Draft:Common International Framework of Reference for Future Readiness

• Comment: Fails WP:GNG, lacks any sources or references. Dan arndt (talk) 06:08, 28 November 2023 (UTC)

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Common International Framework of Reference for Future Readiness (CIFR)

The Common International Framework of Reference for Future Readiness – Measurement, Improvement and Monitoring, abbreviated as CIFR, is a guideline used to describe the level of Skill Achievement of Learners, Teachers and Job Seekers in their relative contexts. The CIFR is intended to make it easier for educational institutions and employers to evaluate the skills of individuals for learning, teaching and employability. The CIFR was put together by international experts in assessment, education, psychology and research through a project initiated and supported by The Future Foundation, Zamit, UK and Qualifications and Assessments International, UK. The CIFR has been developed for three users or stakeholders:

• CIFR for Learners (school, college and university students)
• CIFR for Teachers and Trainers
• CIFR for Employability (jobseekers and in-service professionals)

Development Stages The development of the Common International Framework of Reference for Future Readiness (CIFR) has been planned and put to implementation as a four-stage process. In the first stage, the research process focused on identifying the necessary skills referred by CIFR as ‘Dimensions’ for the Learners, the Teachers and for those who are entering the world or work or are already working. The second stage of the research focussed on the identification and classification of the sub-skills, referred by CIFR as ‘Strands’ for each of the Dimensions including overlapping strands and its recommended weightages. The third stage of the research focussed on defining the achievement levels for each of Dimensions for the different users/stakeholders i.e. Learners, Teachers and for individuals in the world of work. The fourth or the last stage of the research focussed on developing the achievement statements called ‘can-do statements’ for each of the Dimensions for each of the users/stakeholders and at different achievement levels defined under stage three.

Status and outcome of Research Stages Stage One – Identification of Skill Domains for Learners, Teachers and for the World of work. This stage has been successfully completed.

Dimensions For Learners

1. Natural Abilities	2. Acquired Abilities	3. Technological Skills
4. Analytical Skills	5. Entrepreneurial Skills	6. Entrepreneurial Skills
7. Communication Skills	8. Universal Awareness	9. Universal Awareness

Dimensions For Teachers

1. Creativity	2. Employability	3. Professionalism
4. Pedagogy	5. Communication	6. Digital Literacy
7. Mentoring	8. Emotional Competencies	9. Professional Profile

Dimensions For the World of Work

1. Attitude	2. Communication Skills	3. Digital Literacy and Technology Skills
4. Leadership and Management Skills	5. Entrepreneurial and Business Skills	6. Universal Skills
7. Career Skills	8. Universal 21st Century Skills	9. Analytical Skills

Stage Two – Identification of Strands or sub-skills for each of the Dimension and for each of the user group i.e. the Learners, the Teachers and for individuals in the world of work. This stage has been successfully completed.

Strands For Learners Under the Nine Dimensions for Learners CIFR has defined a total of sixty-three Strands and are classified as under.

Natural Abilities

1. Fearlessness and courage	2. Flexibility and adaptability	3. Happiness and enthusiasm
4. Intuitiveness and spontaneity	5. Honesty and integrity	6. Kindness and helpfulness
7. Motivation	8. Self-esteem and confidence

Acquired Abilities

1. Embracing change	2. Lateral thinking	3. Interpersonal skills
4. Leadership and managerial skills	5. Autonomous learning	6. Questioning skills
7. Resourcefulness	8. Social responsibility

Technological Skills

1. Ability to programme and code	2. Awareness of emerging and future technologies	3. Using technological tools with ease
4. Cyber-security skills	5. Digital communication skills	6. Digital presence
7. Hardware proficiency	8. Software proficiency

Analytical Skills

1. Computational thinking	2. Forecasting and reporting skills	3. Gathering and analysing data
4. Identifying relevant information and data	5. Knowledge integration skills	6. Problem solving skills
7. Research skills	8. Visualisation skills

Entrepreneurial Skills

1. Assertiveness and negotiation skills	2. Business awareness and opportunity recognition	3. Critical thinking
4. Customer service	5. Organisational skills	6. Project management and financial skills
7. Risk-taking and decision making skills (including speed and accuracy)	8. Time management skills

Learning Power

1. 1. Curiosity	2. 1. Cognitive flexibility	3. 1. Collaboration
4. Creativity	5. Empathy	6. Foresight and proactivity
7. Grit	8. Mindfulness	9. Self-awareness

Communication Skills

1. Active listening skills	2. Oral communication skills	3. Visual communication skills
4. Written communication skills	5. Academic Communication skills	6. Presentation and public speaking skills
7. Non-verbal and cross-cultural communication skills

Universal Awareness

1. Cultural agility and tolerance	2. Environmental awareness	3. Financial awareness
4. Global awareness	5. Good citizenship	6. Health awareness
7. Legal awareness

Strands For Teachers Under the Nine Dimensions for Teachers CIFR has defined a total of seventy-two Strands and are classified as under.

Creativity

1. Critical thinking	2. Experiential education	3. Problem-solving skills
4. Active learning Classrooms	5. Encouraging Critical thinking	-	7. Ensuring balance and variety	8. Resourcefulness and innovativeness	9. Initiative, adaptability and flexibility

Employability

1. Nurturing a positive attitude	2. Dedication and commitment	3. Performing well under pressure
4. Meeting institutional requirements	5. Loyalty, integrity and dependability	6. Awareness of industry expectations
7. Adhering to systems and procedures	8. Decision-making skills	9. Leadership and time management skills

Professionalism

1. Acting as a role model	2. Teamwork and collaboration	3. Showing belief in the learner
4. Reflecting on teaching and learning	5. Commitment to CPD and excellence	6. Conveying clear expectations to learners
7. High standards, fairness and consistency	8. Keeping abreast with new methodologies	9. Actively seeking and incorporating feedback

Pedagogy

1. Student-centred teaching	2. Extensive subject knowledge	3. Constructive learning environment
4. Using assessment to inform teaching	5. Recognising and responding to errors	6. Responding to learners constructively
7. Making education relevant and authentic	8. Varied teaching and assessment methods	9. Planning and classroom management skills

Communication

1. Active listening skills	2. Sophisticated language skills	3. English language proficiency
4. Academic language proficiency	5. Effective communication with parents	6. Effective communication with learners
7. Showing awareness of differences in register	8. Clear, accurate and appropriate language models	9. Effective communication with other professionals

Digital Literacy

1. Internet safety	2. Tech-awareness	3. Technology-integrated teaching
4. Using technology for assessment	5. Employing online and offline tools	6. Confidence with new technologies
7. Sharing online resources with students	8. Educating students about cyber security	9. Maintaining engagement in online classrooms

Mentoring

1. Encouraging reflection in learning	2. Guidance for overall development	3. Motivating
4. Cultivating curiosity and inquisitiveness	5. Guidance with subject and career choices	6. Considering the learners’ overall well-being
7. Ability to give effective feedback to learners	8. Enabling learners to recognise their potential	9. Mentoring students at all stages of development

Emotional Competencies

1. Valuing diversity	2. Acknowledging learners’ backgrounds	3. Managing difficult situations
4. Excellence in pastoral counselling	5. Rapport with learners and colleagues	6. Approachability, availability and patience
7. Cross-cultural understanding and sensitivity	8. High levels of EQ, empathy and compassion	9. Interpersonal and relationship management skills

Strands For Jobseekers and in-service professionals Under the Nine Dimensions for jobseekers and in-service professionals CIFR has defined a total of seventy-seven Strands and are classified as under.

Attitude

1. Confidence and patience	2. Adaptability, flexibility, open-mindedness and tolerance	3. Curiosity and a growth mindset
4. Integrity and professionalism	5. Perseverance and resilience	6. A ‘can-do’ attitude, determination and reflective awareness
7. Responsibility and reliability	8. Self-discipline, self-motivation and lifelong learning skills	9. Sincerity, compassion and diligence

Communication Skills

1. Active listening skills	2. Cross-cultural communication skills	3. Presentation and public speaking skills
4. Verbal communication skills	5. Written communication skills	6. Non-verbal communication skills
7. Foreign language proficiency	8. Persuasiveness and self-promoting skills

Digital Literacy and Technology Skills

1. Awareness of new technologies	2. AI-literacy	3. Cyber-safety and security
4. ICT-literacy and word processing skills	5. Web navigation and social media skills	6. Smart phone literacy and email management skills
7. Audio and video editing skills, programming and coding	8. Presentation software skills	9. File management skills

Leadership and Management Skills

1. Leadership, delegation and networking skills	2. Change and conflict management skills	3. Functional accounting and budgeting skills
4. Project planning and management skills	5. Risk analysis and management skills	6. Team building and training skills
7. Foresight and time management skills	8. Problem-solving and delegation skills	9. Emotional intelligence and social-emotional skills

Entrepreneurship and Business Skills

1. Business acumen and resilience	2. Commercial awareness	3. Business development, sales and marketing skills
4. Customer relationship and networking skills	5. Financial literacy and management skills	6. Information analysis and data processing skills
7. Assertiveness and negotiation skills	8. Operational awareness and risk-taking skills

Universal Awareness

1. Global citizenship, sustainability and cross-cultural awareness	2. Environmental awareness	3. Financial, business and economic awareness
4. Social and political awareness	5. Legal awareness	6. Human rights awareness
7. Civic literacy and social responsibility awareness	8. Health literacy

Career Skills

1. Job-specific technical skills and real world application skills	2. Initiative, dedication and self-direction	3. Productivity, commitment and accountability
4. Flexibility and adaptability	5. Collaboration and relationship skills	6. Responsibility, integrity and responsible decision making skills
7. Innovation, critical thinking and creativity	8. Leadership and delegation skills	9. Empathy, selflessness and self-management

Universal 21^st Century Skills

1. Global and cultural awareness and sensitivity	2. Information and digital literacy	3. Oral, written and intercultural communication skills
4. Leadership and critical thinking skills	5. Creativity, adaptability and resilience	6. Emotional intelligence, professionalism and integrity
7. Time management , teamwork and organisational skills	8. Networking and relationship building skills	9. Self-motivation, work ethic and self-directed learning skills

Analytical Skills

1. Data visualisation and analytics	2. Forecasting and reporting skills	3. Computational thinking
4. Problem-solving skills	5. Knowledge-integration skills	6. Critical thinking skills
7. Research skills	8. Creative thinking skills

CIFR Levels, Descriptors and Ranges The CIFR for Students is divided into four main bands, labelled as A, B, C and D, which can be compared to elementary, intermediate, advanced and expert levels. Additionally, each of these bands is divided into two further levels, resulting in a total of eight levels, as explained in more detail below:

Broad band	Level	General description	% score
Elementary	A1	You can demonstrate a comfortable grasp of fundamental skills, competencies and abilities which serve as a solid foundation for acquiring additional ones.	<32
	A2	You can demonstrate confidence in numerous fundamental skills, competencies and abilities, many of which you employ effortlessly and are part of your daily routine.	33-40
Intermediate	B1	You can demonstrate competence across familiar areas and can execute, with some ease, the skills necessary to navigate these areas.	41-50
	B2	You can demonstrate competence across familiar and some unfamiliar areas and can execute, with relative ease, the skills necessary to navigate these areas.	51-60
Advanced	C1	You can demonstrate competence across a range of areas and can execute, with ease, the skills necessary to navigate these areas.	61-70
	C2	You can demonstrate competence across a wide range of areas and can execute, with ease, the skills necessary to navigate these areas.	71-80
Expert	D1	You can demonstrate competence across a wide range of areas and can execute, with great ease, the skills necessary to navigate these areas.	81-90
	D2	You can demonstrate competence across most areas and can execute, with great ease and sophistication, the skills necessary to navigate these areas.	91-100

The CIFR for Teachers is divided into four main bands, labelled as A, B, C and D, which can be compared to elementary, intermediate, advanced and expert levels. Additionally, each of these bands is divided into two further levels, resulting in a total of six levels, as explained in more detail below:

Broad band	Level	General description	% score
Developing	A1	Your subject-specific and professional knowledge is limited and you can demonstrate a low level of proficiency in fundamental skills and competencies within your field.	<25
	A2	Your subject-specific and professional knowledge is developing and you can demonstrate some proficiency in several skills and competencies within your field.	26-50
Competent	B1	Your subject-specific and professional knowledge is good and you exhibit a good level of proficiency in numerous skills and competencies within your field.	51-69
	B2	Your subject-specific and professional knowledge is advanced and you demonstrate a very high level of proficiency in numerous complex skills and competencies within your field.	70-85
Outstanding	C1	Your subject-specific and professional knowledge is excellent and you demonstrate an excellent level of proficiency in a very wide range of complex skills and competencies within your field.	86-95
	C2	Your subject-specific and professional knowledge is outstanding and you demonstrate an exceptional level of proficiency in all the skills and competencies within your field.	96-100

The work on CIFR for Jobseekers and in-service Professionals is currently underway and will be released once the research and trials are completed.