global workforce have highlighted widening inadequacies in students’ preparedness to tackle 

twenty-first century challenges. Growing concern about potential economic and global crises 

ahead have also led many to question whether today’s learners possess the combination of critical 

thinking, creativity, and collaborative and communication skills necessary to tackle future shifts in 

the marketplace.

(i)multicultural integration to address immigration and 

demographic change; 

(ii) reducing early school leaving to combat unemployment 

and to promote a better educated workforce; 

(iii) fostering talent to develop a ‘smart’ economy based on 

knowledge and innovation; 

(iv) promoting a rapid and more fluent transition from school 

to work in order to reduce the barriers between the world 

of work and education; 

(v) facilitating re-entrance to the labour market especially to 

tackle long-term unemployment; and 

(vi) focusing on permanent re-skilling to enable all citizens to 

keep their competencies updated and to quickly respond 

to changing work environments (p. 12)

need seven survival skills to be prepared for twenty-first century 

life, work and citizenship: 

•Critical thinking and problem solving

•Collaboration and leadership

•Agility and adaptability 

•Initiative and entrepreneurialism 

•Effective oral and written communication 

•Accessing and analysing information

•Curiosity and imagination (p. 4).

five key characteristics: 

→Project outcomes are tied to curriculum and learning 

goals; 

→Driving questions and problems lead students to the 

central concepts or principles of the topic or subject 

area; 

→Learners’ investigations and research involve enquiry 

and knowledge building;

→Learners are responsible for designing and managing 

much of their learning; and 

→Projects are based on authentic real-world problems 

and questions that students care about (p. 109)

Activities and tasks that represent those of a

professional as closely as possible.

Challenges that are not easily solvable, or don’thave an obvious answer. There may be layers of tasks that need to be completed in order to solve the problem.
3 Sustained investigation

Projects and tasks that require a significantinvestment of time and cannot be solved in a matter or minutes or hours.

Resources may be theoretical or practical, and may require learners to distinguish useful information from irrelevant information.
5  Collaboration
Individuals cannot achieve success alone. Projects and tasks will require social connections.
6  Reflection
Learners will reflect on their own learning and make choices and set targets accordingly.
7  An interdisciplinary perspective
Projects are not limited to a single subject or set of knowledge, but will make use of knowledge and skills from across subjects.
8  Integrated assessment
Formative assessment is woven seamlessly into tasks and activities and used purposefully by learners and teachers alike.
9  Polished products
Activities and tasks will lead to the creation of a product.

There are many possible solutions and answers to the problem.
(in Lombardi, 2007)

2. Based on your students, determine a possible project, goal or outcome.
3.  Break down the skills that your students will need in order to complete the project or reach the outcome. 
4.  Pre-assess your students - how do they perform in these skills already? 
5.  Make time for the AMT model – give students the opportunity to transfer previously learned skills (or skills they have learned for this outcome).
6.  Teach, facilitate, coach, guide...and learn. 
7.  Self-assess at the end of a project. What have they learned? What new skills do they now have? What would they like to learn more about?