The Value of Integrating 21st Century Skills into the Enterprise of Teaching Sociology

Abstract

The 21st Century labour market is changing fast with unprecedented acceleration. Training in the field of sociology follows the pattern of education which is a process of leading out of ignorance and bringing one up to another plain, a higher one, within a societal context. Its organisation and curricular should be done within the frame work of the general society and life. It ought to follow the trend of the time. This article discusses the discipline of sociology, its concept and teaching approach from the ambiance of integrating 21st century skills into it. Using the qualitative method, the article examines the study of sociology in the light of the 21st Century, and reveals that students will be confronted with the effects social institutions, globalization, and technological advancement have on education in general. In responding to this challenge, the article reveals that sociology, through studies and statistical research across societies, will be able to establish that the more technical skills and knowledge one gains, the easier it is to move up to the upper class in the society (Max Weber). As a study of social life, sociology adapts and allows its fields to be re-structured to meet up with the demands of the "ever-changing" social life. Since the world in the 21st century has experienced technological and social developments and challenges, which have many impacts on the lives of individuals living in it, the teaching of sociology has to be abreast with the demands of the current century.