20th vs 21st Century Education – The Difference

20th century education was focused on providing basic cognitive skills and a stockpile of knowledge. You chose an area where job possibilities were bright, gathered knowledge and were set for life.

Today you don’t change several jobs you change several careers!

21st century education needs to be different because rate of change is so rapid that just keeping up-to-date in any domain is a challenge. You also need to make sure that your skills don’t become obsolete and that you are able to make the most of new opportunities.

Thus, focus of education today has to be on acquiring fundamental life skills like yearning-to-learn, learning-to-self-learn, learning-to-think and learning-to-be, that help you reinvent yourself.

With these life skills you can discover what is it you are passionate about. Use self-learning and thinking skills to gain knowledge about that domain. And, keep yourself up-do-date through participation in knowledge networks and communities of practice.

Even if the area you are deeply interested in is a very niche area, chances are that you can still make it a financially viable proposition. Technology will help you consolidate a fragmented or dispersed market. Say, you like to write on a topic which is not very popular. You can still have a good fan following because internet and content aggregation sites will help you reach out to a global audience and consolidate your reader-base.

Acquiring new knowledge is easier today because abundant content is available. Distance learning through electronic means makes learning easy and cost-effective. You can also participate in knowledge networks where, by listening you can keep up-to-date and by contributing you can deepen your understanding.

21st century skills like deriving insight from information can also help you spot threats and opportunities earlier and give you time for course correction.

Say due to external factors like financial crisis, outsourcing or obsolescence of your skills because of automation you lose your job. Or you realize that better opportunities exist in another domain. Or a new domain comes up. In all these situations too life skills like self-learning and thinking skills can be used to reinvent your self.

Ideas for Enriching eLearning Experiences

Best practices can be derived from game-design, story-telling and all other things addictive to make learning experiences rich, interesting and effective. I share my thoughts on insights that can be derived from games, stories and social learning to create engaging learning experiences and welcome your comments.

Saber Tooth Curriculum

A 1.25 mts audio-visual sum-up of the book 'The Saber Tooth Curriculum' by J Abner Peddiwell.

The story highlights why it is essential to acquire new skills when the context or the conditions change, but how we resist change because it is difficult to change our mindset.

What are key life skills for 21st century?

Learning to learn, learning to think, learning to be... these are some of the key life skills for success in the 21st century. But 'yearning to learn' is a timeless lifeskill. (6:21 mts)

Life skills for success in the 21st century

Are a different set of life skills required for success in the 21st century?

The Thinking Ladder

The Thinking Ladder

In the Bloom’s Taxonomy, Knowledge, Comprehension and Application can be considered as Basic Thinking skills and Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation can be considered as higher order thinking skills.

Here is how I think the thinking skills ladder looks like:

Steps in the Thinking Ladder

1. Basic Information Processing: Observing, Classifying, Sequencing, Comparing, Contrasting

2. Complex Information Processing: Interpretation, Extrapolation, Evaluation

3. Logical Reasoning and Deriving Inference

4. Argument Analysis
a. Arguments you make (or power of Influence)
b. Arguments made to you (that you need to analyze)
Argument Analysis includes analyzing claims, assumptions, evidence, fact, belief, emotion, fallacies, credibility of the source, bias, counter-argument

5. Problem Solving
a. Recognising a problem, being able to represent a problem, thinking of alternatives, choosing optimal alternative, executing a solution, evaluating the solution

6. Synthesis (Interesting description of synthesizing skills - Howard Gardner, ‘The Synthesizing Mind’ from his book, ‘Five Minds for the Future’)

7. Decision Making
Reflection: making up your mind not on an impulse but after considering – perceptions, assumptions, alternatives and consequences

8. Self-introspection
a. How to think independently
b. Thinking for self-awareness

9. Creative Thinking

a. In-depth knowledge of a domain (Howard Gardner’s thoughts on ‘Creative Mind’ in his book ‘Five Minds for the Future’); 10,000 hours of deliberate practice leads to expertise

b. Focusing on areas where you have High Skill and High Challenge leads to a mental state of ‘Flow’ and also to happiness (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book, ‘Flow’)

c. Traits of a creative person (Guy Claxton’s work)

d. Individual Creativity and Creativity in Teams (Malcolm Galdwell’s lecture on ‘Genius’ at New Yorker Conference)

e. Lateral Thinking (Edward de Bono)

10. Thinking about your thinking
a. Strength and Weakness analysis
b. How to improve your thinking

#Learning to Be

From an agrarian age we moved to the age of information, then to the age of knowledge and now we are in the age of intelligence. What next? My take, ‘age of wisdom’!

I think ‘learning to be’ is probably THE most important timeless life skill. In its connotation it is similar to the inscription at Oracle of Delphi, ‘Know Thyself’ (the second, not so popular inscription at Oracle of Delphi, ‘everything in moderation’ is also equally timeless).

‘Learning to be’ implies having a better understanding of self – self-image, self-esteem, self-confidence, self-motivation and self-responsibility.

Understanding emotions, especially what the Buddhists call the three poisons of the mind – hatred/anger, craving and ignorance is critical to understanding of self.


According to Indian scriptures (Taittireeya Upanishad) humans have five layers of consciousness – anna, prana, manas vijnana, anand i.e. material, man, mind, intelligence and tranquility of spirit or bliss. ‘Learning to be’ is learning to live a blissful life that comes from a tranquil spirit or an equanimous mind.

Buddhism advocates that the anti-dote to the three poisons of the mind is acquisition of an ever compassionate and empathetic mind, which can be achieved through meditation, where meditation is training of the mind. Compassion and empathy are critical for ‘learning to be’.

A tranquil spirit does not mean inaction. It means intelligent or wise action and plenty of it.

‘Panchtantra’ a compendium of stories from ancient India, is a storybook of ‘niti-shastra’. ‘Niti’, roughly translated means, ‘the wise conduct of life’. Panchtantra stories advocate that a life of joy is built on three pillars – resolute, yet circumspect action, winning and keeping good friends and, worthy exercise of intelligence.

Panchtantra stories are excellent material for honing your ‘learning to be’ skills!

In my own endeavour towards ‘learning to be’ I personally find a Sanskrit shloka from the Indian scripture ‘Bhagwad Geeta’ most meaningful. “Karmanye Vadhikaraste Maa Phaleshu Kadachana”, which means, “perform action without worrying about the reward”.

To this I would add that action should be guided by good intentions.

I complete agree with the author Philip Pullman, who in his trilogy, ‘His Dark Materials’ writes something to the effect (don’t remember the exact words), ‘the universe is all about intentions’.

So take a deep dive with-in, master your emotions, check your intentions, take resolute action, don’t worry about the outcome, remain compassionate and empathetic and you will have a blissful life. You would have learnt to be.