Asynchronous Discussion: Exploring Resources and Approaches to Teaching Personal & Workplace Success Skills

Join us during National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week September 19-25, 2021 as we delve into a new resource for teaching personal and workplace success skills. We are excited to have Sandy Goodman, Dani Scherer, and Kathleen O'Connell lead a week-long asynchronous discussion right here in the Career Pathways group.

Sandy Goodman, Director of the National College Transition Network, is the author of the pair of LINCS online courses on Workforce Preparation and led the development and design of NCTN’s Personal and Workplace Success Skills Library (PWSS). 

NCTN staff Dani Scherer and Kathleen O’Connell lead the process of reviewing, selecting, and annotating the PWSS Library contents. In addition, they provide technical assistance to practitioners to select PWSS resources and design an implementation plan that aligns with their program design and format and participants’ goals.

Comments

I am a former state-director of adult education (Vermont) and the current director of a integrated adult education/workforce development program in South lake Tahoe, CA, I am looking forward to this discussion and happy to have joined the group. For more about me, feel free to check out my page on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-gerdeman-96654942/ and to learn more about my current program visit https://advance-learnearngrow.org/.

Welcome to the discussion, Frank:

You have been such an early adopter of this work. The New World of Work/21st Century Skills Curriculum  is a resource you've worked with extensively, and is a resource we've included in the PWSS Library. Would you share how you integrate these skills into instruction at Lake Tahoe?

My colleagues and I are excited to introduce you to the Personal & Workplace Success Skills (PWSS) Library, a new resource developed by the National College Transition Network at World Education, Inc.  Throughout the week we’ll share Library content and features, discuss approaches to integrating PWSS Library into curriculum and program design, instruction, and coaching/advising. We’ll also share what we’re learning from programs using Library resources. We hope you’ll use this week to explore the Library and share your observations and ideas for using the resources.

But first, let’s look at what personal and workplace success skills are and why they are important. Personal and workplace success skills (PWSS) are the set of transferable skills that are critical for finding employment, advancing in a career pathway, and adapting to an ever-changing labor market. These skills are in increasingly high demand by employers across all industry sectors and offer some promise of employment security and protection from the impact of technology, because they are essentially human skills that can’t be easily replaced by automation.  PWSS are also skills that are central to personal growth, lifelong learning, and community engagement:

Communication, Leadership & Initiative, Self-Management, Navigating & Using Information, Critical & Creative Thinking, Digital Literacy, Teamwork & Collaboration, Respecting Differences, Adaptability & Flexibility, Emotional Intelligence.

As educators, you will likely recognize these skills, though you may be familiar with other terms — human skills, employability, 21st century, workforce preparation, essential skills, soft skills.

About the PWSS Library

While there is a great deal of research about the need for these transferable skills, many adult educators are unsure about where to find high-quality resources that they can incorporate into their practice. We selected the Library resources specifically for adult education, higher education, workforce development, and career and technical education programs serving adult and older youth learners and workers, including English language learners.

We search and screen hundreds of resources and offer them in a searchable Library where you can filter resources based on:

  • Resource type (and purpose):  including, advising & coaching tool, assessment, curriculum & instruction; skill frameworks – and more!
  •  Format:  audio & video, download & print, online, for example
  •  Audience: adult education, English language learners, higher ed, older youth, workforce development
  • Cost: you can select free or include fee-based resources
  • You can also use a keyword search to search for resources that address specific skills
  • Or just click “View Library” in the top right of the homepage to see the full array of resources. 

For each resource in the Library,  you’ll find a description of the contents, key take-aways for how the resource might be used and adapted, background information, and of course, a link to take you directly to the resource website.

We’d like to learn more about your work and PWSS:

  • How do you address personal and workplace success skills in your work? (Needless to say, this will look differently depending on your roles)
  • What resources do you use?  What do you look for when selecting resources for addressing personal & workplace success skills in your work?

Explore the Personal & Workplace Success Skills Library – use the filters and search terms, check out the descriptions: 

  • What did you find?
  • What piques your curiosity to explore further?

We're looking forward to hearing from you!

 

Now that we have discussed why personal and workplace success skills (PWSS)  matter, it is time to explore how we teach the skills, so that learners can achieve their academic, career and personal goals in relevant and meaningful ways. Adult education programs and practitioners with limited time and resources often feel pressure to show measurable gains and improve test scores, even as they are becoming increasingly aware of how important it is to also address and teach these skills. So, how to do it all? Our work and experience show that building awareness and developing these skills is best done in concert with existing curriculum and program goals, and our library includes a range of resources to help all programs find the right fit. 

In fact, many practitioners are already teaching these skills, and with increased emphasis and intentionality supported by the PWSS Library resources, there are many methods for increasing skill awareness and skill-building. For example, any time students participate in a collaborative activity or discussion, they are building communication, teamwork, interpersonal and collaborative skills. Emphasizing and building skills does not subtract from other program goals and mandates, but instead provides opportunities to assess, name, build and reflect on the centrality of these skills for each learner's personal, workplace, community and family success. 

The library contains a variety of resources to accommodate a diversity of program models, service delivery goals, and intensity and duration of instruction frameworks. The Personal and Workplace Success Skills (PWSS) Library has assessments, comprehensive curriculum, frameworks, and lessons that can be used in self-directed, remote, facilitated, or group settings. 

Strategies for teaching the Skills: 

Personal and workplace success skills are best taught and practiced contextually, using real-life situations and materials to engage learners and workers in recognizing the value, utility, and transferability of these skills. In educational settings, the ideal approach is to incorporate these skills into all content and occupational skill instruction, and in workforce development settings participants can practice and demonstrate the skills in resume writing and mock interviews.

For example, we have worked with programs to integrate the skills into test-prep and career exploration practice, which has led to greater learner self-awareness, confidence and agency. We will discuss findings from our case studies and Voices from the Field work more in the next post. 

Here are our tips for teaching the skills: 

  • Be transparent and explicit about the focus on personal and workplace success skills and engage participants in a discussion of why they are important and how they are applied in various life contexts and scenarios.
  • Make the connection that these skills are valued in the labor market and enable people to upskill, advance in, and move across industries.
  • Provide opportunities for self-reflection and self-assessment as part of the learning process.
  • Allow time for review, reinforcement, ongoing practice, and reflection over time. 
  • Understand that skills are overlapping, mutually reinforcing, and rarely practiced in isolation from one another. 

Questions for you:

We would like to hear about your experience with teaching the skills, or supporting teachers and programs in teaching the skills. 

  • What are some of your tips for teaching the skills? 
  • How do you balance teaching personal and workplace success skills alongside other goals (academic and English language gains, preparation for tests, such as high school equivalency, college placement, workforce certification, etc.)? 

On a personal note, when I was teaching HiSET and ESOL classes, teaching personal and workplace success skills was not on my radar, for a variety of reasons: lack of resources, lack of awareness, and lack of models and inspiration from other programs and peers. Now, hearing from others about how they choose resources and how they integrate, build and assess these skills, I would feel much more able to do this.  

Dani,

I can appreciate your statement, "Emphasizing and building skills does not subtract from other program goals and mandates, but instead provides opportunities to assess, name, build and reflect on the centrality of these skills for each learner's personal, workplace, community, and family success." Integration of skills can even enhance the content that needs to be delivered due to mandates.  

Jamie, 

Thanks for your comment, and a great point that these skills can enhance content for learners. For example, one site we are working with used In the Workplace: An Intermediate Integrated Skills Textbook, and were able to teach English and writing skills through the context of email-writing, which included critical thinking around workplace expectations. This made the writing more meaningful to the learners, and encouraged critical thinking in context. You can read more about that site in our Voices from the Field write-up. 

Learners can understand the importance of these skills for their lives inside and outside of the classroom, and we continue to hear about the confidence building that happens when learners realize they are not just building academic or technical skills, but are also amassing key transferable skills for the workplace, their communities, and future employment / promotion. 

Thank you for sharing the PWSS with us. I was just reviewing the  In the Workplace: An Intermediate Integrated Skills Textbook and it looks like a very useful resource for my MS Word and English training class. I like the variety of exercises from vocabulary, to dialogues, to writing skills. Developing transferrable skills is definitely key for my learners.

Hi Tara, 

Glad to hear that this resource could be of use to you. It sounds like you work on digital literacy skills and English language skills? I used the search filters in our library to select audience as "English Language Learners" and a keyword search of "Digital Literacy" and pulled up these results, all of them focusing on the transferable skills you mentioned. A few standouts include: 

  • GCF Learn Free which you may know already, and contains smaller lessons on a variety of tools including MS Word. What I like about this index is that students could be self-directed in their learning, choosing a few of the mini lessons they would like to complete on their own. The reading level may be best for intermediate learners. 
  • Skillbase curates free resources that help users explore careers and build top employability skills sought by employers. Geared towards English language learners and uses a brief self assessment to recommend trainings and lessons. 
  • Learn to Earn offers open-access online articles, activities, and quizzes organized into ten workforce skills, available at intermediate or advanced levels. Learners can complete modules on their own, while instructors can view backend progress. 
  • Here is a specific lesson on email communications from Linkedin and Northstar Digital Literacy includes some free online digital literacy skill-building materials curated by Northstar staff and organized by Northstar digital literacy standards, as well as a collection of other free, online learning resources

Anyone interested in receiving more targeted recommendations and supports in choosing and using a resource can complete an interest form about our case study process, and we will be in touch. 

Using Google or Microsoft Forms can be a great way to do quick warm ups, exit tickets, or self-assessments whether you are teaching face to face, virtually, or blended. I also make sure I always put learning objectives in student-friendly language and share them at the start of every class. I revisit them again before closing the class. If you are new to lesson planning I really like the lesson planning wheel which helps remind teachers to use backward design in lesson planning. 

Today we will discuss what we are learning from our technical assistance to programs and practitioners who are participating in Voices from the Field case studies. Throughout the case study process, we offer support and guidance for programs as they identify a programmatic or class need related to personal and workplace success skills. We then assist sites in finding and thoughtfully implementing a resource from the Personal & Workplace Success Skills (PWSS) Library, making sure it is a good fit for their learners’ goals and program design. 

Take a look at the four initial case studies we have posted in the Voices from the Field section of the library. We hope these will give you ideas about ways you can use the Library resources. Contact us if you are interested in participating! 

What have we learned from this process so  far? 

Many practitioners are already teaching these skills, but wanted to do so with more intentionality, and with better and more supportive resources. Some programs were looking for a badging system. Others were looking for a more up-to-date assessment tool, while others wanted a whole new curriculum. Programs viewed their participation as an opportunity to become more systematic in their planning and streamline resources for their learners by using one or two comprehensive, quality resources. 

Finding & adapting resources to remote settings

We started this process last year when adult education classes across the country were meeting remotely, so many sites told us it was important that the resources could be delivered easily in an online environment. Some programs were seeking high quality videos with closed captioning, easy-to-read PDFs on mobile phones, websites learners could navigate easily, and in some cases, content in Spanish so their learners could access it asynchronously. Programs made resources more accessible by, for example, carefully selecting and posting specific links on a Google Classroom page or a college learning management system, like Blackboard. 

Teaching the skills explicitly

Teaching the skills in an explicit and transparent way and engaging participants in a discussion of why they are important helps learners to understand their value. One teacher reported learner comments such as, “ I never knew that communicating with my boss was so important. I thought I should just know what to do, not have to ask.” Practicing teamwork skills in role plays was fodder for discussions around what language is appropriate for the workplace and what role culture can play in staff interactions. Learners were happy to discover that being adaptable could be considered a strength in a workplace, education, and/or training setting. Instructors noted that awareness and attainment of these new skills added value in the career search process, in particular with job applications, resumes, and interviewing practice. Learners were able to highlight their strengths with more confidence and understanding of what that meant.

Incorporating reflection & self-assessment 

Even when resources did not have built-in reflection or self-assessment activities, we encouraged programs to incorporate them. Instructors and counselors adapted in-person delivery methods to remote classes to allow learners time to reflect together in a group and then individually about what they had learned about themselves and the skills. They followed up whole group discussions with breakout rooms to allow learners the opportunity to reflect on questions in small groups with their peers. Many programs used Google Forms providing regular opportunities for learners to reflect on what they have been learning. 

Emphasize the value and durability of these skills

Instructors shared bits of research with classes showing how large corporations and small businesses alike across sectors value these skills as much as the hard skills such as CNA licenses, for example. Learners discovered how skills they brought with them from their home countries would serve them well as they sought work in a new industry here in the U.S. A learner from Peru, who had had a high-level banking career was surprised to learn that her customer service skills and background knowledge would make her a candidate for an entry-level banking position, or one in a similar industry. 

Adapting resources to regions 

Programs adapted the resources to their sites by making connections to the local labor market or education & training opportunities. Some had business representatives visit classes remotely and field questions from learners. A college career specialist visited one class and did practice interviews with learners. 

Does any of this sound familiar to you? Please share your experiences and discoveries with implementing the skills so that we can learn from each other.

  • What are your program goals? How can a PWSS Library resource help you achieve your program goals? 
  • When choosing a resource, what are the most important criteria to you?
  • How would these resources be used differently in an instructional setting versus in career coaching/advising?

 

Hi -- thanks, all, for this excellent discussion! Transferable skills is such an important topic, and I want to add in here that it might help to bring it up with students by giving them content to read by other students. The current issue of The Change Agent, "Doing Our Jobs and Taking Care of Our Children," has a number of articles that do this. Students could read the articles and assess what transferable skills the writer has. Then they could apply the lens to themselves and do a similar assessment. To make it easier on teachers, I collected some articles and activities in Lesson Packet #28 (freely available; no subscription required). The second two in the list are about transferable skills that come from 1) volunteering, and 2) parenting. Thank you!

Cynthia

Thank you Sandy, Dani, and Kathleen for helping us explore the Personal & Workplace Success Skills (PWSS) Library

Although this was a hosted discussion during AEFL week, LINCS Career Pathways Group Members are encouraged to continue to explore the PWSS Library and come back to the discussion thread to share how the resources are being used for instruction and career navigation. 

Thank you Chrissie and LINCS for hosting us. We saw a spike in new visitors to the Personal & Workplace Success Skills Library over the course of the week, so suspect that many of you took up our invitation to explore it on your own. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you would like to learn more about the PWSS Library or about participating in a Voices from the Field case study that Kathleen described. 

If you missed our Conversation with Michelle R. Weise, author of Long Life Learning: Preparing for Jobs that Don't Even Exist Yet, you can view the recording here.