PROMOTION OF LIFE SKILLS
What is skills?
Skills: Is the ability in which an individual person has to do something well. Life skills: Are the important skills which enable a person to think and use knowledge to solve personal and social problems. Life skills they acquired through direct life experiences or developed through formal education. Normally life skills enable a person to live well and harmony in the society.
TYPES OF LIFE SKILLS
There are three major types of life skills which are:-
i. Individual life skills.
ii. Social skills.
iii. Effective decision making skills.
1. INDIVIDUAL LIFE SKILLS/INTRA-PERSONAL SKILLS
These are skills which enable individuals to understand themselves in various ways. Normally in these skills individuals can able to understand their strengths and weaknesses, how they think and feel, and how they express their thoughts and feelings.
TYPES OF INDIVIDUAL SKILLS
i. Self awareness
ii. Coping with stress
iii. Coping with emotion
iv. Assertiveness
v. Self dependence.
vi. Self worth.
vii. Self esteem.
A. SELF AWARENESS
Self awareness: Is the ability of an individual to know himself or herself, his feeling, emotion, strength and weakness.
Importance of self awareness
i. it help an individual person to criticise unnecessary conduct.
ii. It enable a person to achieve his/her goals.
iii. It enable a person to resist against negative group influence.
iv. It enable a person to know his or her needs.
v. It helps in problem solving.
B. COPING WITH STRESS
Stress, is the mental, emotional or physical tension or pressure. it cause by events such as examination, death, divorce. A personal need to develop skills that will help a person to manage or cope with stress.
SYMTOMS OF STRESS
i. Loneliness.
ii. Sadness.
iii. Anxiety.
iv. Fear.
v. Anger.
vi. Sleeping.
vii. Lack of appetite.
viii. Worries.
SURCES/CAUSES OF STRESS TO THE STUDENTS
i. Fear of examination.
ii. Too much homeworks.
iii. Unsatisfactory academic performance.
iv. Family conflict.
v. Family separation/divorces.
vi. Low family income.
vii. Lack of right friends.
viii. Failure to cope with new school environment.
ix. Lack of interest in a particular subject.
x. Failure to cope with peer pressure.
WAYS/TECHNIQUES OF MANAGING STRESS
i. Study hard.
ii. Working hard.
iii. Living in a organized life.
iv. Ensure proper time management.
v. Having positive attitudes.
vi. Finding social support system.
vii. Exercising and leisure.
EFFECTS OF STRESS TO THE STUDENTS/SOCIETY
i. Spread of diseases.
ii. Improper decisions.
iii. It can lead to mental health problem.
iv. It can lead to unexpected deaths.
v. It can lead to heart diseases.
C. COPING WITH EMOTIONS
Emotion: Are inborn physiological conditions that show our rection to different situation or events. Emotions are intensive feeling which can either positive or negative feelings. Thefore ability to cope with different emotions enables a person to control his or her strong feeling and actions.
Types of emotions
i. Happiness.
ii. Sadness.
iii. Shock/surprise.
iv. Fear.
v. Anger.
vi. Disgust.
Example of positive feelings
i. Love.
ii. Pride.
iii. Joy.
iv. Hope.
Example of negative feelings
i. Hatred.
ii. Guilt.
iii. Shame.
iv. Jealousy.
v. Anxiety.
EFFECTS OF EMOTIONS
i. Increase in conflicts in the society.
ii. It can lead to stress.
iii. It can lead to improper decision making.
iv. It can lead to depression.
v. It can lead to accidents.
vi. Increase in anxiety to people.
WAYS/TECHNIQUES OF COPING WITH EMOTIONS
i. Identifying emotions: A person should firt identify the type of emotion where is happiness, sadness, anger, or surprise.
ii. Identify the sources of emotions: A person should first identify the source of his/her emotion.
iii. Analyzing the effects of emotion on oneself and others: A person also should assess the impact of the given condition to himself/herself and to the society at large.
iv. Assess your ability to handle the emotions: A person should assess himself/herself if is able to manage the emotions or not. And if not a person should seek support from others.
v. Refraining from the impulsive actions: A person should come down or be calm from the given condition.
v. Seeking guidance or counselling: A person is supposed to find counselling services if it us difficult to cope with a given condition/emotion.
D. ASSERTIVENESS
Assertiveness: Is the ability of a person to know or identify his or needs. Being assertive means being able to stand up for your own and other people's rights. Example of assertive: rejecting friend's suggestion of steal school property.
An assertive person tend to have satisfying life because is a good in communication, have self assurance, free sperit and is able to influence and guide others. However assertiveness skills enable a person to develop mechanisms and strategies for achieving his or her needs.
Therefore in achieving the person need must consider the rights of others. Normally an assertive person is able to express his or her opinions.
TECHNIQUES/WAYS USED TO DEVELOP ASSERTIVENESS SKILLS
i. Making positive decision: A person is supposed to make decision when is calm because negativity and pressure may lead to irrational decision.
ii. Being open: A person is supposed to share his opinions, feelings, wants and needs with others in order to reduce unnecessary stress.
iii. Being a good listener: This means that in building assertiveness skill give people freedom to express their feeeling and concern without being enterfering with their decision.
iv. Being honest: A person should tell people the stress by sharing with them your real feelings.
v. Respecting others: People need to be treated in politeness, hence a person need to be calm and relaxed tone when sharing idea with others.
E. SELF WORTH
Self worth: Is the unconditional value in which a person has towards the society. Self worth is obtained from the society though personal experience, feedback from peers and person of high authority such as parents and teachers.
Self worth determine how we talk ourselves, how we think of ourselves, how we see ourselves, how we feel about ourselves and how we behave in relation to our values. Normally people with high self - worth skills have positive view of themselves, trust their abilities, are happier, take care of themselves and are in positive relationship with others.
PRINCIPLES OF BUILDING SELF WORTH
i. Ensure proper dressing.
ii. Develop positive attitude
iii. Increase cooperation with others.
iv. Promoting fairness in the society
v. Use polite language to other.
IMPORTANCE OF SELF WORTH
1. It helps an individual person to protect his/her life: Self worth skills enables an individual person to protect his/her life by not engaging in dangerous things like drugs alcohol beverages and marijuana.
2. It stimulates accountability and creativity: among people thus increase the income to an individual family and community.
3. It enables a person to criticize a certain negative conduct: It gives power to criticizing bad behaviors that affect an individuals or society.
4. It promotes hard working: It makes an individual to work hard value work and enjoy their achievements through their hard efforts.
5. It encourages the promotion of team work.
6. It reduces the spread of infection diseases like HIV/AIDS.
7. It gives power an individuals to struggle for their rights.
8. It encourages good leadership.
F. SELF ESTEEM
Self esteem: Refers to the evaluation of our abilities, capabilities and worthiness through comparing ourselves with others. Normally self esteem can be low or high. High esteem come when a person focuses on positive qualities and therefore become confident.
High self self esteem can enable a person to be happy, lovely, cooperative, helpful and caring. Howeve low self esteem can make someone to lack confidence, unhappy, low control, depressed, angry, ashamed or anxious.
G. SELF INDEPENDENCE
Self independence: Is the ability of an individual person to make decision himself or herself. Self independence help a person to manage himself or herself and develop since of independence from other people.
METHODS/WAYS OF DEVELOPING SELF INDEPENDENCE
In order a person to be self independent must be consider the following principles:-
i. A psrson should accept his/her abilities: A person or student should accept his or her ability that he/she can to something well and successfully.
ii. A person should have self identity: A person should identify his/her strength, weakness, goals and resources or strategies on how to get the needs.
iii. Develop independent decision making: Proper decision making making involve identifying options, evaluating available options and choosing the best option.
iv. A person should clarify his/her values: A person should first clarify his value because it will help in proper decision making.
v. Practice independent decision making: A person should practice making decision on different issues.
2. SOCIAL SKILLS
Social skills: Are those skills which enable a person to understand and live in peace and harmony toward others the society.
TYPES OF SOCIAL SKILLS
Some of the aspects of social skills are:-
i. Forming healthy relationship.
ii. Managing peer pressure.
iii. Empathy
iv. Negotiations
v. Effective communication.
vi. Entrepreneiurship.
vii. Team work.
A. FORMING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS
Relationship: refers to the way where people interact and behave towards each other. Relationship can be between children, neighbours, peers, students, teachers and parents. Healthy relationship skills enables a person to know how to behave properly in each other. Forming healthy relationship skills is all about ability to meet and relate with others in various places such as schools, playing field and social gathering. However this skills enable a person to choose proper friends.
Forming friendship skills
Friendship skills: Is the ability of an individual to form friendship with another person who he/she can share activities, ideals, joy and sadness.
On forming friendship it is important to avoid people who can lead you in to improper behaviour like telling lies, alcoholism, drug abuse and smoking, disrespecting people, engaging in early sexual relations and other immoral acts.
QUALITIES/CRITERIA OF GOOD FRIENDS
i. Trust: A good friend must be trusted by others.
ii. Empathy: Good friends should have ability to take other people's problems in to their problem. A good friend should understand what others are going through and accepting others as they are without judging them.
iii. Honest and openness: A giod friend should be open to tell you truth/reality about his/her academic and social life. Therefore a good friend should be willing to share ideas with you in openness.
iv. Unconditional acceptance: A good friend should accept you as a person, regardless of your life status, ethinicity, race, religion, or gender. And also a good friends are those who can correct us when we are wrong.
v. Loyality: Is the situation where a person is ready to deffend you in your absence. A giod friend can protects you even if you are absent.
IMPORTANCE OF FORMING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIP SKILLS
i. It encourage team work building.
ii. It helps in achieving the common goal.
iii. It help to reduce conflicts in the society.
iv. It help students to perform well in their studies.
v. It promotes proper behaviour in the society.
vi. It enhance good cooperation in the societies.
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD FRIENDS
i. They promote cooperation.
ii. They help to achieve the common goal.
iii. They help in problem solving in the society.
iv. They help students to perform well in their studies.
v. They promotes proper behaviour in the society.
vi. They help in problem solving.
EFFECTS OF BAD FRIENDS
i. They encourage disunity.
ii. They can lead to failure to achieve the common goal.
iii. They can lead to the increase in conflict in the society.
iv. They cause poor performance of students in school.
v. They can lead to improper behaviour in the society.
vi. They can lead to spread of diseases.
B. MANAGING PEER PRESSURE
Peer pressure/resistance: Is the ability of a person to resist against the group influence. However this situation can occurs when one friends influence him/her to do somethings example: our friends can influence us to work harder in studies or can influence us doing wrong things such drug taking, running away from school. Peer pressure can be positive or negative.
GOOD/POSITIVE PEER PRESSURES
Positive peer pressure: Are those peer pressures which influence an individual to do right things. Example: Studying hard, going to school every day, respecting parents and elders assisting people with disabllities, visiting sick people.
IMPRTANCE OF POSITIVE PEER PRESSURES
i. It promotes hard working in the society.
ii. It help students to increase performance in their studies.
iii. It encourage proper behaviour in the society.
iv. It enhance good relations.
v. It help to reduce conflicts in the society.
NEGATIVE/BAD PEER PRESSURES
Negative peer pressure: Are those peer pressures which influence an individual to do wrong things. Example: drug taking, smocking, telling lies, running away from school, enganging in sexual relations.
IMPACTS OF BAD PEER PRESSURES
i. It can led to increase in social conflicts.
ii. Increase in social crimes like robbery and theft.
iii. Students dropouts in school.
iv. Increase in moral decay like drugs taking.
v. It can led to laziness to some youths.
vi. Spread of diseases.
STRATEGIES OF MANAGING NEGATIVE PEER PRESSURE
i. Paying attention to values: A good student should not feel shamely to crush or oppose someone who go against your values.
ii. Being thoughtful: Think about how you will react in different situation and what you will do.
iii. Having a conversation with the person: A person/student must be open to someone who is trying to influence to do some thing wrong.
iv. Communicating with parents: A good student should tell or inform his/her parent what your friends asked you to do is important or not.
v. Getting support from others: The support can be obtained from the trusted adult people like teachers or school counsellors.
C. EMPATHY
Empathy: Is the ability to understand other people's feelings and to feel concerned about their problems. It involves the ability to feel what others are feeeling and understanding what they are going through. These enable us to share our friend's problems.
A good student need to be empathetic both at school and at home. At home empathetic children are usually free to listen and receive guidance from their oarents and siblings. At school empathetic student work collaborative and prefers study with others.
IMPORTANCE OF EMPATHY SKILLS
i. It maintain good relationship.
ii. It promote good discipline.
iii. It helps in problem solving.
iv. It help to measure the degree of humanity to the people.
v. It enable individual to share problem with others.
D. NEGOTIATION
Negotiation: Is the communication technique which enable two sides to reach
An agreement or compromise. It normally involve the ability to agree on issue without undermining or going against ones opinions. This help when disagreements occur.This skills is important on maintaining and building good understanding.
IMPORTANCE OF NEGOTIATION
i. It help to avoid unnecessary conflict.
ii. It encourage critical thinking.
iii. It help in problem solving.
iv. It encourage positive relationship in the society.
v. It enhence peace and harmony in the society.
E. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Communication: Is the process by which two or more people share information. Effective communication skills: Is the ability of a person to communicate with people according to their mood age and background by using polite language.
It includes speaking skills means saying what you want that can be easily understand, speaking, reading, writing and listening. Effective communication is achieved if there is clarity of the message, appropriate language is used, time is observed, attentive listening, and questions are asked and answered.
IMPORTANCE OF APPLYING COMMUNICATION SKILLS
i. It helps in problem solving.
ii. It enhance negotiations.
iii. It helps to avoid unnecessary conflict in the societies.
iv. It encourage positive relations.
v. It measure the degree of individual behaviour.
vi. It promote unity and cooperation in the society.
F. ENTREPRENEOURSHIP SKILLS
Entrepreneourship skills: Is the ability of a person to transform idea in to actions by sloving problems, being creative, innovative and taking risks. Normally entrepreneurship enable students to promote critical thinking/think outside the box and develop talents.
IMPORTANCE OF ENTREPRENEOURSHIP SKILLS
i. It promotes critical thinking to the students.
ii. It helps to develop talents to the students.
iii. It helps to promote individual cinfidence to the students.
iv. It helps students to turn ideas in to actions in sloving problems.
v. It helps to raise creativity to the students.
PRINCIPLES OF ENTREPRENEOURSHIP
i. Problem solving skills: Entrepreneurship begins with solving real life problems.
Entrepreneur sees every problem as an opportunity.
ii. Interpersonal skills: Entrepreneourship requires ability to relate with people.
Entrepreneourship include leadership skills, motivation, communication, listening, ability to negotiate and form relationship with others.
iii. Creative andbcritical thinking: Normally entrepreneourship need to think critically in order to identify the oppoetunities. On developing critical thinking one needs to read books, magazines and get informations from other people and internet.
iv. Practical skill: A good entrepreneour must be read to practice something what he/she know.
G. THE CONCEPT OF TEAM WORK
Time work: is the situation of working together in a group among the members of the society.
PRINCIPLES OF BUILDING EFFECTIVE TEAM WORK
Any team work in order to be effectively should be consisting the following principles:-
1. There should be presence of good leadership.
2. There should be goal setting to all team members.
3. There should be presence of good communication skills among the team members.
4. There should be presence of strong commitment among the team members.
5. There should be effective collaboration/cooperation.
6. There should be conflict resolutions.
IMPORTANCE OF TEAM WORK
1. It helps to promote equality in the society.
2. It helps to stimulate innovations in the society.
3. It helps to promote hardworking.
4. It helps to achieve the common goal.
5. It encourages positive relations among the team members.
6. It save time on accomplished of a certain tasks.
7. It encourages unity and cooperation in the society.
3. EFFECTIVE DECISION MAKING SKILLS
Decision marking skills: is the ability of individual to think critically and come up with right and acceptable decision. These skills enable a person to make good decisions.
Aspects of effective decision making skills
The following are aspects of effective decision making skills.
i. Critical thinking: Is the ability of a person to develop a deep understanding of something. It helps a person to understand his/her environment, problem in which present he/she has to make decision that might consider the advantages and disadvantage of doing such decision.
ii. Creative thinking: Is the ability to think and come up with new ideas and new ways of doing, things, and creative thinking helps individuals to come up with the best solutions that other people had never thought.
iii. Decision-making: Is the ability to make the best choice out of many available options or alternatives. In life is important of think about the consequences before making a decision.
iv. Problem solving: Is the process of making choice and acting on it problem solving. Normally it help individual to make decisions and implement them.
PROMOTERS/SOURCES OF LIFESKILLS
People learn life skills from different sources such as:-
1. Family: Parents, guardians and relatives are the source of life skills.
2. Neighbours: We learn different things from our neighbours.
3. Friends or peers: Friends enable us to acquire various life skills through exchanging good ideas.
4. Society: The way people live in the society allow individual to learn various life skills in the society.
5. Schools: The good education from schools enables peopletodevelop skills for life to learn difference things about life. Example how to behave.
6. Religion: Good religious teachings help people to get skills that help people to live harmoniously in the society.
9. Government: The government provide different life skills to the youth though educational programs.
10. Non government organizations (NGOs) and UN agencies: These are organization which provide social services to people. These organization provide skill concerning the problem solving, team work, emotion or stress management, communication, healthy relationship and management of peer pressure.
Organizations which promote life skills
Some of the organizations which provide different life skills are such as:-
i. United nation Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
ii. United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF).
iii. The United State Agency for International Development (USAID).
iv. World Vision.
v. Save the Children.
vi. Plan international.
vii. Tanzania Gender Natworking Programme (TGNP).
viii. Haki Elimu Twaweza.
ix. The Anti-Female Genital mutilation Network of Tanzania.
x. Tanzania Women L.awyer's Association (TAMWA).
xi. Medical Women Association of Tanzania (MEWATA).
HOW TO USE SOCIAL SKILLS
Social skills give person knowledge to live with others peacefully in the society.We can use social skills on the following ways:-
1. Forming relationship with other people: This is enable how to behave in each relationship
2. Making good friend: We can use socil skills through formaing good friends.
3. Showing empathy: This is the ability to feel what others are going though, especially when they are experiencing problems.
4. Exhibiting peer resistance: influence from his or her peers and friend.
5. Displaying effective communication: Proper communication can be used to establish good relationships with other people.
6. Problem-solving: This is asocial skill that enables a person to make proper decision on difficult times.
IMPORTANCE OF LIFE SKILLS
1. They help on making proper decision in our daily life. Example during choosing a friendship and subjects.
2. They encourage good behaviour: a person is able to avoid bad things such as s drug abuse, sexual relationship, taking alcohol.
3. They increases love and understanding towards other people.
4. They enable people to respond effectively to different situation: such divorce, death of relatives and friends, examination pressure, harassment.
5. They help in maintaining peace and harmony: Through Negotiation help people to solve problem peaceful and helps to prevent conflicts in the society.
6. They enable people to master their environment: understand and manage their environments where they live in proper way.
CONSEQUENCES OF NOT APPLYING LIFE SKILLS IN OUR DAILY LIFE
1. It can led to improper choice in the future careers development
2. Increase of bad behavior: people may develop bad behaviour. For example youth may not respect their parents, teachers and elders.
3. It may led to increase in onflict in the society: Example conflict among student in the families due to luck negotiation skills.
4. It can led to increase in poverty: due to lack of proper decision making in the society country and individuals.
5. Poor leadership may occur: due to lack communication skills between citizen and leaders.
6. It can led to decline of empathy: to those who have problems.
GUIDING QUESTIONS
Qn: outline five principles of developing self independence.Qn: How can you identify someone with stress?
Qn: Explain six intra-personal/individual skills which should be acquired by
Qn: Pointout five ways through which your friend can use in oder to manage stress.
Qn: List down five mechanisms that are can be adopted by students to reduce stress.
Qn: Outline five problems associeted with failure to ovecome stress.
Qn: Pointout five ways through which your friend can use in oder to manage his emotions.
Qn: Outline five ways that canbbe adopted by students to develp assertiveness.
Qn: Explain six interpersonal skills which should be acquired by Tanzanian youth order to live accordingly in the society.
Qn: Give out six problems which resulted from failure to apply life skills.
