Soft Skills for the 21st Century: 4Cs – Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity

Description

Developing our students’ soft skills has never been more important. Research has shown that developing team work and collaboration, communication, creative thinking, and problem-solving not only improves academic success but is necessary for success across all aspects of life.

While hard skills prepare students for their jobs, soft skills prepare them for life. This is why they are key competences for nowadays’ learners. This course will equip participants with necessary tools to motivate and engage their students. They will learn how to use storytelling as a fun, stimulative strategy.

The course is highly interactive and developed through a series of practical workshops with a learning-by-doing approach. The participants will learn how to tackle disinformation and promote critical thinking. They will learn how to use digital tools to foster communication and evaluate arguments.

Special emphasis will be placed on the importance of student-centred activities in project-based learning. The skills acquired will empower participants to successfully develop curiosity, confidence, and cooperation with drama-based activities among their students.

By the end of the training participants will be ready to go back to their classrooms with a handful of fresh ideas and activities created by themselves.

After this course, you’ll never teach the same way again.

Check out this course on European School Education Platform a meeting point for the school education community:
https://school-education.ec.europa.eu/en/professional-development/courses/soft-skills-21st-century-4cs-communication-collaboration-critical-thinking-creativity

Learning outcomes

The course will help the participants to:

• Explore skills and techniques for modern educators
• Integrate holistic learning approach
• Develop critical thinking skills of their students and learn how to tackle disinformation
• Stimulate communication skills and encourage debates
• incorporate digital tools to promote critical and creative thinking
• Use effectively project-based learning to develop soft skills
• Engage and motivate all students through drama-based activities
• Foster collaboration and team work
• Boost creativity, presentation skills and communication with Storytelling

Tentative schedule

Day 1 – Introduction to the course

• Welcome event; presenting participants, their schools, cities, countries
• Presenting host organization and the city
• Getting to know each other: Icebreakers
• Introduction to the course and the schedule

Day 2 – New active learning paradigm

• Reinventing the classroom experience: Skills and techniques for modern educators
• Developing soft skills vs. hard skills, encouraging holistic learning approach
• Stimulate your creativity, flip your perspective
• Guided walking tour (available for all courses)

Day 3 – Critical thinking, ethics and tackling disinformation

• Reflecting, reasoning and media literacy
• Analyse data, evaluate arguments, draw conclusions from evidence
• Promote critical and creative thinking across your school

Day 4 – Stimulate debates, creative thinking and communication with digital tools

• Boost conversation skills, promote teamwork and active listening
• Teach turn taking and evaluating an argument
• Introducing interactive digital tools: Mentimeter and Flip

Day 5 – Developing soft skills with Project-based Learning

• Presenting PBL: research, planning, execution, and evaluation
• Student-centred concept, active work on real world project
• Focus on problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration and communication
• Teaching leadership, time management and creativity

Day 6 – Diversifying your teaching methods

• Learn to capture your students’ attention with storytelling
• Benefits of drama-based activities in the classroom for soft skills development
• Building confidence, developing creativity, improving verbal and non-verbal communication skills
• Encouraging teamwork and collaboration

Day 7 – Course closure and evaluation

• Reflecting on the course and what we have learned from the past week
• Course evaluation
• Erasmus+ Certificate award ceremony