Journal of K-12 Educational Research 39 but with the technological advances and changes in the workplace, the four Cs are more valuable now than ever (Leonard, 2016). For students to acquire the 21st-century skills they need, teachers need to change the way they teach. The cookie-cutter approach to teaching is no longer appropriate for the digital-aged students in today’s classrooms (Kelly et al., 2008). According to Jukes et al. (2010), learners must acquire the skill of collaboration to be successful in the 21st-century workplace and life. Educators should also be formally trained on how to blend 21st-century learning and formal academic standards (Moyer, 2016) and educators need to constantly adapt and change their teaching to meet the needs of the 21st-century learners in their classroom (Serdar, 2015). Figure 1 shows a representation of the Four Cs. Social and Emotional Learning SEL is critical to future success for today’s students. The ability to self-manage emotions, set and achieve goals, empathize with others, and make responsible decisions are all skills that educators need to embed in academic learning (Duffell, 2019). The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has identified five SEL competencies: self-awareness, self- management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decisionmaking (Eklund et al., 2018). SEL competencies allow an individual to set and reach goals while effectively working with others who have diverse and unique backgrounds. These skills are pertinent in a 21st-century school and workplace (Duffell, 2019). SEL improves academic outcomes because students can concentrate more on instruction and less on social happenings in the classroom, home, and other environments (Duffell, 2019). School Culture School culture is the set of beliefs that teachers and other staff members promote so students have the greatest ability to learn. Key elements of a strong school culture are academic success, student support, trust and respect, low negativity, and a professional learning community (Lee & Louis, 2019). A school needs a culture that provides learning environments that are safe and inclusive for both teachers and students. To understand the concept of school culture, it is helpful to compare school culture with school climate. School culture can be described as the personality and school climate can be described as the attitude. A change in climate can happen instantly, but a change in culture is a slow journey (Gruenert & Whitaker, 2015). The Leader in Me TLIM is a whole-school improvement model that is evidence-based and developed in partnership with educators. TLIM teaches the students Covey’s (1989) 7 Figure 1. The Four Cs Note: Adapted from “The 4cs of 21st Century Skills” by Z. Leonard, 2016, para. 2.
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