaks well

Thinking Skills

Thinks critically, makes decisions, solves problems, visualizes, knows how to learn and reason

Personal Qualities

Displays reponsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self-management, integrity, and honesty

Reading

Locates, understands, and interprets written information inprose and in documents

Creative Thinking

Generates new ideas

Responsibility

Exerts a high level of effort and preseveres toward goal attainment

Writing

Communicates thoughts, ideas, information, and messages in writing, and creates docuemtns such as letters, directions, manuals, reprots, graphs, and flow charts

Decision Making

Specifies goals and constraints, generates alternatives, considers risks, evaluates and chooses best alternative

Self- Esteem

Believes in own self-worth and maintains a postive view of self

Arithmetic/Mathematics

Performs basic computations and approaches practical problems by choosing appropriately from a variety of mathematical techniques

Problem Solving

Recognizes problems, devises and implements a plan of action

Sociability

Demonstrates understanding, friendliness, adaptability, empath, and politeness in group settings

Listening

Receives, attends to interprets, and responds to verbal messages and other cues

Seeing Things in the Mind's Eye

Organizes and processes symbols, pictures, graphs, objects, and other information

Self-Management

Assesses self accurately, sets personal goals, monitors progress, and exhibitis self-control

Speaking

Organizes ideas and communicates orally

Knowing How to Learn

Uses efficient learning techniques to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills

Integrity/Honesty

Chooses ethical course of action

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Reasoning

Discovers a rule or principle underlying the relationship between two or more objects and applies it when solving a problem

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Chart from TRIBES: A New Way of Learning Together by Jeanne Gibbs (1994). Center Source Publications, Santa Rosa, CA. Page 33.

SCANS Report available at http://wdr.doleta.gov/SCANS/

*SCANS - US Dept of Labor, Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills