The status of twenty-first century skills within the University of Milan-Bicocca's Degree Programe in Primary Education

This paper describes the extent to which 21st Century Skills are provided for in both teacher training curriculum documents and educational practices (courses, workshops and teaching practice) in the context of the Degree Course in Primary Education offered by the University of Milan-Bicocca. Our observations are based on a diachronic analysis of the degree course from its introduction in 1999 up to the most recent education re- forms. We also assess the extent to which these skills feature in the National Curricular Guidelines for Primary Education. Although twenty-first century skills are not explicitly referred to in the third level curriculum documents, they are implicitly well represented in the key transversal themes running through the five-year degree programme; while they receive clear and specific mention in the ministerial guideline documents.