The Importance Of Life Skills As A Part Of The School Curriculum
MS Dhoni Global School
Life skills are one of the many contemporary adaptations in the scholastic curriculums, especially in India. It is introduced to the young minds with an aim to prepare them for everyday challenges. The dramatic changes that take place in redefining newer complexities each day require well-formed solutions. Life skills come across as an intangible guidebook of these solutions for modern-day problems.
Why Are Life Skills Important?
As grown-ups, we have had our share of difficulties and unfavourable circumstances that has impacted our lives. Sometimes, we have managed to sail the boat and the other times, we have simply failed. It was that one skill, that one missing element that had restricted us from getting what we needed at some point. Under the pretence of an incompetence, it were essential life skills that we may have lacked in our times.
To prevent similar complexities and failures for the generations to come, it is necessary to incorporate essential life skills in their personalities. Obviously, there is no certainty as to what extent these skills would yield success. However, odds of failure and serious consequences related to that can most certainly be prevented with well-developed life skills.
Why Should Life Skills Be Taught In Schools?
In order to help students make important life decisions, based on self-awareness, conscience, problem-solving abilities and other similar factors, it is essential to include life skills trainings in their scholastic curriculums. The most convenient and natural way to do this is to simply incorporate these life skills as a part of their regular lesson plan.
This transforms the way students are educated as it provides a truly holistic approach to growth and development. It is certainly a fresh and revolutionary concept of imparting education. However, most educational institutions, especially in India, have yet not adopted this path-breaking approach to educate students.
It is during their elementary years that students begin to develop new skills and capabilities as young learners. At this crucial point in their lives, they develop their basics of self-confidence, academic concepts, sense of competence and much more. Therefore, it is essential to nurture in them indispensable life skills that would serve them for a lifetime.
How To Incorporate Life Skills In School Curriculums?
The concerns that arise now are obvious. How to impart these vital life skills in an innovative way that interests the students? What can be done to redefine the method of implementing this revolutionary approach?
Which is why it is necessary to create a system where essential life skills are interwoven with academics. Students should be taught to develop connections between the theoretical aspects and practical applications. Concepts of decision-making, communication skills, conflict management, analysis and problem-solving skills can be developed through real-life situations.
For an instance, let’s consider the case of conflict management. How can a student of grade 1 or 2 can be taught to manage conflicts? Instead of taking a theoretical approach, a framework of storytelling and active role play can instil the concept in young minds. This can be continued and evolved till secondary school till the concept is not deeply rooted in the students.
Teaching such vital life skills through school curriculum is not an easy job. It demands a well-researched and thoroughly thought process to inculcate them into lesson plans. For this reason, most schools in India have not yet taken to this path-breaking approach of incorporating life skills with academics.
Furthermore, leadership skills, critical thinking, negotiation skills, financial literacy should be taught in a similar manner. While academic excellence is important to take the front seat of a student’s career, these essential life skills work from the backend. Not only do they work as a bedrock for all things fundamental, but also life skills act as a cushion to fall back on.
In the contemporary times, depression and anxiety are the most concerning mental health challenges that people suffer from. They seek therapy when things go out of hand. However, if they had been taught to deal with challenges and develop a different outlook towards failures from the initial days, chances of such ailments would have been significantly lower.
Students need to be prepared for a way more competitive world than we reside in. Challenges and complexities are going to be 10x intense for them. In order to deal with such circumstances, important life skills should be mandatorily taught to students from elementary school.
