PROMOTION OF LIFE SKILLS - --CIVICS FORM ONE, TWO, THREE & FOUR BY. MWL. JAPHET MASATU.
PROMOTION OF LIFE SKILLS--CIVICS FORM ONE, TWO, THREE & FOUR.
INTRODUCTION.
Life skills are behaviors used appropriately and responsibly in the management of personal affairs. They are a set of human skills acquired via teaching or direct experience that are used to handle problems and questions commonly encountered in daily human life. The subject varies greatly depending on social norms and community expectations.
Enumeration and categorization
UNICEF
states "there is no definitive list" of life skills but enumerates many
"psychosocial and interpersonal skills generally considered important."
It asserts life skills are a synthesis: "many skills are used
simultaneously in practice. For example, decision-making often involves
critical thinking ("what are my options?") and values clarification
("what is important to me?"), (How do I FEEL about this?"). Ultimately,
the interplay between the skills is what produces powerful behavioural
outcomes, especially where this approach is supported by other
strategies[1]
Life skills can vary from financial literacy,[2] substance abuse prevention,[3] to therapeutic techniques to deal with disabilities, such as autism.[4][5]
Life skills curricula designed for K-12 often emphasizes communications
and practical skills needed for successful independent living for
developmental disabilities/special education students with an Individualized Education Program (IEP).[6]
However, some programs are for general populations, such as the
Overcoming Obstacles program for middle schools and high schools.[7]
Parenting 2.0 (P2.0),[8] LinkedIn's largest parenting group with more than 4,000 members (as of March, 2014),[9]
defines Life Skills as all the non-academic foundational skills human
beings learn and use to thrive individually and live optimally in
community with others. P2.0's founder, Marlaine Paulsen Cover created a
Life Skills Report Card that lists five basic skills categories:
and proposes that life skills should be considered as important as academic skills.[10]
Parenting
Life skills are often taught in the domain of parenting,
either indirectly through the observation and experience of the child,
or directly with the purpose of teaching a specific skill. Yet skills
for dealing with pregnancy and parenting can be considered and taught as
a set of life skills of themselves. Teaching these parenting life
skills can also coincide with additional life skills development of the
child.[11][12]
Many life skills programs are offered when traditional family
structures and healthy relationships have broken down, whether due to
parental lapses, divorce or due to issues with the children (such as
substance abuse or other risky behavior). For example, the International Labor Organization is teaching life skills to ex-child laborers and risk children in Indonesia to help them avoid the worst forms of child labor.[13]
Youth: behavior prevention vs. positive development
While certain life skills programs focus on teaching the prevention
of certain behaviors the Search Institute has found those programs can
be relatively ineffective. Based upon their research The Family and
Youth Services Bureau, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services advocates the theory of Positive Youth Development[14] as a replacement for the less effective prevention programs. Positive Youth Development, or PYD[14]
as it's come to be known as, focuses on the strengths of an individual
as opposed to the older methods which tend to focus on the "potential"
weaknesses that have yet to be shown. The Family and Youth Services
Bureau has found that individuals who developed life skills in a
positive, rather than preventive, manner feel a greater sense of
competence, usefulness, power, and belonging.
Development in adults
Beyond the K-12 domain, other life skills programs are focused on social welfare and social work programs, such as Casey Life Skills.[15]
This program covers diverse topics: career planning, communication,
daily living, home life, housing and money management, self care, social
relationships, work and study skills, work life, pregnancy and
parenting.[16]
See also
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