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National curricula need to change drastically to comply with the competencesneeded for the 21st century. In this paper eight frameworks describing 21stcentury competences were analysed. A comprehensive search for informationabout 21st century competences was conducted across the ocial websites ofthe selected frameworks, resulting in 2 documents that were analysed indetail. !ravers and "estbury#s framework of curriculum representations was

used to determine hori$ontal and vertical consistency between theframeworks. !he frameworks were compared on their underlying rationalesand goals, their de%nition of 21st century competences, and therecommended strategies for the implementation and assessment of theseskills in educational practice. In addition three international studies weree&amined to analyse how various countries '() member states, *(+countries- and schools 'I!( studies- deal 'or not- with 21st centurycompetences. !he %ndings indicate a large e&tent of alignment between theframeworks about what 21st century competences are and why they areimportant 'hori$ontal consistency-, but intentions and practice seemed still farapart, indicating lack of vertical consistency. !he implications of theimplementation of 21st century competences in national curriculum policies

are discussed and recommendations are provided. 21 21

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Introduction

!he globali$ation and internationali$ation of economy along with the rapiddevelopment of information and communication technologies 'I+!- arecontinuously transforming the way in which we live, work, and learn. !hepresent society is by many characteri$ed as a knowledge society 'e.g.Anderson 23, ede 21b, 4ala5s$ and 6ichel 211-, which, according toAnderson '23-, refers to a society in which ideas and knowledge function ascommodities. Notably the 'potential- impact of I+! on society was alreadyacknowledged two decades ago. 7or e&ample, 8eich '1992- re:ected on theimplications of I+! for our society, and more speci%cally for the types of ;obsdemanded by it. 4e mentioned that many of the ;obs for routine productionworkers 'i.e. those who perform repetitive tasks- will probably disappearbecause of the increasing potential of I+! to take over such recurring tasks.At the same time, he predicted an increasing need for inevy and 6urnane'2?- argue that, due to the rapid development of I+!, an important part ofmany ;obs is no longer related to the e&change of information only, but also toa particular under

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'c- associated with higher order skills and behaviour that represent the abilityto cope with comple& problems and unpredictable situations '"estera 21,*(+ 2E, Dordon et al. 29-.

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"ith the emergence of an increased attention for the competences reCuiredfor the knowledge society, schools and educational systems around the worldare called to make changes to their curricula 'cf. (uropean +ommission 22,*(+ 2?, @oogt and Felgrum 2E-. ede '21b- argues thatimplementing 21st century competences is a matter not only of trading thecurrent content and goals of education for those that are reCuired by theknowledge society, but also of re

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intended curriculum. 4owever, there may be a gap between the needs of theknowledge society e&pressed by the advocates of 21st century competencesand the ways in which these competences are addressed in national andschool curriculaGi.e. the implemented curriculum. 7inally, appropriateassessment practices need to be in place to be able to determine whethere&pected learning outcomes are achievedGi.e. the attained curriculum. *ne

of the ma;or challenges in reali$ing curriculum change is to ensureconsistency and balance between these three diBerent curriculumrepresentations.b 21quv5^_,$KfgI

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everal 'international- organi$ations and scholars have attempted to pro

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frameworks 'hori$ontal consistency- and the coherence between intentions,implementation, and assessment of outcomes 'vertical consistency-. !hefollowing research Cuestions guided the study0Kfg$p-YU,s 21$FW

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7rameworks for 21st century competences21

Lased on a preliminary review of literature, wellemke et al. 2, N+8(>uv^_ 1993

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