21st Century Skills for Lifelong Learning

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a recent study of students’ perceptions of their education, targeted at three grades of students in a Swedish upper secondary school’s Arts program using an auto ethnographic research method. According to the European Union, students of today need “21st century skills” for lifelong learning to be successful. These skills include critical thinking and problem solving, information literacy, global awareness and an overall need for mastery of knowledge, ranging from facts to complex analysis. To implement successful training programs for the future we must start a dialogue with the students focusing on their needs for better learning.