Students in a STEM Prep project in Colorado are being required to complete a short course on developing socio-emotional skills before starting project activities. According to reports from the group of trainers, older youth and adults who complete the course show much greater persistence in later job training or educational programs compared to those who don't. They gain confidence and the ability to negotiate with teachers and employers in order to get what they want. They develop a deep self-awareness which many lack as they face increasing demands in their lives.
What is your opinion regarding this requirement? Are we missing the boat when we only address academic skills in instruction and ignore the need to provide students with a personal foundation that allows them to meet their later work or school goals? Leecy
Leecy Wise
Moderator, Reading and Writing, and
Diversity and Literacy Communities
Comments
Thank you for raising this important point, and I'd love to know more about the STEM Prep project!
If we look at what makes students successful in the classroom and employees successful in the workplace, socio-emotional skills are definitely important. If these affective skills are critical, we should be providing ample opportunity for students to practice and improve their skills. Explicitly naming the skills and providing feedback on skill development are part of the teaching and learning process.
Thanks,
Bonnie
Bonnie, I plan to provide a lot more information about STEM Prep and even share all of our resources under a Creative Common license. We should have things rolling by the end of September and I'll post links here for anyone interested.
I really appreciate your statement, " Explicitly naming the skills and providing feedback on skill development are part of the teaching and learning process." Explicitly addressing this issue is critical, in my view. We have folks write and read about so many different topics, why not this one?
What kinds of activities could we implement in literacy or later language development to encourage students to become more self aware and socio-emotionally competent? Leecy
Bonnie and all, what socio-emotional challenges do your learners face?