The Importance of Teaching Students Soft Skills

“And the most important skills will be the soft skills, the empathic, personal ways of interaction that set humans apart from digital entities.” – BBC Storyworks, 2019.

During the Summer break, I spent some time reading articles acknowledging the need for ‘soft skills’, gained both in the classroom and outside the classroom. Soft skills are defined as, “the personal attributes, personality traits, inherent social cues, and communication abilities needed for success on the job. Soft skills characterise how a person interacts in his or her relationships with others. Unlike hard skills that are learned, soft skills are similar to emotions or insights that allow people to “read” others. These are much harder to learn, at least in a traditional classroom. They are also much harder to measure and evaluate. Soft skills include attitude, communication, creative thinking, work ethic, teamwork, networking, decision making, positivity, time managementmotivationflexibilityproblem-solvingcritical thinking, and conflict resolution.” (What Are Soft Skills?, 2019)

As adults, we know these skills are important and we can see and feel the world changing around us. Developing strong resilient young women is very important. The St Catherine’s School 2020 Vision outlines our vision for our students in preparing them for the world of the future, “St Catherine’s is committed to nurturing and empowering independent and globally responsive young women, enabling them to approach all their endeavours with confidence, wisdom and integrity.”

Scarlet, 2019, writes of the need for stress management, self-confidence, communication skills, management skills and networking skills. St Catherine’s partnership with Swinburne University’s Aristotle Program, focussing on Emotional Intelligence, allows our students to acknowledge and learn how to manage their emotional intelligence. “Managing change, handling disappointment and self-regulation are likely to be considerably more important skill sets than a memory for dates, equations or molecular formulae.” (BBC Storyworks, 2019)

Whilst in the classroom, our focus and philosophy is focused on deep expertise and deep learning, the need for ‘soft skills’ as they are termed is still apparent. The 2019 Australians of the Year, Dr Richard Harris OAM from South Australia and Dr Craig Challen SC OAM from Western Australia, were acknowledged for their heroic efforts as part of an international rescue mission to save 12 boys from flooded caves in Thailand. Dr Harris, an anaesthetist, and Dr Challen, a retired vet, utilised a combination of deep learning from their professions and the soft skills they learnt through their deep sea diving experience. The 21st century skills including teamwork, cooperation and negotiation skills assisted in ensuring the soccer team were successfully rescued in a delicate operation.

As educators and parents, we need to allow our students and daughters to experience a variety of opportunities that will develop these skills. Whilst our students develop these skills in the classroom, these skills are also developed outside the classroom, in a variety of areas and opportunities. St Catherine’s offers significant experiences and opportunities for our students to experience life beyond the classroom, both in the Junior School and Senior School. The start of the year is a good time to set goals for the year and encourage your daughter to become involved in a new activity or one that she has not participated in before. The 2019 Senior School co-curricular timetable is available here and more information on each area of the program can be found on this portal link.

The Junior School co-curricular programs offer a variety of opportunities both in Sport, Music, Drama performance and clubs. I encourage you to find more information about the Junior School co-curricular programs and opportunities to enrol here.

I encourage you to discuss the opportunities and programs your daughter would like to be involved in during the year.

 

 

References

Mrs Gina Peele, Director of Student Programs