Developing Life Skills preparedness among children of the new century

Education has transformed from the predictive measures of rote learning to depending upon one’s wit and skills to succeed. Today, where knowledge is growing at an escalating rate, it is fruitless for teachers to work feverishly in teaching young people lessons that have no practical consequences. Instead, students need a further edge, not only to ace beyond competitors, but also to represent intuitive citizens of a vivid tomorrow. The present generation desires life skills to endure and flourish in the 21st century.

There is something about attitude, motivation, optimism, confidence, persistence, responsibilitywhich contributesto the way individuals seem to feel about themselves and what they are doing that makes a difference in the way they handle the challenges of life itself.

Life skills are all those necessary abilities which are generally not taught through books or education curriculum, but are indispensable aid in tackling problems of real life. Ideally, parents or guardians are the ones who show them the right path. Yet, in the current hustle and bustle parents forgo the essentiality of life skills in favour of rigorous lessons in maths and science. In turn, at a tender age, children get waylaid and are unable to cope with the fine vagaries of life.

Although children around the world are more likely to imbibe formal education, upon graduation they often find that they are not adequately prepared for the world, due to undue emphasis upon bookish knowledge. Because skills relevant to key growth sectors of the modern economy – both technical and ‘soft’ skills – are often not covered in traditional education systems, employers often find a ‘skills mismatch’ between the competencies youth need to succeed in the workplace and those they actually possess. To succeed in life, it is imperative to look beyond bookish knowledge into qualities that accentuate the state of economy. Therefore, it has become mandatory to include life skill lessons in the educational curriculum. Here are ways where Life Skills act as aids to not only education, but life:

• Nurturing inquisition
  Integration of life skills from a younger level allows children to marvel, investigate, experiment, ask questions, and come up with eccentric solutions/ideas. Constant questioning encourages critical thinking about an experience, encourages creativity, and allows children to hone communication skills.

• Emphasising on the power of effort
  Students learn more intrinsically, at a molecular level when they reinforce the belief on success based in effort as compared to ability. Adults working with young children need to share their own stories of establishing efforts and convalescing with practice. With sincere effort to come up with constructive solutions, children are taught to imbibe the traits of hard work and determination.

• Encouraging use of daily objects in assorted ways
  Life skills encourage the use of day-to-day materials in unique, innovative ways to supplement growth of cognitive development. It’s imperative to teach young ones that elaborative concepts don’t lead to constructive answers, but solutions can be found amongst the simplest things available. This not only supplements the growth of intuitive leaning, but also teaches an integral lesson of self reliance, an ability that comes handy as one grows up.

• Creating an environment for constructive feedback
  Assimilation of essential skills helps eschew a space for peer assessment. Teachers should support children in sharing their views- what they liked and observed, and what can be implemented usefully. Productive feedback helps create self-awareness while helps forge bonds with the unlikeliest allies.

• Collaborate with others
  Mentoring and collaboration are exceptional ways to build real life skills. Functioning side by side helps develop work moral principles and model skills-essential for success as adults. As humans, one needs to be taught on the benefits of teamwork and living in the society as a collaborative being, all which can be imbibed from a young age.

Conclusion
The skills needed for success in the future will go far beyond the context of a traditionally drafted system. Life skills paves way to a well-balanced meticulous individual, ready to reach for the stars and tackle adversities with the right tools.

This article has been authored by Shobana Mahansaria, Co-founder, Dolphin POD