LO in Higher Ed LO7636

Carol Sager (sagerent@world.std.com)
Mon, 27 May 1996 19:56:53 -0400

Replying to LO7567 --

Rol Fessenden wrote:
>
> Ben asks if businesses are expecting too much in asking that college grads
> have the following skills.
>
> *The ability to work effectively in teams.
> *The ability to work effectively with people of both genders and
> diverse disciplines, cultures, races, religions and nationalities.
> *The ability to think quickly, clearly, and critically.
> *The ability quickly and easily to communicate effectively both
> orally and in writing.
> *The ability to adapt rapidly to changing circumstances.
> *The ability to appreciate the total enterprise, not just one of
> its elements.
> *The ability to work without sacrifice of integrity, even in
> corrupting environments."
>
> In my opinion the top 5 should be skills available to high school
> students. They do not need to be fully developed. The last one is learned
> well before a person is an adult. The ability to look and think
> strategically is the only one in question in my mind.
>
> These are not skill sets expected of business superstars. These are
> pretty basic.
>
> Rol Fessenden

I have only read Rol's response as noted above. I thought you might be
interested in high school students' views of what skills they need to
learn now:

THE CRITICAL LINKAGES II NEWSLETTER (VOL3:1, JAN. 1996)
DOES HIGH SCHOOL PREPARE US FOR SURVIVAL IN THE REAL WORLD? FROM THE
STUDENTS POINT OF VIEW

By Student Advisory Board members Mark Jesionowski and Marielin Lopez

After high school, most students go off in one of the following four
directions:

7 Attend college;
7 Enter the work force;
7 Enlist in the military ; or
7 Hang in a sort of "limbo" until they can make a decision about what
they want to do.

With these options and the end of high school comes the issue of what
skills does one need to survive in the real world.

Our List Of Survival Skills
Some skills we feel are most necessary are.

7 Budgeting Time: In todays fast-paced world, time-demands have greatly
increased. Besides being punctual, you are expected to meet several
different deadlines almost at once. Then theres the need to find time
for yourself and your family.

7 Organization: People need to know how to set goals, make plans, and keep
track of what they are doing. Organizational skills help us accomplish
things and keep our lives from being hectic or in chaos.

7 Budgeting Money: People need to know how to figure out what it costs to
support themselves and their families. They need to know how to handle
money so that they can make payments on any bills, save for what they want
to do, and plan for the future.

7 Communication/Psychology: Today, it is important to be able to
understand and communicate with many different people in all aspects of
life. You have to know how to work as a team on the job, with family
members, and socially.

7 Knowing a Second Language: Many companies are recommending or even
requiring a second language because of the need to communicate with people
world-wide.

7 Computer/Typing: In a society becoming more technologically advanced
and linked, computers are now part of every aspect of our lives. Its
important to know keyboarding, how to use computers, and what computers
can do for us.

7 Health/Nutrition/Personal care: People need to know how to take care
of themselves properly. They need to know the actions they can take to
stay healthy. They need to know how to cook and other skills so that
they can be self-sufficient.

How These Skills Are Learned?

In school, for the most part, these skills are taught in courses that
are optional. You can go through high school without taking computer
science, learning a second language, or how to budget money, etc. Many
of the high school courses designed to teach these skills, dont teach
them well enough for students to actually apply them in society.

At home many parents work longer hours and spend less time with their
kids, More and more, these skills are self-taught, which is why many
students dont learn them very well.

Given the importance of these skills, they should not be treated as
incidental or left to chance.

-- 
Carol Sager
Sager Educational Enterprises
Critical Linkages II Newsletter
21 Wallis Road
Chestnut Hill, MA 02167
Phone (617)469-9644; Fax (617)469-9639
E-mail: sagerent@world.std.com
 

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