Beyond the 4C’s: Framing our Understanding of Future Skills in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution

In 2002, the National Education Association (NEA) formed the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21). P21 developed the “Framework for 21st Century Learning,” which highlighted 18 essential skills for learning in the 21st century. However, it became evident that 18 skills were too broad, so in 2004, the “Four Cs” were introduced: Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and Innovation.(1,2) 2004, as a frame of reference, that was when Facebook was launched.  Needless to say our society has changed dramatically since then, now 20 years later we must revisit our understanding for what our students need for the next 20 years and beyond.

One way of framing our reflection is through the context of industrial revolution eras. These eras strive to organize the historical processes of change from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one dominated by industry and machine manufacturing and beyond (3). The changes innovations have brought to us have introduced novel ways of working and living and fundamentally transformed our society. We an loosely define these eras as (4):

Era	Century	Realization
First	18th Century	Mechanization: Steam, Water, Mechanical production equipment
Second	19th century	Mass Production: Division of Labor, Electricity, Mass Production, Assembly Line
Third	20th Century	Automation: Electronics, Computers, Automated Production
Fourth	21st Century	IOT and AI: Cyber-physical systems

We now find ourselves well into the 4th industrial revolution (4IR) characterized by the convergence of digital, biological, and physical technologies, which is creating new opportunities and challenges for businesses and society. One of the most significant impacts of 4IR is the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). AI is already being used in a variety of ways, from automating tasks to powering self-driving cars. As AI continues to develop, it will have an even greater impact on our lives and work. How then do we begin to reframe our thinking about education? 

While our teaching and learning environments are changing, our motivation to prepare students for a successful future remains steadfast. Our perspective on the knowledge and skills required for success will become more clear as we struggle through necessary iterations of our thinking. Knowledge for example, as framed by curriculum, must increasingly be more globalized in its objectives and less hyper-focused on regional needs. 

The very nature of an educational curriculum is to serve as a dynamic, iterative cultural artifact. Historically, educational curricular shifts have gone from Socratic dialogue, to expert-apprentice programs, to humanities enrichment, to STEM focus, each with varying degrees of equitable access. Gaps in equity have led to economic-driven curricular designs (ex. STEM/STEAM). With ever increasing access to learning we must refocus our curricular priorities to address the needs of our global society. With this in mind we need a globalized curriculum that is culturally responsive and iterative in nature seeking the good of humanity over governmental initiatives. (5)

What are the skills of the future workplace? How are we to prepare our students now in 4IR? As discussed, we often talk about future-ready skills as related to the 4C’s 

• Communication
• Collaboration
• Critical Thinking
• Creativity

4IR skill demand requires an unpacking and reframing of these skills to appear more focused on (6):

• Upskilling: becoming an expert in changing with new demands is a critical skill for our future.
• Intuitive Decision Making: retaining the human-ness in decision making as a form of auditing AI output.
• Rational Decision Making: when leveraging AI support in decision making, we must be prepared to ask: Does that data really lead to that conclusion logically? Is this how we humans operate?
• Collaborative Innovation: Peer to Peer as well as Human to AI. Our capacity to work with other human beings to solve problems and understand every diverse perspective is critical. Furtherm, it is critical that our learners are prepared to collaboration with AI and future innovation. We can find help in this area from our understanding of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research in the design and the use of computer technology, which focuses on the interfaces between people (users) and computers. Including, but not limited to,: Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence: Human-robot interaction, Explainable AI, Interactive Machine Learning, Responsible AI, Multimedia retrieval and understanding, Recommender Systems (7)
• Societal Systems: While an AI might direct us to a more effective and efficient societal structure (from an algorithmic perspective) we must pause and leverage both the intuitive and rational decision making that is uniquely human, to assess whether these recommendations are truly what is best for our society asking: Is this how people really want to live? Have we retained our sense of community? Belongingness… a trait not computationally logical.

The conversation about knowledge and skill development is never settled, nor should it be. We must continually ask questions about the status quo and challenge ourselves to prepare our learners for a successful future.

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Also published: Shippee, Micah, Beyond the 4c’S: Framing Our Understanding of Future Skills in the Era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (January 11, 2024). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4692130 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4692130

And:

Shippee, Micah. (2024, January 2). Skills and Knowledge in the 4th Industrial Revolution: A Focus on AI in Education – K12 Digest. K12 Digest. https://www.k12digest.com/skills-and-knowledge-in-the-4th-industrial-revolution-a-focus-on-ai-in-education/

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Sources

1. BenBassett, D.. (2016). Linkedin.com. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/connecting-4cs-21st-century-education-5th-c-deanna-zaucha/
2. ‌National Education Association (2010). Preparing 21st Century Students for a Global Society: An Educator’s Guide to the “Four Cs”. https://dl.icdst.org/pdfs/files3/0d3e72e9b873e0ef2ed780bf53a347b4.pdf
3. Industrial Revolution | Definition, History, Dates, Summary, & Facts | Britannica Money. (2023). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/money/topic/Industrial-Revolution
4. Schwab, K., & World Economic Forum. (2016, January 14). The Fourth Industrial Revolution: what it means and how to respond. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-fourth-industrial-revolution-what-it-means-and-how-to-respond/
5. Shippee, M. (2021) A Globalized Curriculum: The Next Evolution Of Education. International Conferences Mobile Learning 2021 (ML 2021) and Educational Technologies 2021 (ICEduTech 2021) ISBN: 978-989-8704-28-3
6. ‌Muhammad Anshari, & Hamdan, M. (2022). Understanding knowledge management and upskilling in Fourth Industrial Revolution: transformational shift and SECI model. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems. https://doi.org/10.1108/vjikms-09-2021-0203
7. What is Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)? (2016, June 6). The Interaction Design Foundation; Interaction Design Foundation. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/human-computer-interaction