Abstract:

Teacher education traditionally incorporates general pedagogical, psychological and didactic issues as well as issues connected to the particular educational area. In foreign language teaching, there has always been a focus on how people learn languages, on language teaching methods, on the development of language skills and subskills and on other aspects connected to helping students learn and acquire languages. In recent years, however, teachers, in general, face substantial challenges connected to rapid technological developments which influence everyday life to such an extent that they are naturally reflected in the classroom context and influence not only the content of what is being taught but also the way it is being done. The 21st-century skills, such as critical and creative thinking, digital skills, cooperation or mindfulness have not been a part of a typical teacher education syllabus and yet nowadays they seem to have become imperative for future teachers as transferable skills which students can apply across the curriculum. This study focuses on how confident future language teachers feel in developing these skills in their language classrooms. The aim was to measure the level of their understanding of what is being addressed as transferrable 21st-century skills and their ability to incorporate them into their everyday practice. Data were collected via a questionnaire among trainees in their last year of training and subsequently, two focus groups were conducted to gain deeper insight into their thinking. The results suggest that trainees have only a vague idea of what is meant by 21 st-century skills and why these are considered crucial. It emerged there is a mixed level of certainty in individual skills with the highest level in the implementation of cooperation and the lowest level in the implementation of mindfulness and critical thinking. It emerged from the focus group data that trainees feel this way since they have no prior experience as learners with the development of some skills (especially critical thinking, or mindfulness) and thus they cannot build on this experience.

Keywords:

21st-century skills, transferable skills, global skills, critical thinking, teacher training, teacher education, sustainable education.