Relevance & significance of Life skills in teaching

Life skills are the  inevitable competencies needed for a professional. For the successful & fruitful functioning of profession as a dedication ,together with hard skills professionals must be mastered with life skills also.

Life 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.

UNICEF defines life skills as ” a behaviour change or behavior development approach designed to address a balance of three areas viz knowledge, attitude and skills.”Life skills are essentially those abilities that help to promote mental well being and competence in people as they face the realities of life.

Practicing life skills leads to self esteem, sociability and tolerance, to the ability take action and make a change and eventually develop a charismatic personality. Thus life skills or competencies are an essential factor that decides the success of a professional.

WHO identified ten core life skills and categorized them under three headings as follows

1. Skills of knowing and living with oneself
2. Skills of knowing and living with others
3. Skills of making effective and good decisions.

Let's examine each component in detail

1.SKILL OF KNOWING AND LIVING WITH ONESELF

•  Self awareness​

​Self-awareness  is considered as a basic concept to life skills. It is considered universally as the “Mother of all skills” Self awareness includes our recognition of ourselves, of our character, of our strengths and weaknesses, desires and dislikes. Developing self-awareness can help us to recognize when we are stressed or feel under pressure. It is also often a prerequisite for effective  communication and interpersonal relations, as well as for developing empathy for others.

Significance of Self Awareness

Self-awareness is directly related to both emotional intelligence and a clear understanding of “self”

• It helps to create achievable goals because you can identify your strengths, weaknesses, and what drives you when ‘goal-setting’.
• It allows you to guide yourself down the right path by choosing to pursue the opportunities that are the best fit for your skill-set, preferences and tendencies.
• It makes identifying situations and people that hit our triggers and anticipating our own reactions easier.
• It allows us to make positive behavioural changes that can lead to greater personal and interpersonal success building ‘Self-Awareness’. 
• Research shows that self-awareness is directly related to both emotional intelligence and success.
• It allows you to guide yourself down the right path by choosing to pursue the opportunities that best fit your skillset, preferences and tendencies.
• It makes it easier to identify situations and people that hit our triggers and enables us to anticipate our own reactions. 
• It allows us to make positive behavioral changes that can lead to greater personal and interpersonal success.
• Self-knowledge is also considered an important quality for a mental health professional.
  
  

• Coping with emotions

Coping with emotions means recognizing emotions within us and others and being aware of how emotions influence behavior. We should be able to respond to emotions appropriately. Intense emotions like anger or sadness can have negative effects on our health if we do not respond appropriately

Coping with emotions is the ability to express one’s emotions rationally taking the surrounding circumstances into consideration. Emotions such as fear, passion, anger, jealously etc. are subjective responses to a situation. This skill helps to recognizing the emotions and respond to them appropriately. Coping with emotions means to be able to recognize them as such and deal with them to make a positive decision themselves.

• Stress management

It is the ability to relieve one’s stress constructively without affecting one’s morale. Stress management is a wide spectrum of techniques  controlling a person's level of stress, especially chronic stress, usually for the purpose of and for the motive of improving everyday functioning.

2. SKILL OF KNOWING AND LIVING WITH OTHERS

• Effective communication​ skill

The ability to communicate information accurately, clearly and as intended, is a vital life skill. Effective communication is the ability to convey the intended thoughts, ideas, feelings, expectations and plans meaningfully, politely and assertively to others.

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.

• Negotiation

Negotiation is a method by which people settle differences. It is a process by which compromise or agreement is reached while avoiding argument and dispute.
Negotiation can be defined as the ability of person to assert his position in an uncomfortable situation and be able to refuse what he deems wrong. This skill enables the individual to negotiate with him/her self that what he is doing is good or bad. Negotiation can also be understood more in terms of analyzing what one wants and how one aims at achieving it.

• Empathy

Empathy is the capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference, that is, the capacity to place oneself in another's position. It is the ability to listen to another’s needs and understand the circumstances and expressing that understanding for the benefit of others. Empathy  encourages  nurturing behavior towards people in need of care and assistance or tolerance.

• Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills are a specific type of social skills. Interpersonal competencies help us to interact, communicate, and collaborate with others effectively. Interpersonal skills permeate all areas of life and are equally important in both personal and professional interactions. It is the maintenance of friendly, healthy, purposeful and successful relationship with others. This skill helps an individual to relate in a positive way with fellow beings.

3. SKILL OF MAKING EFFECTIVE AND GOOD DECISIONS

• Decision Making

It helps us to deal constructively with decisions in personal as well as  professional life. Decision making is the ability to utilize all available information to assess a situation, analyze the advantages and disadvantages and make an informed and personal choice.  This skill helps the individual to find out alternative and constructive solution to several related problems.

• Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a skill to think critically, involving three things:
a.  An attitude of being disposed to consider in a thoughtful way the problems and subjects that come within the range of one’s experience
b.  Knowledge of the methods of logical inquiry and reasoning
c.  And some skills in applying those methods.

It is the ability to think through a situation properly, assessing the advantages and disadvantages so as to be able to make appropriate decisions concerning one’s course of action.

• Problem Solving

It is the ability to identify the problems correctly, understanding its sources and causes very constructively. This skill
also assists in choosing the best alternative from many to solve the problem. That is finding a feasible solution to a felt problem. The major steps involved in problem solving are

• Identify  the real problem
• Explore the problem by keen analysis
• Set Goals : What are the objectives ?
• Look at Alternatives : How can we solve this , Brainstorm variety of ideas
• Selection of most appropriate hypothesis for solving problem. Which idea helps in solving ?
• Implement the idea into action
• Evaluate and reflect upon the solution.

Teachers play a pivotal role in developing the future generations and creators of a sound society. So, a teacher should acquire all types of skills, which are essential for the daily requirement and well-being of the society. A skilled teacher can produce more skilled product in the form of future generation.

The competitiveness and wealth of any country is totally depended on well- educated and skilled workforce. So the teachers should be equipped with hard skills and soft skills/life skills.

Making effective classroom management : The acquisition of life skills by a teacher will enhance him/her to train the students to be successful learners. Personal accountability, classroom routines, positive interactions, respect classroom property etc. can be trained and make students to follow only through life skills education and theoretical lessons can never be helpful in doing these.

Personal Accountability : Teacher accountability is a measure of the teacher‟s dedication to his job.

Accountability in education is the answerability to one’s actions in the educational system. This implies that accountability is a measure of the extent to which all available resources in a productive system are used for greater efficiency and productivity.

The National Education Association says, that teachers are accountable for;

1. Adequate academic preparation

2. Continued professional growth

3. Enhancement of the professional knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for competent classroom practice

4. Knowledge of and concern for his pupils

5. Communication and relations with students, staff, community, and the education profession

6. Involvement in educational and social concerns

7. Active participation in community affairs

8. Ethical conduct

9. Membership in and support of the teaching profession.

The readiness, the commitment positive attitude and dedication of teacher results in moulding the child as a worthy members of the community. This includes the development of the academic, vocation, physical and social skills of the child. Establish a good rapport with the child and provide maximum learning opportunity to explore.

As a physical science teacher, the answer to the question, How effectively & productively utilized the resource materials in science for ensuring fruitful outcome among learners decides the degree of accountability of the teacher.

The teachers should be accountable to themselves, to the teaching profession, to their co-teachers, to their students or pupils, to the public or the parents, to the school administration & college personnel.

• Routines : in the classroom scenario, routines refers class room rules such as following directions, raising hand before speaking while a teacher is engaging a class, remain silent and concentrate on task without wandering, work individually, and cooperate by following the rules.
• Interactions in the class : Good rapport with learners, motivate learners with desired reinforcement. Dialogue & debate as tool for effective learning
• At Recess : Promote team spirit & group cohesion, Transform energy into synergy.
• Respecting Property of the classroom : Students need to be trained to care properly for both school and personal properties. Sustain the freshness of infrastructure of institution.

Making Social competence : Promote classroom as a platform  in developing social competency among the children.  Provide an opportunity for students to learn each and every topic with social significance. Ensure the habit of propagating life skills to generations through teaching learning process. Train the learners to

• Follow Value education
• Reconcile tensions and dilemmas
• Taking responsibility, and moulding as responsible citizens.

Teacher as a Mentor

A mentor is someone who takes a special interest in helping another person develop into a successful professional.

A good mentor seeks to help a student optimize an educational experience, to assist the student's socialization into a disciplinary culture, and to help the student find suitable employment.

These obligations can extend well beyond formal schooling and continue into or through the student's career.

Mentors are advisors, people with career experience willing to share their knowledge;  supporters, people who give emotional and moral encouragement; tutors, people who give specific feedback on one's performance; role models etc.

There is no single formula for good mentoring; mentoring styles and activities are as varied as human relationships. Different students will require different amounts and kinds of attention, advice, information, and encouragement. Some students will feel comfortable approaching their mentors; others will be shy, intimidated, or reluctant to seek help. A good mentor is approachable and available.

In long-term relationships, friendships form naturally; students can gradually become colleagues. At the same time, strive as a mentor to be aware of the distinction between friendship and favoritism.An effective mentoring relationship is characterized by mutual respect, trust, understanding, and empathy. Good mentors are able to share life experiences and wisdom, as well as technical expertise. They are good listeners, good observers, and good problem-solvers. They make an effort to know, accept, and respect the goals and interests of a student.

Listen patiently

Build healthy  relationship

Nurture self sufficiency

Life 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 life skills complement each other, the mutual balancing and harmony of these two makes a teacher complete professional

Life 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

Various Methodology to enhance Life Skills in students

• Class discussions
• Brainstorming
• Role play
• Small group interactions
• Educational games and simulations
• Story telling method
• Debates

Let me conclude,

It is true that life skills are the necessary abilities which help to promote mental well- being and competence in the individuals to confront the challenging realities of life. Together with the 10 core life skills listed by WHO, the skills like team spirit, self esteem, leadership, motivation, dedication, time & event management skills, tolerance etc. plays a vital role in polishing professional competency of an individual. Together with hard skills, teachers must be mastered with life skills for moulding the  new generation with social efficacy and emotional competency.