Nurturing Strategic Teacher Skills through Customised Learning Communities

Dr. Russell D’Souza

Abstract
Life skills is also addressed as Strategic Skills by the author of this paper attempts to identify the extent to which teacher trainees possess these critical 21st century skills using the Life Skills Adult- Skills for Everyday Living tool developed by Perkins and Mincemoyer (2003). Based on the pre-test performance, the participants were subjected to a double layered customised mentoring plan comprising the Researcher led Life Skills Group Exposure (RLSGE) and the Peer Learning Community (PLC) which was a 4-tier peer driven mechanism. The mentoring plan was executed over a period of one year culminating into a post-test. The post-test results showed an improvement on the components of the Life Skills Adult- Skills for Everyday Living namely; decision making, thinking, communication, goal setting and problem solving. The Researcher and Peer Observation Matrix (Essential Life Skills Development - ELSD) andparticipant self-journal, facilitated construction of a graphic organizer that depicts the skills acquired and nurtured under each component of the tool used. The trainees recommended several changes in the teacher training programme which are presented through a three level ladder diagram starting with ‘Begin Here’ and ending with ‘End of Course’.

Key words: Communication, Life Skills, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Decision Making, Goal Setting

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