Visualizing the breadth of skills movement across education systems

While many countries have adopted a breadth of skills approach in their policies, the degree to which the skills movement is reflected at all levels of education systems varies across countries. Visualizing the breadth of skills movement is one focus of Skills for a Changing World, a project at the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution. An initial scan of 102 countries investigates the degree to which breadth of skills is reflected in education systems, from a high level within vision or mission statements to inclusion within curriculums. This scan sought evidence of skills beyond traditional academic skills of literacy and numeracy.

From this initial scan, several findings emerged: the majority of countries acknowledge the importance of breadth of skills somewhere in their public documents, and many list a number of specific skills or competencies that the education system intends to provide; only a few countries show evidence that these skills are consistently identified in national documents, including mission and vision statements, curriculum frameworks, and descriptions of how skills progress for learners; and communication, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving are the 21st century skills most frequently identified by countries.

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