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The Importance of Life Skills

February 18th, 2010 by Deborah Cahill
Categories: Calabasas
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By: Deborah Cahill

As an educator I always tell my students, what I am doing is giving you life skills so that you will know how to handle any situation in any occupation or situation in which you find yourself.  When I teach literature I very often have my students work cooperatively so that they learn how to work as a team and know the importance of contributing to the whole group by doing their specific job.  Leaders always emerge, and differences of opinion arise.  They are forced to use critical thinking skills.  This is good.  For all high school students, and specifically as a standard seniors must pass, they must do a series of oral presentations.  There is a funny thing about oral presentations: one of the top phobias is to speak in front of a group and, in fact, it is said that many people fear it more than death!  No one would leave my class without having some level of mastery in presentations.  I am in total agreement with Jay Matthews (see below) and I also believe this is where testing should be geared, toward essential life skills. Students are much more motivated to learn if they can see how it relates to their lives!

Teachers Discuss Importance Of “Essential Life Skills,” And How To Teach Them.

In an article for the Washington Post (2/18), Jay Mathews writes about “eight essential life skills” that students should learn in school, accompanied by “expert opinion on their importance and how to teach them.” Among these skills are organization, teamwork, exercise, arguing, critical thinking and presentation. In regards to the last skill Mathews writes, “As adults we often learn the hard way how important it is to be prepared, maintain eye contact and dress appropriately for the situation. It is better to learn this in school than while shaking in fear two minutes before our first job interview.”

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Tags: Essential Life Skills, Jay Matthews, The Importance of Life Skills