21st-century skills as key factors for the progress of newly independent Kazakhstan

The independence of Kazakhstan has laid the foundation for the establishment of a democratic state with a strong civil society as the real owner of the destiny of its people to create conditions to live a decent life.

In one of his speeches to the people of Kazakhstan, President Tokayev noted that Kazakhstanis need unity, wisdom and restraint for a bright future. "New Kazakhstan is an image of the future of independent Kazakhstan with highly qualified citizens able to apply their knowledge and skills to develop the country's economy. People who look at the future of their country with confidence will be able to create a strong state".

Today education is a top priority in all developed countries of the world, including Kazakhstan. One of the essential aims of Kazakh higher education is to train a specialist with a critical eye on the ongoing global trends and challenges, able to recognise cultural identities and their interactions and communicate effectively with compassion, mutual respect, responsibility, and equality to reach consensus and build harmony in a multicultural society. Essential social needs for effective communication include critical listening, expressing independent opinions, creative cooperating, collaborative problem solving and responsible decision-making upon the massive flow of information.

Al-Farabi Kazakh National University education programs focus on preparing its students for a life of independence and purposeful thought to tackle business and social issues and become active citizens. In particular, the scholars and practitioners of the foreign languages department investigate the didactic scenario of training individuals with critical eyes and creative ideas to establish effective collaboration and communication for their professional and personal needs in a contemporary technologically advanced society. The focus is implementing the 21st-century 4Cs skills (communication, creative, critical and collaborative) in a pedagogical practice:

- develop young people’s critical discourse;

- develop their argumentative skills with respect and tolerance for opponents;

- encourage students to integrate into social activities;

- master students’ law-based intolerance of any form of violence;

- adhere to the principles of keeping students' consciousness and emotions well-balanced;

- encourage students to give presentations to varied community audiences and how can students be encouraged to use technology and new media to communicate innovatively and effectively;

- create a learning environment that emphasizes collaboration skills and provides students opportunities to work in diverse teams;

- incorporate more creative innovation into lesson plans and encourage students to be more creative and innovative;

- model critical thinking/problem-solving tasks for students;

- think of the kind of learning environment needed to emphasise problem-solving skills, encourage students to be better critical thinkers, etc.

Spirituality has also a profound effect on the social and economic development of society. It is an important and necessary pedagogical direction to radically change spiritual enlightenment work, and enrich its content by finding and implementing effective ways to form a spiritually rich, competent person.

We can assure that the implementation of 21^st-century skills in pedagogical practice prepares students for a life of independence and purposeful thought to tackle business and social issues and become active citizens. Thus, it ensures the country's internal political stability, peace and progress, and sustainable development of newly independent Kazakhstan.

Perizat Yelubayeva,

Candidate of pedagogical sciences, associate professor

Foreign languages department

Philology faculty

Kazakhstan embarks on a new era of its development – President

We were greatly impressed by President Tokayev’s powerful inauguration speech . It was a historic speech! We firmly believe it was the speech of a true leader who will really lead the people of Kazakhstan to great achievements.

Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev has determined his sacred task as a President is to justify the trust of the people and to work harder, learn more, reach higher. An important point of the President’s political platform is to build a Just Kazakhstan, where the law reigns and order is observed, where due respect for the rights of citizens is shown. In a Just Kazakhstan, a working person must be held in special esteem. It is important to raise the status of teachers, doctors, law enforcement, lifeguards, workers and farmers.

They must become the most respected citizens of the country. Only when members of these professions are duly respected and honoured will we be able to say that our society has truly been renewed.

The President emphasized that the main wealth of our country is our people. Therefore, it is extremely important to create all the conditions for the well-being of citizens. Namely these words stengthen the faith of the people that Kazakhstan has a bright future and will turn into a flourishing and prosperous state.

The President expressed his belief in young generation of Kazakhstan because It is the younger generation that will open the way to a bright future for our country. But in order to succeed, young people need to work tirelessly, to seek new knowledge and experience. Only in this case will they become true professionals, will be in demand and respected, and will benefit society. 

The President ended his inaugural speech with the following : “I believe that in the next seven years, with the support of the people, I will fulfill my presidential mission with honour”.

We believe our President!

I.A.Baimuratova

A.A.Muldagaliyeva

The Department of Foreign Languages