ACADEMIA Letters Skills for the 21st century in higher education in Oman Saleh Al-Busaidi Victoria Tuzlukova This report was extracted from a much longer report titled “Skills for the 21st century training in higher education institutions in Oman: Helping students realize their highest potential in relation to the job market”. The project was funded by The Research Council and conducted by a team of the researchers at Sultan Qaboos University during the period from April 1, 2015 to March 31, 2018. In line with UNESCO global trends for sustainable development and essential directions in education in the Sultanate of Oman, this project aimed at examining the issues involved in 21st-century skills’ teaching and learning through the curriculum in the higher education context. The project addressed the need to ensure that higher education is suitably adapted to equip students with effective skills, which are regarded key requirements for a successful professional career in the 21st century, and drew attention to the importance of these skills. It paid particular attention to how critical thinking and problem-solving skills were integrated in the curricula and taught in Oman’s higher education institutions. The project’s ultimate goal was to provide information and recommendations for decision makers, educators and students, to identify educational initiatives, approaches, techniques and strategies that can be used to enhance students’ skills and close the skills gap, and to target teacher professional development and training. Data was drawn from students, teachers and employers using questionnaires and interviews. The social impacts that resulted from this study refer to raising awareness among the academic and professional communities in Oman of the importance of the transparency-level 21st century skills’ teaching, learning, and development. The project also suggested that explicit and implicit training of critical thinking and problem-solving skills should be given special importance and value in Oman’s higher education to better facilitate the attainment of these skills in the context of national and global job markets. Academia Letters, April 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Saleh Al-Busaidi, asad@squ.edu.om Citation: Al-Busaidi, S., Tuzlukova, V. (2021). Skills for the 21st century in higher education in Oman. Academia Letters, Article 199. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL199. 1 Introduction In the 21st century, global trends are giving new meaning to graduate’s skill set formation and development. A typical graduate is now expected to make significant contributions to society in terms of technical skills and employability (Kreber, 2010), theoretical knowledge and its practical applications, teamwork, effective communication, and cross-cultural interactions (Guilbaud & Whitney, 2017; Ait, Rannikmäe, Soobard, Reiska & Holbrook, 2015), and be prepared “to confront the challenges of complexity, change and uncertainty characterizing the 21st century” (Kreber, 2010, p.6). However, research (Brynosofisson & McAfee, 2014; Ameen, 2013) indicates that many entry level roles do not get the right candidate due to the widening skill gap that exists between the learning outcomes at the tertiary education level and the expectations at the employment scenario. To exemplify, as reported in Times of Oman, one of Oman’s oldest English-language paper (March 12, 2016), there is a strong need to bridge vacancy-skills gap in the country since difficulties in finding the right job match frustrates employers as well as job seekers. This view is echoed in the publication of Muscat Daily, another local English-language paper (July 25, 2017) that shares the views of some young Omani job seekers who believe that the educational system doesn’t train students on skills which are relevant in today’s marketplace. From their perspective, there is also a ‘lack of awareness’ of what skills are in high demand. The support of this perspective comes also from the employers who observe that Oman ‘requires highly talented and extremely competent workforce catering to the requirements of the emerging industries’ (Shifting paradigms, 2019, p.2). They also stress that ‘at this crucial juncture when the government has identified certain key sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, tourism, fisheries and mining to diversify economy away from oil and gas, one of the key challenges facing Oman is the lack of skills to propel these industries and make them up and running” (ibid.). However, more importantly is if a solution to this problem exists, and what the effective response of Oman’s higher education should be. The researchers in Oman have conducted a number of well-grounded studies in this field (Mehta & Al-Mahrooqi, 2016; Al-Mahrooqi & Denman, 2016; Mehta, Al-Mahrooqi, Denman & Al-Aghbari, 2018). The contributed topics include the use of educational technology, the practice of making curriculum contextually relevant to students’ lives, as well as the encouragement of learning transfer in which students can transfer their skills and knowledge to different environments. Our study addressed the need to explore the extent to which higher education is suitably adapted to equip students with effective skills, which are regarded key requirements for a successful professional career in the 21st century, and drew attention to the importance of these Academia Letters, April 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Saleh Al-Busaidi, asad@squ.edu.om Citation: Al-Busaidi, S., Tuzlukova, V. (2021). Skills for the 21st century in higher education in Oman. Academia Letters, Article 199. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL199. 2 skills. It was particularly aimed at investigating how critical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary for the 21st century are currently integrated in the curricula and taught in Oman’s higher education institutions. Its ultimate goal was to provide information and recommendations for decision makers, educators and students, to identify educational initiatives, approaches, techniques and strategies that can be used to enhance students’ skills and close the skills gap, and to target teacher professional development and training. Methodology The study used the mixed method approach to data collection. Data was drawn using a teacher questionnaire, a student questionnaire, semi-structured interviews. The teacher questionnaire was administered to 293 teachers, and the student questionnaire was given to 1716 students. The respondents came from 17 government and private higher education institutions in Oman. The questionnaire asked the participants to express their level of satisfaction in different aspects of critical thinking and problem solving training at the higher education level. It included both Likert scale items as well as open-ended questions to allow participants the chance to provide detailed responses. The semi-structured interviews targeted representatives from 30 leading (national and transnational) business companies and local organizations in Oman. The interviewees held important positions in their companies such as human resources specialists, public relations managers, training and development specialists, and communication and graduate development officers. In addition to the employer interviews, the researchers also conducted focus group interviews with 56 teachers from a number of higher education institutions in Oman. Results and discussion The results of the teachers’ dimension of our study demonstrated that they perceive the benefits of critical thinking and problem-solving skills and importance of infusing them in English language teaching; yet, they believe that these skills are not a consideration for teacher in-service training and professional development. This is important to sufficiently enhance teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the substantive concept of critical thinking that includes problem-solving skill, make it relevant to their teaching practice and student learning and teach it through their discipline while encouraging learning transfer and teaching students how to learn and acquire knowledge and experience. Regarding the students’ perspective, the results show that the majority of the students demonstrate knowledge of the conceptual frameworks and awareness of the skills’ related Academia Letters, April 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Saleh Al-Busaidi, asad@squ.edu.om Citation: Al-Busaidi, S., Tuzlukova, V. (2021). Skills for the 21st century in higher education in Oman. Academia Letters, Article 199. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL199. 3 tasks and activities. However, there is much to be done. For example, language teachers can promote their students’ critical thinking and problem solving more through teaching them learning strategies. In doing so, students can develop their metacognitive awareness. Teachers can encourage students to describe and share their own learning techniques and strategies. According to Reid (2000), the best way to develop students’ metacognitive skills is by making them consciously aware of the learning strategies they use when attempting different tasks. Thus, explicit instruction of learning strategies is needed. Another example is a study by Chamot (1995) who suggests a framework for building a community of thinkers in the language classroom. This framework consists of five kinds of instruction to help students demonstrate and improve their thinking. These include: recognizing and building on students’ prior knowledge; providing meaningful learning tasks; engaging in interactive teaching and learning; focusing on learning processes and strategies; and helping students to evaluate their own thinking (Chamot, 1995, p.16). Finally, the analysis of the employers’ responses revealed that local job market seeks individuals who can think critically and act logically to evaluate situations, as well as understand and solve problems. For example, according to Maryam Al-Hashmi, human resources specialist from the Royal Opera House, Muscat, these skills are “important for working in multidisciplinary and multicultural work environment”. Sabra Ali Al-Obaidani, graduate development officer and human resources specialist at Ernst and Young (EY) transnational global company, believes that “the ability to work in culturally diverse environment and team working skills” are crucial for the graduates, especially when, for example, their company has a culture of global high performance and a relentless focus on exceptional client service. According to Sumaiya Mohammed Al Mandhari, recruitment advisor at PDO, their company looks for CAR: capacity (ability to analyze data quickly and learn fast, basing judgments on facts and proposing innovative solutions); achievement (drive and enthusiasm to deliver results, courage and self-confidence to tackle unfamiliar problems, and go ahead against the crowd when necessary), relationship (good communication skills, team work and respect). To this end, there is also an acute need for such individuals who possess adequate oral and written communication skills supported by solid content knowledge. Other critical attributes include skills related to data analysis, decision making and application of specialized knowledge from various fields. As well as that, the 21st century employability market in Oman needs motivated individuals who have innovative ideas, excellent communication and leadership skills. Academia Letters, April 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Saleh Al-Busaidi, asad@squ.edu.om Citation: Al-Busaidi, S., Tuzlukova, V. (2021). Skills for the 21st century in higher education in Oman. Academia Letters, Article 199. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL199. 4 Conclusion The development of the 21st century skills among learners is among common educational goals across a variety of educational contexts and subject areas. However, in different local educational contexts and subject areas these skills may take on different shapes, integrate broader scientific knowledge and so many disciplines (e.g. philosophical base, psychological knowledge, etc.), culturally specific educational and practice-based research traditions, and individual scientific endeavors, and the educational context in Oman is not an exception. Therefore, every research endeavor that contributes to the process of education that creates conditions and situations for the 21st century skills development is crucial for the growth of global knowledge, pedagogy and education. The reported study addressed the need to ensure that higher education in Oman is suitably adapted to equip students with effective skills, which are regarded key requirements for successful professional careers in the 21st century shaped by emerging technologies, innovative ideas, globalization, changing business practices and, as a result, characterized by exponentially greater complexity, and accompanied by more sophisticated tasks and perplexing problems in the workplace. References Al-Mahrooqi, R. & Denman, C. J. (2016). Omani graduates’ English-language communication skills in the workforce: Employees’ perspectives. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 5(4), 172-182. Ameen, H.M. (2013). Development post-2015. 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