Continuation of EDHF 4001 course review

1. EDHF 4001 Life Skills Education
Course Review Part
2

2. UNIT 3
Unit 3 focused on problems faced with the teaching of life skills
with a focus on three main ideas;
1. Understanding self
2. Empathizing with others
3. Overcoming personal issues and biases

3. UNIT 3
We got an opportunity to take a self test and share the results
with your colleagues. This enabled you to get a better
understanding of you are and to reflect on personal issues
which may impede your delivery of HFLE.
The concept of self disclosure was also presented as an import
form of self reflection and a way of building relationships with
students.

4. Cognitive Therapy can be use to engage in positive self talk there by adjusting and thought and
behaviors . This can then minimize the personal challenges to the teaching lf life skills. The
basic premise of cognitive therapy is that your thoughts and attitudes - not external events create your feelings.

5. Personal barriers to life skills instruction
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Beliefs and attitudes
Lack of training
Lack of preparation
Personal issues
Lack of knowledge of related content

6. Professional challenges to life skills instruction
• Inadequate training and knowledge of subject
matter
• Lack of resources
• Classroom management
• Being aware of legal and ethical issues
• Dealing with lack of support from
administration
• Unsuitable physical environments

7. Professional challenges to life skills instruction
According to Windschitl, Mark. 2002. there are four dilemmas
teachers face when attempting to implement constructivism in the
classroom. These are:
• conceptual
• Pedagogical
• Political
• Cultural

8. Institutional and Community challenges to life
skills instruction
The political and Cultural dilemmas which Mark 2002, outlined refer
to many of the Institutional and community challenges which a life
skills teacher may face. On of the biggest Institutional challenges is
school culture.

9. School Culture
According to Linda S. Nelson 2009, “School Culture refers to the
values, beliefs, practices, traditions, climate and environment”
of a school.
When the school culture is in opposition to the concept of
constructivism, the teacher has to find creative and innovative
ways to gain support .
If one is successful then school culture can be changed.

10. Institutional and Community challenges to life
skills instruction
Community challenges may be as a result of;
1. Religious organization especially as it relates to sexuality
education.
2. Parents from upper echelons of society
3. Parents with differing beliefs
4. Lack of support from colleagues
5. Public opinion
6. Legislative frameworks

11. UNIT 4
Unit 4 focused two main ideas;
• Assessing and Monitoring of Learners’ Life Skills Acquisition
• Providing Leadership for Life Skills Development and
Teaching

12. UNIT 4
• Children begin to acquire life skills at a very early age. The
foundation should be set before they attain the age of five.
• A number of factors influence the acquisition of life skills and
other psychosocial skills including parenting style, socioeconomic status of children, early learning experiences,
educational background of parents and their environment.

13. Life Skill Acquisition
• Children begin to acquire life skills at a very early age. The
foundation should be set before they attain the age of five.
• A number of factors influence the acquisition of life skills and
other psychosocial skills including parenting style, socioeconomic status of children, early learning experiences,
educational background of parents and their environment.

14. Life Skill Acquisition
• Teachers need to be aware of each child’s individual
background and experiences when assessing for life skills
acquisition.
• According to social learning theory children learn by
observing others. It is therefore critical for teachers to
model positive behaviors especially in the life skills
classroom.
• The onus is also on the teacher to develop and implement
strategies to strengthen the teaching of life skills. This speaks
to the concept of leadership.

15. Leadership
• leadership is the “a process whereby an individual influences
a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (Bolden,
2004).
• Your readings presented eight leadership theories. It is
critical that the concept of leadership be understood in order
to practice leadership skills in the role of life skills teacher.
• In many Caribbean schools HFLE and moreso CFS are not
established. HFLE teachers usually have to advocate for
support and resources to strenghten these programs.

16. UNIT 5
• The focus of Unit 5 is on decision making strategies and
modules for managing the HFLE curriculum.
• There are two main ways of delivering life skills based HFLE.
It can either be done as a separate subject or it can be
delivered using an integrated approach.
• The integrated approach includes the home, school and
community and can be taught within a number of subjects
including Language, Mathematics, Science and P.E.

17. UNIT 5
• Once it is decided which approach will be used, the teacher
also has to be familiar with the curriculum. The HFLE
curriculum has four content areas, each of which are further
divided into Regional Standards and Core Outcomes for
various age levels.
• It is critical that the teacher plans for instruction. The plan
should consider among other things; the content and skill to
be taught, the characteristics of the students, the available
resources, the amount of time allocated and how lessons
will be assessed.

18. UNIT 5
• It is very important to consider which instructional strategy
to use to teach a given lesson.
• The strategy should be suitable for use with students
especially as it related to their developmental stage, and
interest.
• It should also be aligned to the objectives of the lesson.

19. UNIT 5
• This unit also focused on decision making which is the
process of making a choice about something.
• While the rational decision making model is usually taught it
is worthwhile to note that there are other models such as
the intuitive and Garbage Can model which can be utilised as
well.

20. Conclusion
• This course in essence has taken you on a journey from
understanding the basics of life skills to examining the
challenges and barriers to teaching life skills. The context
within which the delivery of life skills education occurs is
very important and should be used to inform decision
making as it relates to program design and implementation.
You had the opportunity to analyse a number of sources of
information and to collect a number of resources and ideas
which can be used to enhance your capacity to efficiently
implement the life skill program in
under diverse
conditions.