ERIC Number: EJ1468171
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2025-Jun
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1040-726X
EISSN: EISSN-1573-336X
Available Date: 2025-04-17
Psychological Science and the Blind Spot in Education: Learning and Instruction of Transversal Skills in the Twenty-First Century
Anke Maria Weber1; Ester van Laar2; Francesca Borgonovi3,4; Phillip L. Ackerman5; Nia Nixon6; Arthur C. Graesser7; Samuel Greiff8
Educational Psychology Review, v37 n2 Article 41 2025
Transversal skills describe a broad spectrum of skills that are considered to be essential for thriving in today's society and tackling the challenges of the twenty-first century. Therefore, a high demand is placed on educators to teach these skills to their students. Unfortunately, the conceptualization of transversal skills remains vague with different frameworks reporting on various transversal skills, which complicates a translation of these skills into educational practice and research, thereby making them a "blind spot" in psychological research and educational practice. This paper brings the blind spot on transversal skills to a direct focus. First, we propose a conceptualization of transversal skills through a review and integration of existing frameworks. We organize transversal skills into four core concepts: "cognitive skills" (e.g., creativity and problem-solving), "citizenship" (e.g., democratic participation and respect), "well-being" (e.g., mental and physical health), and "social-emotional skills" (e.g., collaboration and communication). Second, we highlight possible ways to implement these core concepts into educational practice by providing specific examples on how to integrate specific skills into five subjects: language, mathematics, science, social studies, and arts and music. Third, a research agenda is proposed that considers the structure and underlying processes of transversal skills, their development and interventions at different stages, their predictive validity for success, and cultural differences and diversity.
Descriptors: 21st Century Skills, Educational Practices, Psychological Studies, Thinking Skills, Creativity, Problem Solving, Citizenship Education, Democratic Values, Altruism, Well Being, Mental Health, Physical Health, Social Emotional Learning, Cooperative Learning, Communication Skills, Interdisciplinary Approach, Developmentally Appropriate Practices, Predictive Validity, Cultural Differences, Diversity
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: 1University of Luxembourg, Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg; 2University of Twente, Faculty of Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences, Enschede, The Netherlands; 3University College London, Social Research Institute, London, UK; 4OECD Centre for Skills, OECD, Paris, France; 5Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Psychology, Atlanta, USA; 6University of California, School of Education, Irvine, USA; 7University of Memphis, Department of Psychology and the Institute for Intelligent Systems, Memphis, USA; 8Technical University Munich, School of Social Sciences & Technology, Munich, Germany