LEARNING DOMAINS AND LIFE COPING SKILLS: DECONSTRUCTING THE

MILIEU OF EDUCATION IN THE 21st CENTURY

Ethelbert P. Dapiton, Ph D1,2, Prof. Alma L. Tangcuangco1, Robin B. Dimla, Ph D 1

1
Don Honorio Ventura State University, 1, 2Swinburne University of Technology

Abstract

Education can be considered as a means to get out of poverty brought about by uneven distribution
of wealth in the society. However, due to the dynamic changes of the society, the world of the 21st century
bears little resemblance to that of the 19th century where most of the formal learning modalities has been
developed. There is a need to deconstruct the way learning should be in the 21st century so that learners can
find meaning to their education as well as addressing the necessary challenges brought about by the advent
of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Thus, it is worthwhile that educational institutions must reconsider
another paradigm shift in the development of their curricula to include essential components of modern-
day learning mechanisms in the acquisition of knowledge, skills, forming of character and development of
meta-learning in order for the students to become life-ready and equipped with life-coping skills.

Keywords: learning domains, life coping skills, 21st century education, fourth industrial revolution,
learning modalities

Introduction

In this modern age where almost all types of information are just a few clicks away, 21st
century learners need to be equipped with relevant and adequate skills to understand and use this
information and have the confidence to transform this information into skills to succeed in this
modern competitive world.

Twenty-first century learners are considered to be cohorts of Generation Z (born between

1995 and 2009) and Generation Alpha (born since 2010). These young and technology savvy
people are called digital natives. They are well exposed to unprecedented amount of information
easily available right at their fingertips with the power of Internet browsers. Basically, they can be
considered as independent learners as they can teach themselves about any topic of interest without
leaving their domicile as advance information and communication technology is already within
reach even for low-income households.

The coalition P21 (Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2002) has identified four “Skills
for Today” namely Critical Thinking, Communication, Creativity, and Collaboration skills which
focuses more on making sense of readily available information by sharing and using it in smart
ways. These emergent four themes are deemed to be highly essential and must be integrated in
almost all areas of learning spanning across curriculum maps and learning pathways.

Critical thinking skills

Critical thinking, as defined by the National Council for Excellence in Critical Thinking
(1987), is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying,
analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.
In its exemplary form, it is based on universal intellectual values that transcend subject matter
divisions: clarity, accuracy, precision, consistency, relevance, sound evidence, good reasons,
depth, breadth, and fairness.

Moreover, Kivunja (2014) emphasized that critical thinking will equip graduating students
with “skills that will enable them to be productive members in the knowledge economy, function
effectively and responsibly and solve problems in ways that are sensitive and caring for others,
society, the environment, and the world as a whole”.

People who become skilled at critical thinking develop other skills such as better
concentration, enhanced analytical abilities and improved cognitive skill. People with this skill
have the ability to analyze information clearly, rationally, logically, objectively and make coherent
findings and judgment. It is looking at problems in a new way, understanding the link between
ideas and connecting learning across issues and disciplines (Doyle, 2018; Pakizer, 2018;
Sutherland, 2018; NEA, 2012).

Critical thinking has always been an important skill required for high ranking positions but
has now become a must have skill for everyone to adapt in the new workplace. Additionally, in
this age where technology has rapidly replace people in work, the roles least likely to be outsourced
or automated are those requiring critical thinking, complex communication and expert thinking
(Sutherland, 2018; Pakizer,2018; Aoun, 2017; NEA, 2012).
 Employers look for employees who needs a minimum supervision and could be trusted.
These are the employees who can analyze even a difficult situation, come up with the most
effective and efficient solution and make reasoned decisions and judgements (Doyle, 2018;
AAC&U, 2014).

Communication skills
Communication generally implies the exchange of thoughts and ideas with the intention
of conveying information. Since communication involves almost every aspect of our interactions
with other people, it provides the basis of how relationships are constructed and maintained.
Good communication skills can reduce misunderstandings, errors, frustrations, and conflicts on a
regular basis. Through communication, our ideas and interests are transmitted to other people;
thus, the way we communicate serves as the foundation on which people from their opinions
about us (Butler & Stevens, 1997). Effective communication leads to healthy personal and work
relationships (Boyd, Lilling, & Lyon, 2007). It is a skill that is important for new entrants to the
labour market who need to be able to collaborate and reach organizational goals. Conversing
includes various different behaviours such as explaining, describing, informing, advising,
influencing, persuading, managing, resolving conflict, and negotiating (Brink &Costigan, 2015).
Therefore, the readiness and study of communication skills is important to deliver good
graduates to the labour market (Huang et al., 2007).

A student who can’t communicate effectively can’t compete in the modern world. This is
why teaching effective communication skills must serve as the cornerstone for any program
preparing young people for the 21st century. Along with interpersonal and collaborative skills,
communication skills figure prominently among those identified as “21st century”. Specifically,
expressing thoughts clearly, crisply articulating opinions, communicating coherent instructions,
motivating others through powerful speech — these skills have always been valued in the
workplace and in public life. Powerful speech indeed, communication skills include not only
reading, writing, and listening, but also an often and paradoxically neglected part of our language
arts — speaking (Wilczynski, 2009).
 The ability to communicate effectively with superiors, colleagues, and staff is essential,
no matter what industry a person works in.In millennia’s hectic world, we rely heavily on
sharing information, resulting in greater emphasis being placed on having good communication
skills, therefore, workers in the digital age must know how to effectively convey and receive
messages in person as well as via phone, email, and social media (Doyle, 2018). According to
the critical skills survey conducted by the American Management Association (AMA) in 2010,
recruiters from major companies cited communication skills as a key factor in choosing their
employees. Also, number of surveys (Davis & Miller, 1996; Holter&Kopka, 2001;
Perrigo&Gaut, 1994) identifies effective oral and written communication as the most sought
after skills by those who run organizations.Another study conducted in 1988 by D.B. Curtis
presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association says that the most
valued skills in the “contemporary job market” are communication skills. The study surveyed
1,000 personnel managers and came to this conclusion. This information suggests that the best
skill we can invest in within ourselves is strong communication.

While scholars, corporate recruiters and managers, research firms, and business writers
have argued for years that the ability to communicate effectively is a leading factor in
professional success. Competence in communicating is widely regarded as the basis for many
other behaviours important to successful career, including teamwork, leadership, planning,
organizing, and more. Consequently, communication is central to an individual’s participation in
organizational life, specifically, to business and professional skills (Waldeck et al., 2012).

Moreover, the modern professional environment is characterized by new forms of

organizing, powerful communication technologies, frequent change, diminishing boundaries
between work life and personal life, an older and more diverse workforce, and greater emphasis
on globalism – and these changes impact business communication in dramatic ways that students
must have exposure to prior to entering the workforce(Waldeck et al., 2012).According to Brink
and Costigan (2015) communication takes an even more important place than it did before. Due
to technological changes, increasingly complex and interactive tasks are expected to be
completed by employees. Hence, it is essential that current students or future employees are
properly trained for these new challenges in the labour market (Habets, 2017).
 Creativity skills
Creativity started way back in history since its first systematic study which was undertaken
by Galton in 1869. Numerous study followed his creativity concept as “genius” until the 1920’s,
then was shifted to the investigation of intelligence in the 1950’s. Guilford (1950) presented a call
to psychologists to investigate creativity and highlighted both its marginalization as a field of study
and its significant value in relation to discovery, industry, science and leadership.

According to Facione (1998), creative or innovative thinking is the kind of thinking that
leads to new insights, novel approaches, fresh perspectives, a whole new ways of understanding
and conceiving of things. The products of creative thought include some obvious things like
music, poetry, dance, dramatic literature, inventions, and technical innovations. But there are
some not so obvious examples as well, such as ways of putting a question that expand the horizons
of possible solutions, or ways of conceiving of relationships that challenge presuppositions and
lead one to see the world in imaginative and different ways.

Creative spirit are fast becoming requirements in this world of global competition and
innovation. A study conducted by IBM Institute for Business Value (2016) shows that among the
5000 CEOs that were interviewed from nineteen different industries worldwide, CEOs who had
established a culture of innovation that encouraged employee creativity was the most financially
successful firms. Thus, creativity is in high demand among employers and it is an important skill
for the employees to have.

Creativity is an essential construct in any conception of education and psychology (Starko,

2005). It is considered to be so important, that there is undeniable conviction in education that it
should be nurtured both inside and outside of classroom contexts (Williams, 2002). Empirically,
successful individuals are those who possess creative skills. They can produce a vision for the
world to be a better place for everyone; analytical and practical intellectual skills to carry out this
vision and; value and wisdom to persuade others and ensure that this vision is not selfish. Creativity
skills is not only confined for the artistic-types and geniuses but can be nurtured and developed by
ordinary individuals.
 Just like other skills, there are multiple instruments and assessments that have been
designed to measure creativity such as problem-solving, metacognition, role-playing games and
improvisation, diversifying experiences and stereotype reduction. K-12 educators should
experiment with these types of techniques in the classroom which will give students an opportunity
to practice their strategies.

Creative thinking is an important skill for future generations to address society’s biggest
problems. The students need to know how to continuously create and innovate, for them to be
prepared for the challenges of society and the workforce. As Daniel Pink (2006) said, “The future
belongs to a very different kind of person with a very different kind of mind—creators and
empathizers, pattern recognizers and meaning makers. These people…will now reap society’s
richest rewards and share its greatest joys.”

Collaboration skills
Collaboration is one of the skills in 21st century 4C’s (Lai, DiCerbo, & Foltz, 2017).
Collaboration is the process of two or more people working together through idea sharing to
accomplish a piece of work. Collaboration is co-participating academically with different groups
throughout the completion of assigned course work. Teams that work collaboratively often access
greater resources, recognition and rewards when facing competition for finite resources (Gutierrez,
2009).
Collaboration is essential in almost all aspects of life such as identifying, listening,
compromising and using the strengths and weaknesses of one another in creating a better output
(Doyle, 2018). In addition, collaboration skills can be learned through a variety of methods (e.g.,
project-based learning, problem-based learning, and design-based learning). Research on teaching
collaboration skills encourages direct, mediated, working with others on team projects, and
performance-based learning and assessment (Partnership for 21st Century Learning, 2010).

Activities in schools encourage students to interact constantly to achieve a common goal,

attributing to the enhancement of collaboration skills of students. Job applicants that show
teamwork skills have a higher chance of landing jobs(Flavin, 2018). Moreover, to develop
students’ collaborative skills, they must show the following qualities; they must give their unique
perspectives, talents and feedback; compromise to reach possible solutions from consolidation of
ideas; accept diversity in groups to put differences aside(Mattson, 2015) .

The goal of the Department of Education is to holistically develop Filipino Senior High
School students, the department aligns its curriculum with 21st century skills or 4Cs, in preparation
for employability (The Philippines Department of Education Curriculum Guide).

Collaboration skills are contributing to the efficiency of work flow at workplaces, through
engaging people to connect together and let them work things out. The benefit of instilling
collaboration skills while students are in school is learning an openness to critique, which is
essential for development of healthy working relationships (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006).

Strengthening students’ collaboration skills can also enhance their prospects for
employment and job advancement once they leave school. In particular, people who know more
about this skill which is collaboration go on to enjoy higher performance in team settings, and
employees with better collaboration skills earn higher performance ratings on the job, better
salaries, and bigger bonuses (Gutierrez, 2009).

The combination of basic knowledge and applied skills are perceived to be critical for new
entrants’ success in the 21st century workforce, but when basic knowledge and applied skills
rankings are combined for each educational level, the top five identified “most important” are
almost always applied skills. Of all these, collaboration ranked as one of the top most important
skills for applicants into today’s workforce (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006).

The 2016 Job Outlook survey conducted with mid-size to large companies showed that 80
percent of employers look for applicants with collaborative skills. A similar survey sponsored by
Association of American Colleges & Universities showed the same results (Cornett, 2017).

Collaboration skills are contributing to the efficiency of work flow at workplaces, through
engaging people to connect together and let them work things out. The benefit of instilling
collaboration skills while students are in school is learning an openness to critique, which is
essential for development of healthy working relationships (Casner-Lotto & Barrington, 2006).

Results and Discussions

Critical Thinking Mean Int

1. Ability to analyze data and information objectively. 4.90 VHN
2. Ability to evaluate sources and types of data, 4.87 VHN
information and facts.
3. Ability to draw reasonable and sound conclusions from 4.90 VHN
a set of information.
4. Ability to discriminate useful and trivial information to 4.92 VHN
be used for problem solving.
5. Ability to distinguished and use vital facts of 4.96 VHN
information to be used for decision-making.
Grand Mean 4.91 VHN
Legend: 5.0-4.2 Very Highly Necessary; 4.19-3.4 Highly Necessary; 3.39-2.6 Moderately
Necessary; 2.59-1.8 Less Necessary; 1.179-1.0 Least Necessary

Communication Skills Mean Int

1. Aptitude for being an active listener. 4.36 VHN
2. Ability to detect other people’s nonverbal signals. 4.94 VHN
3. Capacity to deliver verbal messages with clarity and 4.96 VHN
concision.
4. Ability to project a friendly tone when talking to another 4.55 VHN
person.
5. Ability to interact with other people with confidence. 4.69 VHN
Grand Mean 4.70 VHN
Legend: 5.0-4.2 Very Highly Necessary; 4.19-3.4 Highly Necessary; 3.39-2.6 Moderately
Necessary; 2.59-1.8 Less Necessary; 1.179-1.0 Least Necessary
 Creativity Skills Mean Int
1. Aptitude for having an open-mind. 4.89 VHN
2. Ability to think of new and innovative ways of solving a 4.96 VHN
problem.
3. Capacity to generate unique and novel ideas in solving a 4.96 VHN
problem.
4. Ability to develop innovative concepts. 4.93 VHN
5. A passion to think outside of the box and stepping out of the 4.93 VHN
comfort zone.
Grand Mean 4.93 VHN
Legend: 5.0-4.2 Very Highly Necessary; 4.19-3.4 Highly Necessary; 3.39-2.6 Moderately
Necessary; 2.59-1.8 Less Necessary; 1.179-1.0 Least Necessary

Collaboration Skills Mean Int

1. Willingness to join a group to explore solutions to a problem. 4.32 VHN
2. Ability to recognize other collaborators’ strengths and 4.49 VHN
weaknesses.
3. Willingness in taking responsibility for mistakes and 4.22 VHN
shortcomings.
4. Ability to recognize other people’s merit and contributions. 4.78 VHN
5. Aptitude to empathize and listen to other people’s concerns. 4.84 VHN
Grand Mean 4.53 VHN
Legend: 5.0-4.2 Very Highly Necessary; 4.19-3.4 Highly Necessary; 3.39-2.6 Moderately
Necessary; 2.59-1.8 Less Necessary; 1.179-1.0 Least Necessary

Education can be considered as a means to get out of poverty brought about by uneven distribution
of wealth in the society. Earning quality and proper education is a social equalizer that narrows
the gap of social and economic divide. The 21st century education is all about empowering learners
so that they can constructively cultivate their own knowledge with the aid of enabling educational
technologies. The idea of encouraging learners to pursue their interest-driven activities is highly
necessary in order to build a fundamental educational system that values intrinsic generation of
new and innovative ideas that is highly needed inn the present knowledge driven economy.

Due to the dynamic changes of the society, the world of the 21st century bears little resemblance
to that of the 19th century where most of the formal learning modalities has been developed. There
is a need to deconstruct the way learning should be in the 21st century so that learners can find
meaning to their education as well as addressing the necessary challenges brought about by the
advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

It is high time for educational policy makers to consider the redesigning of formal learning
environments in such a way that it can foster and develop variety of skills needed by the learners
for them to cope-up with the challenges of 21st century social and economic landscape. There
should be a balance between rote learning needed to excel in high-stakes exam and for the
development of innovative thinking. It is not necessarily that the educational system has to become
bi-polar or dichotomized, both educational outcomes can be achieved by blending and merging
the two components. There are innovative ways wherein the rote learning and the 21st century
education requirement can be negotiated. Educational institutions must reconsider another
paradigm shift in the development of their curricula to include essential components of modern-
day learning mechanisms in the acquisition of knowledge, skills, forming of character and
development of meta-learning in order for the students to become life-ready and equipped with
life-coping skills. Through the redesign of the curriculum and revolutionizing the acquisition of
knowledge, the 21st century education requirement can be put in place.

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