21St Century Skills and Teacher Capacity Building: a Systematic Review of Existing Learning Designs in High School Education

Teachers in the era of intelligence information society need to have strong competencies in 21st century skills (21CS) and the ability to implement those competencies effectively in the classroom as the world is changing in its approach to education. In spite of the widespread recognition of the significance of Critical Thinking, Creativity, Collaboration and Communication (the 4Cs), there is also a lack of clarity about how these skills are being supported in the classroom, especially in High School. This paper is a systematic review of current learning designs and teacher professional development programs for the 21st century skills and teacher capacity building. The review is based on 40 peer-reviewed studies published between 2013 and 2024, mapping the current landscape of learning designs, analysing their application of 21CS frameworks, examining the impact of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on contemporary pedagogical priorities and identifying gaps in the literature. The review shows that there are learning design models that tackle parts of the 21CS, but there is no one common learning design that incorporates the 21CS competencies and teaching aligned with SDG(s) for teacher professional development at the High School level. The results highlight the need for a context-dependent and context-driven pedagogical design for learning that allows teachers to develop their capacities and contribute to SDGs with innovative and purposeful pedagogy, integrating skills. Issues for teacher education, curriculum planning, and educational management.