How to teach life skills in schools?

Perhaps we all know what life skills are. But the basic question is:

• How they can be taught in schools?

• Has the present set of pedagogues ever been taught life skill ? {If yes, in what way ? If not, how can they impart something they themselves haven’t learnt systematically?}

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Conversation Initiator: Mr. S. C. Vohra

Participants: Dr. Sekar srinivasan, Dr. Anita Andrews, Dr. Parvathi, Mrs. Phani Kumari, Mrs. Pooja Hanji, Mrs. Sweta Srivastava, and Azeez

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Dr Parvathi: Life skills are as important as wheels in a vehicle student's life।

As vehicle is useless  and can't move without wheels the same way without lifeskills children won't be able to learn the ups and downs in life and wnt be able to fight or face confidently The difficult, challenging situations in life boldly,strongly and effectively and participate in the society actively

Mrs. Sweta Srivastava: Of course 

Life skills are for every age group. Children learn it naturally by sharing caring and working together in a group. During assembly and other cultural programs .They learn and demonstrate it

Mr.S. C. Vohra: PISA - a study done to produce comparative dataon education policy and outcomes across country, shows our students stand nowhere. PISA doesn’t test students on their memory. It attempts to assess whether students can apply knowledge they have gained. These tests affirm if countries have effective and inclusive education systems. If they are already learning through the means mentioned above, why make so much fuss about.

Dr Sekar Seenivasan: For the development of lifeskills 1.Self discovery 2.Goal setting  3 Change 4. Personal responsibility 5 Motivation  play basic underlying facts

Dr Parvathi: I think everybody learns new things in their life everyday in some or the other way.some recognizes that easily and feel that easily and some even dnt know what has happened.

Mrs. Sweta Srivastava: The Life Skills Program can be effectively provided to young adolescents by teachers, peer educators, parents, counselors, psychologists, health workers

and social workers.

All these program providers or facilitators of Life Skills Education should,

Be warm, caring, supportive and enthusiastic

Be resourceful

Be competent enough to guide and counsel students effectively

Have adequate knowledge about adolescence

Be positive role models for the students

Mr. S. C. Vohra: I agree in too. But I’m keenly interested in learning how these skills can be imparted. Is there any particular style or technique. I’m genuinely interested in learning newer ways or trends of teaching them. As far as my knowledge goes Gujaratis and Marwaris have natural or inborn skills for business which they reflect in all their activities. To sum up parents and the society we grow up with teach better life skills than all the schools can. Schools have their own ways and means of teaching them which have become cliched or outdated. We need to discuss latest ones , if any.

Students need to be given exposure to the problems being faced by various sections of the society outside the classrooms. Classrooms are too small a place for teaching life skills.

Parents need to be taken into confidence and elaborate plans need to be made besides concrete changes in the curriculum beyond cosmetic ones.

So many “be”but one” be “ i. e “how to be “missing. “. Please throw light upon

Mrs. Sweta Srivastava: Yes. In CBSE schools  are actually implementing through allowing children to do a project work or case study..This will also be assessed. From NEP 2020... Vocational course are included in curriculum . This year is its virtual. It's so true ..if a child is very intelligent academically bit in facing real life challenges ...the whole education is worthless. So it's very important that from the very elementry level they should be given more real life activities where they can understand these core skills and values

Mr. S. C. Vohra: Very true. Now let’s discuss which activities can enhance life skills.

Mrs. Sweta Srivastava: While transacting Life Skills Education, students should be actively involved in a dynamic teaching-learning process. The emphasis should be on those teaching learning experiences that promote 'experiential learning' because Life Skills

cannot be learnt in abstract and theoretical way. So the critical components of this

type of education are participatory and interactive teaching learning methods

Mr. S. C. Vohra: Vocational courses look very good on paper but will middle class family children adopt professions like carpentry , gardening, pottery etc. If we really want to promote traditional art and craft, some at least 5 to 10 world class National Institutions on the pattern of IIT/ IIM will have to be established.

Dr. Anitha Andrew: When we hear about Life skills, let us recollect that Life skills include Thinking skills, Social skills and Emotional Skills.

Thinking skills include decision making, problem solving skills and information gathering skills.

Social skills include verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening and the ability to express feelings and feedback. Empathy, which is the ability to listen and understand other's needs, is also a key interpersonal skill.

Emotional skills refers to skills  which help one to increase the internal locus of control.

If we keep these things in mind while planning the curriculum. The planning needs to be executed through the lesson plan  and daily teaching -learning practice.

Mrs. Sweta Srivastava: By always including questions or activities which give them a chance to answer in their way,.......all answers should be accepted......even negative as well

[6/19, 6:06 PM] Sweta Srivastava: And than techer should guide them why negative approch will not accepted

Mrs. Phani: Every lesson when taught, of properly planned ,one can incorporate  any aspects of life skill. Because all the topic that are taught is the past experience, and explorations concepts.  You take any subject for that matter. I strongly believe in incorporating skills  and  moral ethics related to life can be taught along with regular course study rather than prescribing a separate book.

We have seen how interested the teacher and the students are when it comes to moral studies or like skill . Those classes are taken by other subject teachers to complete the portion.

Many a times parents bring new books not touched to the school to show it was not used. We have given an opportunity for publishers to print attractive books with exuberant price selling to schools. Simple ethics from beginning if inculcated to children, I don't think we need a separate time and book to teach life skill. Instead of teaching students, it must be taught to parents of new generation as their life style has completely changed.  Neither they are completely following the traditional way nor the life style borrowed from the west. They have not realized that life style is adopted by people depending on the environment they live. But the reality is different.  Parents are passing on stress to children

Dr. Anitha Andrew: In my opinion, every teacher need to incorporate life skills with their teaching. While teaching Physics, Chemistry or Biology, the teacher can throw some open ended questions instead of giving all answers. It will motivate the students to analyse and find a solution for the problem if there is any. This will help children to develop thinking and analytical skills.

Also, the teacher can inform the topic   for the next class and ask the students to gather information about the topic. This will make students enthusiastic and motivated.

Mrs. Sweta Srivastava: lets talk about decision making firstDecision making helps us to deal constructively with decisions about our lives. This can have consequences for health. It can teach people how to actively make decisions

about their actions in relation to healthy assessment of different options and, what effects these different decisions are likely to have.

Dr. Anitha Andrew: During decision making we may come across many choices. But by gathering information and assessing alternative solutions we can come to a conclusion. Real life experiences and information contribute to this.

Dr Sekar Seenivasan: Even small self evaluation tools can be shared

Age level expected changes and needs could be listed

Mr. S. C. Vohra: Decision making is one of the most important skills. A good decision at the right time can change the entire course of life and vice versa. But taking right decisions isn’t as easy as it sounds. There are no ready made decisions and sometimes become dilemmatic. In our society in most of the cases parents take the decisions depriving children of their very basic right. So parents need to be educated before students but it’s again not easy.

Mrs. Sweta Srivastava: Give them some activity 

For example : Even for Pre Primary  classes

lChildren will be asked to eat  one healthy and one junk food both and decide them what make them more energetic ..So many other activities can be planned on all levels...it was just an example

Mrs. Pooja Hanji: Any thing that is useful in our day to day can be considered as life skill.

We are dependent on others for everything.  

Schools are teaching 

How to tie shoe laces

How to sue

How to make your bed etc as life skills in schools

Parents  should teach these at home.

Schools should concentrate on

Financial know how

Employability 

Organizational skills 

Conflict management 

Stress management 

Project management 

Problem solving

We teach them how to aim for success but ignore to teach how to embrace failures too. Real life isn't rosy cosy as our books dipict . Our children fail there to apply their knowledge in real life. Learning and writing exams isn't life. Many children excel either one . And few excel everywhere. Adapting and applying your know how in real life is an important life skill

Azeez: Life is to live. Living is an art. Living needs no skills. It is quite natural. 

Still we need certain skills to face challenges which life give us in day today situations. The challenges given by life are to be addressed. Sometimes the challenges are real, controversial, topical, moral, spiritual, emotional, physical, sensitive......Life skills are very much important because to protect you and society from your life challenges. It is you to face, not to harm others.

In short: IT IS TO SAVE YOU FROM YOUR LIFESTYLES.

The prime way of teaching life skill is making/giving Awareness.

As an example: we are citizen of a democratic country and we are required to know responsibilities of a citizen in a very basic level at least. These capacities do not develop unaided; they have to be learnt. 

All may not get practical practices of all situations to learn all life skills. Some are learned and some are absorbed and some are experienced. 

One can't wait for chance to get taught by life.

While certain life skills may be acquired through our everyday experience in the home or at work, they are not sufficient to adequately equip citizens for the active role required of them in today’s complex and diverse society. A training in set of some life skills may yield benefits to our younger generation at school level as:

• helps them to develop self-confidence and successfully deal with significant life changes and challenges, such as bullying and discrimination.

• gives them a voice at school, in their community and in society at large.

• enables them to make a positive contribution by developing the expertise and experience they need to assert their rights and understand their responsibilities, while preparing them for the challenges and opportunities of adult and working life.

Children are children only. They fail to face challenges, they fear to face challenges, the feel better when they succeed, they feel upset when they fail. Again gets up to face next challenges.

These variations are controlling factors in school life.