P 21: Partnership For 21st Century Citizenship

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Partnership for 21st century skills in their vision of 21st century citizenship envision citizenship as resonating the social, financial, technology-infused context students all around the world live in and are expected to thrive. Civic life therefore, should follow the escalating demands at work and school posed on students. Citizenship today is much more than civics as it used to be in the past and as such, it requires a skillset of 21st century skills that will empower students’ careers and further their citizenship readiness. The practices of 21st century citizens as explicated in P21 are:
• Understanding which refers to the domain of knowledge and skills necessary for the other citizenship aspects
• Engagement, which pertains to the …show more content…

These practices are to be applied to three dimensions:
• civic literacy which encompasses knowledge of government and the role of citizens to effectively participate in civic life at the local, state and national level, but also extending to
• global citizenship which encompasses global competencies required to contribute in a diverse society and understand significant, global issues and their implications
• digital citizenship which encompasses the skills and knowledge to participate in online communities safely and understanding the responsibilities of a digital citizen. The figure below depicts the pillars whereupon P21 rests its framework for citizenship education: Figure2 The P21 model for 21st century citizenship education
P 21 sees as a prerequisite for an effective implementation of the citizenship framework the alignment with a certain 21st century skill set that will empower learners in life and the ever-demanding workplace contexts. These empowering skills are:
• Creativity and innovation
i) Think creatively ii) Work creatively with others iii) Implement innovations
• Critical thinking and problem-solving
i) Reason effectively ii) Use systems …show more content…

These technologies have enabled people to engage in and share a participatory culture where they produce and share content online helping them to amplify their voice and impact. This interconnectedness, however, blurs the lines between national and international boundaries but also brings citizenship under a new light talking about citizens of the world rather than citizens of any single country as defined by physical borders (see 2.4 above). Acknowledging the expanding and shifting nature of Citizenship, involves a concomitant shift in education so as to develop the global citizenship competencies necessary so that students understand the political forces that affect societies, resolve social, political and global issues and help towards social justice and peace. The term has received prominence especially since the United Nations Secretary-General’s Global Education First Initiative (2012) when he declared fostering global citizenship as the third priority area of global

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