UNIT 1__INTRODUCTION TO LIFE SKIL) Structure 1.1 Introduction 1.2. Life Skills: Concept, Meaning and Importance 1.3, Domains and Basic Components of Life Skills 14 Pillars of Life Skills Education 1.5. Criteria for Using Life Skills 1.6 Imparting Life Skills in The Class Room 1.7 Let Us Sum Up 1.8 References and Suggested Readings 1.9 Check Your Progress - Possible Answers 1.1. INTRODUCTION Life skills play an important role in the physical and mental wellbeing of individuals and more particularly among the children and youth. The education system today emphasizes on life skills education intending to promote the same among the children, Customarily, life skills aim at promoting abilities which would be helpful to promote physical and mental well-being among the children and youth, They will also enhance competence in young people to face the realities of life more effectively and efficiently. Life skills help in multi-dimensional development of young people. The life skills are utilized in different areas- social and health to focus the attention on important issues like prevention of drug abuse, HIV/AIDS control of sexual violence, crime and suicides. UNICEF has rightly remarked that the term ‘life skills’ has gained currency in the fields of health, education and social policy, yet remains without a full and widely accepted definition. Thus, imparting life skill education to the children and young people is vital from the perspective of individual and social development of the nation. This unit gives an introduction to life skills. After reading this unit, the learners. be able to : + Explain concept, meaning and importance of life skills + Describe various domains and basic components of life skills + Explain different pillars of life skills education + Discuss criteria for using life skills + Describe how to impart life skills in the classrooms 1.2 LIFE SKILLS: CONCEPT, MEANING AND IMPORTANCE 1.2.1 Concept and Meaning of Life Skills Generally life skills mean the ability which enables an individual, particularly the young people to effectively deal with the challenges of life. These are psychological and social skills essential for human and social development. Life skills are defined by different people and organizations as per the following:Life Skills : An Overview + While CBSE in one of its documents defined that: “Life skills include psychosocial competencies and interpersonal skills that help people make informed decisions, solve problems, think critically and creatively, communicate effectively, build healthy relationships, empathize with others, and cope with managing their lives in a healthy and productive manner.” + According to UNICEF “Life skills are a set of abilities, attitudes and socio- emotional competencies that enable individuals to lea, make informed decisions and exercise rights to lead a healthy and productive life and subsequently become agents of change”. + The World Health Organization defines life skills as “the abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life”. + According to Wiedemann “life skills are essentially the abilities that promote mental and social well-being in situations encountered in the course of life”. + According to James “the term life skills refers to a group of psycho-social and interpersonal skills which can help people make informed decisions, communicate effectively, and think critically”. + Gazda and Brooks have defined life skills as “the kind of behavior-based psychological learning needed to help people cope with predictable developmental tasks”. + According to Powell life skills are “the life-coping skills consonant with the developmental tasks of the basic human development processes’ Life skills are useful in several areas of life. It covers a broad range of issues, like prevention of drug and substance abuse, prevention of HIV and AIDS, prevention of sexual violence, reduction of teenage pregnancy, prevention of suicides, reduction of crime, peace education, environmental education, and livelihood and income generation. A well balanced life skills education programme is necessary to develop these basic capabilities of students and to nurture their abilities to deal with everyday changing needs of the society and the world (Prajapati et al., 2017), The aims of life skills education are: + To provide young people with strategies to make healthy choices that contribute to a meaningful life; + To enable young people to analyze their capacities to enhance the function in a most productive way; + To allow the youth to get along with other people, able to adjust with their environment and making responsible decision; + To enable the leamer to develop a concept of oneself as a person worth and dignity; + To help one to understand oneself and lead to growth in personal responsibility; and + To help the young people to empower in challenging situations (Francis, 2007).The various areas of life skills education useful to society and family wellbeing __Introduetion to Life Skills are: + Social issues like drug abuse + Social and sexual violence + HIV/AIDS and sex education + Environmental education + Human right education + Equality education + Sustainable development + Livelihood education + Care for elderly and differently abled person + Adolescence education + peace education + Gender equality 1.2.2. Importance of Life Skills Life skills have a lot of importance in the mental and social well being of children and young people. The importance of life skills and their education are narrated below: + Helps individuals to explore alternatives: One of the important benefits of life skills is that they help the young people to suitably choose and explore alternatives to effectively face the challenges of life. They improve mental wellbeing and enable them to face the realities of life and also help them to take rational decisions. + Improves interpersonal communication and relationship: Development of life skills in young people helps them to improve their interpersonal communication skills. As a result it strengthens the relationship with their peers, parents, neighbors and other relations. Life skills enable the children and youth to change their outlook towards themselves and others. Imparting life skills education to students would be helpful in developing their emotional and psychosocial competencies and interpersonal skills. This would ultimately result in change of attitude for solving problems, taking right decisions, thinking critically and creatively and communicating effectively. + Improves self-esteem and self-confidence: Help in improving self-esteem and self-confidence among the children and young people. They develop positive thinking. The education on life skills components and strategies will build self confidence among the children to make right decisions which are essential for their career building, + Develops social awareness: Knowledge about life skills leads to awarene: about various social problems and issues such as education and health care which are concemed not only to them but also to their family and society, It enables children and young people to effectively identify those problems that arise within the family and society, With life skills, one is able to explore alternatives, weigh pros and cons and make rational decisions in solvingLife Skills: An Overview 10 each of these problems and issues as it arises within the family and the society. + Ensures effective communication: Life skills enable effective communication. Through life skill education one will be able to differentiate between hearing and listening and ensure that the messages are transmitted accurately to avoid miscommunication and misinterpretations. One of the important goals of the life skills education is to promote effective communication in order to erase miscommunication. + Improves decision making ability: Life skills enable the young people to take wise and appropriate decisions. Thus, they help to make more judicious and critically evaluate the situation and make appropriate decisions, imparting life skills to the young generation improves their decision-making ability. + Enables to face the challenges of life: The life skills education would empower the young to face the challenges of life effectively. They will enable them to adopt the situation more effectively and efficiently. 1.3. DOMAINS AND BASIC COMPONENTS OF LIFE SKILLS The five important domains of life skills are: (i) self (self esteem and self reliance); (Gi) thinking skil; (ii) social skills; (jv) communication skills and (v) management skills. The selfis related to self-esteem and self-reliance. The thinking skills are largely related to critical thinking and creative thinking. Besides it also comprises decision making and problem solving. While social skills deal with relationships such as sympathy, empathy. The communication skills comprises inter and intrapersonal communication and group communication, The management skills relate to time management, conflict management, resource management, stress management and leadership skills. After describing the domains of life skills, it is essential to describe various components of life skills education in detail, Generally recognized and accepted components of life skills are as follows: + Creative Thinking: Creative thinking means ability to think differently. To be creative means to think and act in a new and different way to find the solution to the problem. In other words, creative thinking is a skill which enables a person to look at the things in a better perspective and in different angles. * Critical Thinking: Generally critical thinking means the ability to think clearly and judiciously. It aims at engagement of reflective and independent thinking. For this there is a need for gathering appropriate information to make the correct decision. + Problem Solving: The problem-solving skill helps in providing quick and appropriate solutions to a problem. The problem-solving skill requires analytical and innovative thinking. + Decision Making: itis the process of identifying the best altemative solutionand taking decision to solve the problem. In other words, it is a process of selecting a logical choice ftom the available options. Decision making is influenced by value judgment and is a continuous process. . Teamwork: Teamwork is one of the vital aspects of life skill education. It helps to perform and complete the task assigned in an effective and efficient manner, In other words, itis the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete a task within the assigned time with the most effective and efficient way. It is essential on the part of the team leader to involve each team member to accomplish the assigned task, + Interpersonal Relationship: Establishing relationships with others is vital to a smooth lifestyle. Interpersonal relationship quality helps positive interaction with the young people within his or her peer groups, parents, and neighbors, Friendly relationships are of great importance for social and human wellbeing. + Communication Skills: It includes both verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, and the ability to express feelings and give suitable feedback. Communication skills is required both in the classroom, debate and discussions as well as in the selection process of a job. + Coping and self management Skills: This refers to skills to increase the internal locus of control. It believes that this can enable an individual to make a difference in the world. This would affect change. Self-esteem, self- awareness, self-evaluation skills and the ability to set goals are also part of the more general category of self-management skills. Anger, grief and anxiety must all be dealt with coping of skill and the individual leans to cope with loss or trauma. The coping skill enables the young people to effectively deal with anxiety arising out of a problem. . Self-esteem and self-confidence: The two are vital to soft skills development. The self-esteem and self-confidence tools help in understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses, It gives confidence and pride to complete the task as itis associated with his or her dignity and self-esteem. + Empathy: Empathy means ability to understand and realize the feeling of another person. Without empathy, our communication with others will amount to one-way traffic. In other words, we will be acting and behaving according to our self-interest and we cannot build a successful relationship. We need to understand and care about other people’s needs, desires and feelings. In these sessions, you read about concept, meaning, importance and domains and basic components of life skills, now answer the questions given in check your progress 1. Cheek Your Progress 1 Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit QL. Write any two components of life skillsLife Skills: An Overview 12 Q2. Why is life skills education important? Give two arguments in its favour 1.4 PILLARS OF LIFE SKILLS EDUCATION UNESCO’s report (2000) in Dakar offers a conceptual basis for life skills approach to education that not only reinforces the definition of life skills as psychosocial abilities, but also proposes an education framework for the essential combination of life skills. The combinations are: Learning to know, learning to be, learning to live together and learning to do. + Learning to know: Developing reasoning. It relates to cognitive life skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making skills. Learning to know refers to the acquisition of knowledge and use of knowledge + Learning to be: it refers to enhancement of agency. It relates to self management life skills such as self awareness, self esteem and self confidence and coping skills. This element is linked with seeing oneself as the main actor in defining a positive outcome for the future. It is close to the concept of “power” or “agency”. + Learning to live together: It intends to build potential through social capital. It is related to interpersonal and social life skills such as communication skills, negotiation skills, refusal skills, assertiveness skills, interpersonal skills, cooperation skills, and empathy skills. Skills under learning to live together are essential to define a human being as a social being. + Learning to do: It aims to improve functioning and capabilities. This pillar is linked to what actions a person takes and is closely related to practical skills. (Radja, Hoffmann and Bakhshi, 2008). 1.5 | CRITERIA FOR USING LIFE SKILLS UNICEF identifies the following criteria to ensure a successful life skills based education: + It should not only address knowledge and attitude change, but, more importantly, behavior change. + Traditional “information-based” approaches are generally not sutficient to yield changes in attitudes and behaviors. Therefore, the lecture should be substantiated with exercises and situations where participants can practice safe behavior and experience its effects. + Itwill work best when augmented or reinforced. It is generally said that if'a message is given once, the brain remembers only 10 percent of it one day1.6 later, and when the same message is given six times a day, the brain remembers 90 percent of it, Hence, the needs to repeat, recap, reinforce and review. twill work best if combined with policy development, a health services, community development and media. ss to appropriate IMPARTING LIFE SKILLS IN THE CLASSROOM The life skills education has to be imparted to the school children in the class room. Besides imparting in the classroom, it will give positive results if it becomes part ofthe school curriculum and is effectively integrated into the school education system. It can empower the children not only to face their teacher but also enable them to successfully interact with the peers and parents. Education on life skills will have profound influence on the children particularly shaping their attitude and behaviors. It will also be helpful in mending their career. Some of the important methods of imparting life skills education are as follows: Lecture/ Discussions: The traditional method of lecture/discussion on various topics on life skills education such as communication skill, empathy, and problem solving will enable leamers to make their understanding deep on the topic. The other skills like listening, assertiveness, and self-confidence can also be taught through this method. Debates: Organization of debates on various components of life skills will give chance to students to discuss issues in depth and creatively. It will develop self confidence among them. Group discussion and group work: Group discussion and group assignment on various topics of life skills education will allow interaction and solution finding on various issues they are facing in their family and society. It will promote interactions and allow knowing others better which in turn enhances team forming and teamwork, Educational Games: Educational games are helpful in promoting fun based active learning and enriching discussion. It will motivate participants to work hard for reaching the solution to a common problem. The educational gaming helps the students lear through fun. It is a process which combines use of knowledge, attitudes, skills and tests their assumptions and abilities. Role Play: Role Play is an effective method of teaching learning; where the students are encouraged to actively participate by playing the role in the particular topic chosen by them. It promotes creativity among the youth and gives them a chance to write and design role play topics. It promotes group understanding. Role Play provides an excellent method for practicing and experiencing skills and to increase empathy for one another. Case Studies: Case Studies provide a chance to the students in exploring and analyzing a topic. It also provides opportunities for working together and sharing ideas. Case studies are very useful for thought promotion and discussions, It engages learners to improve, think critically while making any decision. Introduction to Life SkillsLife Skills: An Overview 14 + Brainstorming: Brainstorming is a group creativity technique. In this technique peers try to find a solution for a specific problem by generating a list of ideas spontaneously. In brainstorming, students generate ideas quickly. Ithelps them to use their imagination and creative thinking. + Storytelling: The last but not the least method of imparting life skills is storytelling. Storytelling helps students to develop critical and creating skills, for writing or telling stories. It helps to draw conclusions and make comparisons In these sessions, you read about criteria for using life skills and imparting life skills in the classroom, now answer the questions given in check your progress 2 Check Your Progress 2 Note: a) Write your answer in about 50 words b) Check your answer with possible answers given at the end of the unit QI. Write any two criteria developed being set by the UNICEF for using life skills Q2. Explain three suitable methods of teaching life skills in the classroom 1.7__LET US SUM UP Life skills education plays an important role in building the physical and mental wellbeing of the children and particularly the youth. The important domains of life skills are self that is self-esteem and self-confidence, thinking skill, social skills, communication skills and management skills. Some of the important components of life skills development are critical thinking, creative thinking, problem solving, teamwork, decision making, interpersonal relationship, empathy, and coping skills. Suitable teaching-leaming methodology has to be adopted while imparting life skills in the classroom. These may be lecture discussion method, case study, brainstorming, story-telling, and educational games. As the life skills education aims not only change of knowledge and attitude but also behavioral changes.1.8 REFERENCES A Websites SUGGESTED READINGS + https://cbse.nic.in/cce/life_skills_cce.pdf(accessed on 21/9/2020). + https://www.unicef.org/india/media/257 1/file/Comprehensive-lifeskills- framework pdf(accessed on 28/9/2020). + https:/swww.hurraykids.comvlifeskills(accessed on 28/9/2020), Other websites used are: + https://www.unodc.org/pdf/youthnet/action/message/escap_peers_ 07.pdfaccessed on 17/9/2020), + hutp://www.sdergihacettepe.edu,tr/makaleler/OZMETE-lifeskills.pdf (accessed on 21/9/2020). References Francis, M. (2007). Life Skills Education. www.changingminds.org. Received date: 13.08.2008. Gazda, GM.,Brooks, D.K. (1985). The development of the social/life skills training movement, Journal of Group Psychotherapy, Psychodrama, & Sociometry, 38(1), 1-10. Kumar P (2017): “Morality and Life skills: The need and importance of life skills education”, International Journal of Advanced Education and Research, Volume 2; Issue 4, Page No. 144-148, Powell, M.F. (1985). A program of life-skills training through interdisciplinary group processes. Journal of Group Psychotherapy, Psychodrama, & Sociometry, 38(1), 23-34. Prajapati R et al, (2017): Significance of Life Skills Education Contemporary Issues in Education Research. 2017; 10(1):1-6. Radja, K., Hoffmann, A.M., Bakhshi, P. (2008). Education and Capabilities Approach: Life Skills Education as A Bridge to Human Capabilities, Also see hitp://www.sdergi.hacettepe.edu.tr/makaleler/OZMETE -lifeskills.pdffaccessed ‘on 22/9/2020). WHO (1997): Skills for Health, Skills -based health education including life skills: An important component of a Child - Friendly/Health -Promoting School, Meaning of Life Skills . 1997. www.who.org. Wiedemann N. (Ed.) (2013): Life Skills — Skills for Life: A handbook, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support, Copenhagen Denmark . 2013 1.9 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS - POSSIBLE ANSWERS Cheek Your Progress 1 QL. Write any two components of life skills Introduction to Life Skills 15Life Skills : An Overview 16 Answer: The two components of life skill are creative thinking and critical thinking. Creative thinking means ability to think differently. To be creative ‘means to think and act in a new and different way to find the solution to the problem. On the other hand, critical thinking means the ability to think clearly and judiciously. It aims at engagement of reflective and independent thinking. Q2. Why is life skills education important? Give two arguments in favour of this Answer: Life skills help in the improvement of self-esteem and self-confidence among the children and young people. It develops positive thinking. Secondly, life skills enable young people to make wise and appropriate decisions. Thus, ithelps to make more judicious and critical decisions, evaluate the situation and make appropriate decisions. Check Your Progress 2 QI. Write any two criteria being set by the UNICEF for using life skills Answer: The two criteria being set by UNICEF are (i) It should not only address, knowledge and attitude change, but, more importantly, behavior change: and (ii) It will work best when augmented or reinforced. For example, if a message is given onee, the brain remembers only 10 percent of it one day later, and when the same message is given six times a day, the brain remembers 90 percent of it, Hence, the need for repeat, recap, reinforce and review. Q2. Explain three suitable methods of teaching life skills in the classroom, Answer: The three suitable methods of teaching life skills in the classroom are group discussion, role play and debate. In group discussion the groups are assigned different topics of life skills education to allow interaction and solution finding on the issues they are facing in their family and society. The debate enhances creativity among the students and they come-up with arguments and counter arguments, The case study helps to develop critical thinking among the students.