Life Skill Teaching Techniques for Teacher
Life skills develop right attitudes to think smartly, act smartly and to live consciously. Life skills enhance strength of a person to survive in 21st century fast growing virtual world.
Life skills are the personal, interpersonal and cognitive psychosocial skills that enable people to interact appropriately manage their own emotional states and make decisions and choices for an active, safe and productive life.
The United Nationals Children’ Fund (UNICEF) focuses on developing a child as an integrated human being. “Life skills education is an important vehicle to equip young people to negotiate and mediate challenges and risks in their lives, and to enable productive participation in society. (UNICEF)
Life skills “may be defined as abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. (WHO)
As the WHO states: “Skills that can be said to be life skills are innumerable, and the nature and definition of life skills are likely to differ across cultures and settings.”
Life skills are acquired when we provide a platform or an opportunity for them to learn and practice. Individual learns life skills through awareness, alertness and by providing him required training i.e “it may happen”/right techniques to tackle”
UNICEF’s ‘Life Skills Learning and Teaching: Principles, concepts and standards’, for instance, states that “alongside literacy and numeracy, life skills are essential learning outcomes of quality education. (United Nations Children’s Fund, Life Skills Learning and Teaching: Principles, concepts and standards, UNICEF, 2010)
Role of a Teacher
Only a wise and a skilled educator can provide real life skills learning experience to a learner otherwise an individual even learns something from a rikshapular, a beggar or a layman!
We should sensitize our learners to identify importance of life skills. We develop life skills by providing proper training. We encourage 4G learners to explore and investigate the fact, analyze situations critically and present themselves in a creative manner supported by human values. Learners’ expertise in different life skills help them to become an integrated human being.
We cannot assume that individual learns each and everything which is delivered in the classroom/taught outside the classroom. The best method is to provide continuous training for better learning. Educator provides a homely learning environment for his learners. He ensures better involvement in the learning. Teacher initiates joyful and comfortable learning culture for developing different life skills i.e. self awareness, problem solving, decision making, creative thinking critical thinking and other essential life skills. Lets us consider some of the points while developing different life skills among learners!
Encourage discussion and cross questioning in the groups
Two ways communication helps students to participate in learning. It ensures active learning. When a teacher asks a question to his students, students reflect on the relevant answer and participate in learning. Teacher modifies, correct and guide students on the spot. Students share their views, ideas and concept with their peers comfortably. It boosts up students’ confidence.
Focus more on process than product
Educator should focus on product. Positive learning outcomes have a life long experience. Teacher facilitates students to develop a positive attitude towards life circumstance.
Life Skills: – Activities for students
Life skills involve dynamic teaching –learning process. Educator uses following teaching techniques to inculcate life skills among students.
- Role play
- Brainstorming
- Games
- Pair work
- Group work
- Open discussion /Debates
Field work is one of the best teaching techniques. Filed work is an opportunity for learner to involve directly, and investigate the fact in real life situations. Students directly connect themselves with different types of people. They collect data. They conduct interview and have first hand life experience. Students design questions for fulfilling study and ask questions to elder member in family.
Social work is second great opportunity for learners to learn essential life skill. It integrates different life skills i.e. decision making, interpersonal, intrapersonal, creative thinking, critical thinking etc. Students develop effective communication skill during performing several tasks in the field.
Teacher helps students to feel real life learning experience. Teacher organizes tours for their students i.e. visiting different places, hospitals, labs, factory, bank or required places related to topics.
Teacher helps students to prepare a set of questions. They form different group of students. A group of students meet famous person of the society. They conduct one to one session with them. Experience people share their story of struggle with students. Students learn so many life skills during this active session with good people (from different walk) of local area. Students learn different techniques to manage their emotion and passion to achieve something great in life. Students learn how to overcome from struggle having proper communication with experienced and expert people of different field. We would like to quote statement of Mr. C. William Pollard, Chairman, Fairwyn Investment Company, “Information is a source of learning. But unless it is organized, processed, and available to the right people in a format for decision making, it is a burden, not a benefit”.
Wise educator develops various ways, means and method for developing different life skills among students. Educator, society and student can create triangle of learning. Everyone has to learn, relearn and always try to learn. We need to train ourselves & discover ourselves for the betterment of learning. We will analyze and learn through great statements. First, “The purpose of education is to replace an empty mind with an open one”. Malcolm Forbes
Hope for the best! Surely active participation of educator, parent, student and society will ensure learning of “Life Skills”.
Wait ! We will altogether discuss next time “Life Skills” in detail.
Rajeev Ranjan
Indian Educationist
References
World Health Organization, Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, <www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/ottawa_charter_hp.pdf>, WHO, 1986.
14 World Health Organizations, Life Skills Education in Schools, WHO Programme on Mental Health, WHO, 1997.
National Curriculum Framework( NCF,2005)
Bond ( Tim ) , 1986 , Games for Social and Life Skills , Hutchinson Co Ltd,
Teach 21 http://wvde.state.wv.us/teach21/
http://www.unicef.org/lifeskills/index_resources.html
Heckman J and T Kautz. 2012. “Hard Evidence on Soft Skills.” NBER Working Paper 18121.
http://www2.ed.gov/offices/OVAE/AdultEd/OCE/LifeSkills/intro.html