Employability Skills And The Future Workplace

Our learners will be entering workplaces that are rapidly changing and that increasingly expect new employees to have a range of skills beyond those directly related to the job itself. Such skills include the ability to critically reflect on one’s own and others’ performance, to collaborate in teams, to present new information to colleagues, and many others.??

In our conversation we discuss what such ‘employability skills’ are and how language teachers are particularly well placed to help learners develop them. We also talk about ways in which teachers can prepare themselves to introduce topics related to the workplace into the classroom, and of course the role of technology in all this.?Listen now

After listening?

Once you have listened to the podcast, the following reflective questions can act as prompts to consider the role of employability skills in your context.?

1) As we discuss in the podcast, the eight Employability Skills Competencies are:??

Collaboration and Teamwork, Communication, Innovation and Problem Solving, Critical Thinking and Decision Making, Leadership and Global Citizenship, Professional Development and Management, Emotional Intelligence, Digital Literacy.?

Which three competencies do you think are most relevant to your current job? Why??

Think of a different job you know about. Which three competencies would be most relevant? Why??

2) In the podcast, three methodological approaches to dealing with Employability Skills are mentioned:?

language input (vocabulary and expressions), providing reading and listening texts (followed by a speaking activity), getting students to do task-based activities?

Choose one of the Competencies and think how you could implement each methodological approach with a group of learners you are teaching (or taught recently).?

3)? What are the benefits for learners in developing Employability Skills before they enter the workplace? What are the benefits for employers??

4)? Digital Literacy involves not only knowing how to use digital tools. It also involves knowing how to manage information that flows through digital technology. How well do you think you manage this flow in your professional and personal life? What changes could you make??

5) To what extent has Digital Literacy become more or less important with the advent of Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models? Why do you think so? How does this affect your teaching and students’ learning??

To learn more?

Below are a number of resources, where you can learn more about the topics discussed in this episode.?

1. The Cambridge Employability Skills Framework document:?

https://issuu.com/cambridgeupelt/docs/the-cambridge-employability-framework-_-gen?

2. There is also an introductory booklet, which has useful Further Reading links at the end:??

https://languageresearch.cambridge.org/images/Employability/The-Cambridge-Employability-Framework-_-gen.pdf?

3. There are also two useful blog posts on the topic, here:?

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/blog/developing-employability-skills-in-higher-education-and-at-work/?

and here:?

https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/blog/graduate-employability-in-a-changing-world/?

4. This is the link to the research project Craig referred to in the conversation:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work?

5. Craige Thane has collaborated with Cambridge University Press to develop two short online Employability Skills modules. Find out more on:

https://www.cambridge.org/cambridgeenglish/catalog/adult-courses/employability-skills#1050606140-3401069214-3?

Teachers Talk Tech is a podcast series about the role of technology in language learning and teaching. In conversations with leading experts from around the world, along with members of the Cambridge University Press and Assessment Team, we discuss the latest developments in the field and offer suggestions for teachers on how best to use technology to support learning inside and outside the classroom.?