Teaching 21st-century skills in rural secondary schools: From theory to practice

The concept of "21st-century skills" has become increasingly pervasive in the global educational discourse, and there has been a marked increase in research on how these skills can be integrated into education policy, curriculum, and assessment. Nevertheless, there has been a dearth of research on integrating and implementing 21st-century skills into classroom practices, particularly in peripheral societies. Adopting a mixed-method approach, this study investigates the integration and implementation of 21st-century skills in rural schools in Bangladesh, where many teachers are untrained and under-resourced. Data were obtained from primary and secondary sources through document analysis (n = 3), lesson observations (n = 15), and in-depth interviews with practising teachers (n = 18). Samples were selected purposefully to achieve the study objectives.…