Many groups have called for all students to learn “21st century skills.” In
response, some organizations have developed, as part of their institutional brand,
frameworks for the new millennium content and processes teachers should convey as part
of students’ schooling. How diverse are these definitions for “21st century skills,” and is
the term becoming an umbrella phrase under which advocates from various groups can
argue for almost any type of knowledge? Lack of clarity about the nature of 21st century
skills would be problematic, since many educational reforms have failed because of a
reverse Tower-of-Babel problem, in which people use the same words, but mean quite
different things. What do the various frameworks for 21st century skills have in common,
and what does each uniquely add to an overarching conception about the knowledge that
graduates at this time in history should have as effective workers and citizens? After
defining the nature of 21st century skills, this chapter provides a comparison of the
themes major organizations’ frameworks are presenting about what students need to
know for full participation in the 21st century.