Follow-up Discussion: Integrating Workforce Readiness Skills in English Language Instruction

Hello colleagues, We were so pleased that Ronna Magy and Donna Price could be with us this week to share their expertise focused on integrating workforce readiness skills into instruction. These seasoned experts shared many practical strategies that can easily be applied immediately in the classroom.

During the event, Donna and Ronna highlighted four specific skills, according to recent research by Hart (2018), that employers value, including the ability to:

  • Communicate orally
  • Reason and analyze critically
  • Work effectively as part of a team
  • Communicate in writing

The instructional strategies demonstrated by Ronna and Donna do a great job of balancing the language and workforce readiness skills learners need to achieve their important goals, including:

  • One-word selfie
  • Conversation cards
  • Useful language phrases
  • Language frames (oral & written)
  • Problem solving
  • Classroom jobs
  • Exit tickets

We are fortunate that Donna and Ronna also shared a wonderfully useful handout with us that outlines these instructional strategies and much more. 

Members, please feel free to continue the discussion here in our community by posting comments and questions related to the integration of workforce (or what we now sometimes call "lifeforce skills") here in our community!

THANK YOU, RONNA AND DONNA, FOR SHARING SO MANY AMAZING RESOURCES WITH ALL OF US!

Cheers, Susan Finn Miller

Moderator, English Language Acquisition CoP