Why Soft Skills are Really Foundational Skills
Educators and others use the term “soft skills” so often and in so many different ways that its meaning has become nebulous. Furthermore, many think that it is very difficult to teach soft skills since the behaviors associated with them are so imprecise. Within this short article, I will argue that a subset of soft skills, which I call foundational skills, can be taught throughout nearly every educational activity. While grounding education within foundational skills would revolutionize the school experience, students would become much better prepared for succeeding in post-school life.
The United States military defined the term “soft skills” in the early 1970s to distinguish “soft skills” from the technical skills required to work on machines. In December 1972, Paul G Whitmore, speaking at a military conference on soft skills, said that these are skills that the military knows very little about. In a 2012 article, in Business Communications Quarterly, Marcel M. Robles identified ten specific soft skills: Communication; Courtesy; Flexibility; Integrity; Interpersonal skills; Professionalism; Responsibility; Teamwork; and, Work ethic.
Recently, my educational development company, A Pass Educational Group, LLC, has obtained several opportunities to develop eLearning modules that specifically focus on social and emotional learning (SEL). These types of learning modules have become hot across all levels of education. However, separating these types of modules from core curricular activities is not only unnecessary, but it wastes precious time.
When it comes to soft skills, employers typically look for at least four skills within their employees: creativity, critical thinking, teamwork, and, grit. While these skills are certainly needed for high functioning employees, they are even more important for business and societal leaders. Rather than referring to these skills as soft skills, we should call them foundational skills. They are foundational to all success. Unfortunately, schools do not typically teach these skills. But they could and should.
Most adults remember their formal education as one in which a teacher stood in front of the room and individual students were called on one at a time. Classroom work was typically individualistic. “Don’t look at your classmate’s paper,” was a typical refrain. After a writing assignment was completed and graded it was time to move on to the next activity. The grade was entered into the all-important grade book, either in hard copy or online. Group activities were often fun and exciting but rare. Many classrooms still work this way.
School has struggled to keep up with the changes in society but we no longer live in a world in which adults can simply follow rules and survive. The assembly line worked well and assembly line workers could live nice lives. Today we have far fewer assembly line workers and far more robots doing this kind of work. More and more, people don’t do the work, they design the work solutions.
Schools could evolve to ground nearly all academic instruction within the development of soft/foundational skills. Hence, I call them foundational skills. These skills can serve as the foundation for nearly all learning.
In considering how to develop high-quality learning experiences, there are some who argue that teachers should teach the students - students should remain at the center of the teaching and learning process. Others argue that content knowledge and skills should stand at the focal point for all teaching and learning. However, if teaching students means helping them develop critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and grit, this is a false dichotomy. Indeed, academics who study the disciplines at universities typically employ these same skills in their work.
One must only scan the number of authors on many academic articles to recognize that the most rigorous disciplinarians often conduct research studies in small collaborative groups. An individual cannot accurately assess his ideas if he does not share them with others. The members of these groups often challenge one another to think critically. This critical thinking leads to creative analysis. High-level discourse ensues as the members of the group build upon each other's thoughts and continuously challenge one another. While the members of the group might stop working on a particular project at a certain time, they are most certainly not forbidden from revisiting their work and revising it further. There is no room for laziness in high-quality research groups. The members continuously strive to do the highest quality work. Often they work so hard because they love the work. But, it is not easy. Grit is an absolute requirement for success.
Certainly, classroom teachers focused on content matter can structure teaching and learning the same way that disciplinarians study their fields. Group work can enable students to develop the habits of mind that will enable them to continuously learn and succeed after the completion of their formal educational experiences. The beautiful aspect of teaching in this way is that, as explained above, these are the same characteristics that employers look for in their employees. So while students learn the foundational skills that will allow them to excel academically, they are simultaneously learning the skills that will allow them to excel in the workplace.
Now, of course, the difficult work lies ahead. It is far from easy to develop high-quality group assignments that challenge individuals to contribute to a team effort while holding them accountable for the results of their own efforts. Yet, terrific instructional designers, whether they be classroom teachers who have honed their craft or full-time IDs, specialize in this work. This work, too, requires critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and grit. The results can turn students on to learning and truly improve lives.
Andrew Pass is the Founder and CEO of A Pass Educational Group, LLC. A Pass partners with organizations to develop customized educational content, including online courses. A Pass actively listens to client needs, specifications, and objectives and then develops the right collaborative team to bring their content vision to life.