21st Century Skills ....Friend or Fad

    I started my graduate career at MSU in Sept of 2010 and since then,  21st Century Skills have been incorporated into the lesson plans being taught to me and in the lesson plans that I've been making for my students.  But it never occurred to me that these new standards in teaching weren't here to stay.   After reading several articles that were both for and against these new skill sets, there was one thing that I was sure of, fads do happen in the education world.
This was something that I hadn't realized, but the word fad came up in about 80 percent of the articles leading me to believe that it has happened before. According to Diane Ravitch article, "Criticle Thinking? You Need Knowledge", it's been happening since the early 1900's.  And just like 21st Century Skills  these "fads" emphasized hands on learning and real world skills.  
The question has been asked if I think that this is a fad, and to me that means do I think this will last or revert back to emphasis on fundamental knowledge (the 3 R's); it is asking me to predict the future. If I make my prediction based on the past, then yes,  I believe this doesn't have enough steam to keep moving.  There seems to be too much opposition to the movement.
People like Jay Mathews who is calling it a pipe dream and Daniel Willingham who says that Partnership for 21st Century Skills has overstepped their bounds by not just setting goals but suggesting methods, assessments and professional development that have not themselves been assessed and shown to be affective are both fighting this movement for various reasons. Although if you read their articles, you will see that both of them find value in what the 21st Century Skills are teaching.
The problem seems to be not so much the content, but how its delivered and there needs to be a balance (that everyone can agree upon) between the hands on, critical thinking, communication and people skills offered by  21st Century Skills and the fundamental knowledge of the core disciplines. Until teachers find a happy medium, this will continue to be a fad.