Saturday, 27 August 2016

Soft skills

Soft skills are the  inevitable competencies needed for a charismatic teacher.
Teaching is a creative art. For the successful & fruitful functioning of teaching as an art,together with hard skills teachers must be mastered with soft skills also.

Soft skills are a combination of people skills, social skills, communication skills, character or personality traits, attitudes, social intelligence, and emotional intelligence quotients, among others, that enable people to navigate their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals with complementing hard skills.

The desirable qualities needed for certain forms of employment that do not depend on acquired knowledge: they include common sense, the ability to deal with people, and a positive flexible attitude.

These are the skills that define your relationships with other people, or how you approach life and
work.

According to WHO, Soft skills are nothing but  socio-psychological skills which insist upon accepting the behaviour of others along with their culture. The fundamental soft skills put forth by WHO are

  • Communication Skill
  • Critical Thinking Skills
  • Self Awareness
  • Self Esteem
  • Decision Making Skills
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Coping with Emotions 
  • Empathy
  • Handling with Peer Pressure
  • Problem Solving Skills
  • Team Spirit 


Soft skills are the social intelligence  and emotional intelligence of the persons that decides their professional development

Significance of soft skills in teaching

“The mediocre teacher tells. 
The good teacher explains. 
The superior teacher demonstrates. 
The great teacher inspires.”

Both hard skills and soft skills compliment each other, the mutual balancing and harmony of these two makes a teacher complete professional

Soft skilled teacher possess the following attributes

  • Communicate effectively
  • Listen attentively to students
  • Self control
  • Positive attitude 
  • Negotiation and Conflict Resolution skill
  • Empathy
  • Taking responsibility
  • Motivator/ Inspirer
  • Leadership quality
  • Team spirit
  • Problem solving skill
  • Critical Thinking Skills
  • Self Awareness
  • Decision Making Skills
  • Self Esteem
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Wins people co-operation
  • Coping with Emotions 
  • Handling with  Pressure
  • Creativity and innovation in ideas
  • Dedication
  • Work ethics
  • Self confidence
  • Tolerance
  • Time and event management skills
  • Flexibility
  • Healthy Debater
  • Group cohesion
  • Scaffolder
  • Sense of humour
  • Enthusiastic
  • Emotionally intelligent
  • Positively deals with criticism
  • Goal/ Target setting skill

It is hard to say which soft skills are most important, because it will vary by situation.

Essential Soft skills required for a teacher

Communication Skills : The ability to communicate information accurately, clearly and as intended, is a vital life skill.People with strong communication skills can build relationships. Communication skills increases; the ability to speak, listen, question and write with clarity and conciseness.

  • Ability to deliver idea clearly, effectively and with confidence 
  • Ability to practice active listening skill and respond
  • Ability to discuss and arrive at conclusion
  • Ability to communicate with persons from different cultural background
  • Ability to expand one's own communicative skill
  • Ability to use non-verbal skills fruitfully.
Team Work
  • Ability to build good rapport, interact and work
  • Ability to give contribution to the planning and deal effectively with others.
  • Ability to understand and play the role of oneself and follower alternatively.
  • Ability to recognize and respect others attitudes,opinions and beliefs.
Leadership Skill
  • Ability to lead.
  • Knowledge of basic theories of leadership and leadership qualities.
  • Ability to understand and take turns as a leader and follower alternatively.
  • Ability to supervise each member of the group
Time Management Skill : It is the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of  time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency  or productivity by
  • Creating a conducive environment
  • Setting priorities
  • Carrying out activity around those priorities
  • Providing incentives to modify behaviour to ensure compliance with time-related deadlines
Event Management Skill : The process of planning,  organizing, executing and evaluating  events. Some key skills associated with this are
  • Attention to needy and sufficient resources
  • Creativity.
  • Planning. Rehearsal and executing
  • Multitasking
  • Budgeting within the fund and time allotted

           

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