Youth and out of school contexts: first findings of a narrative review about critical thinking within the 21st Century Skills

Skills and competences have been considered the cornerstones of education since the beginning of the 21st century. Over the last few decades, they have played a significant role within various fields of knowledge, incorporating different and peculiar nuances to their meaning according to thecontext of reference. While a single widely-accepted definition of ‘21st Century skills’ has not been provided yet (TheDelors Report, 1996; Wagner, 2010; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2007, 2011), these skills are commonly grouped into four different areas (ATC21s 21st Century Skills, 2012) that embrace other categories themselves: [1] ways of thinking (creativity and innovation; critical thinking, problem solving, decision making; learning to learn; metacognition); [2] ways of working (communication; collaboration); [3] tools for working (information literacy; ICT literacy); [4] living in the world (citizenship; life and career; personal and social responsibility). From a pedagogical perspective, critical thinking has been fundamental in the development of some educational practices, both in and out of school contexts (Giroux, 2020; Freire, 2021; Biesta,2011, 2022; Hooks, 2023). Within this framework, this contribution aims to present the first findings of a narrative review which has been undertaken in order to provide a more accurate understanding of the concept of ‘critical thinking skill’ by focusing on out of school contexts. Since, a lot has been written about skills to be developed within school contexts as well as in the labour market, and a gap in this area is clearly present. But how and why should critical thinking be given a prominent position among these skills - in out of school contexts? From the existing literature together with policies and recommendations - drawn up at the national and international level - it has been found that mastering critical thinking involves many levels of learning, including the ability to ask questions, consider alternative systems of thought, gather relevant information, communicate constructively, and negotiate effectively in different contexts. Furthermore, the acquisition of critical thinking skills can foster the development of other numerous skills, as all of these are intertwined and based on the ability to reason and think critically about the world. Overall, as we enter the European Year of Skills 2023, this peculiar year may provide a new perspective to think broadly about the challenges youth have to face during these times, because declaring that having a workforce with the skills that are needed by companies contributes to sustainable growth and leads to more innovation is probably not enough if our main concern is focusing on how youth may learn from informal and non-formal learning, and deal with the complexities of the current educational landscape.