SOFT SKILLS FOR PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS

SOFT SKILLS FOR PROSPECTIVE TEACHERS

INTRODUCTION

            As the Kothari Commission (1964-66) rightly observed, of all the factors which influence Quality of Education, “the Quality, Competence and Character” of the teachers are the most significant. The quality of education depends upon various factors like the teaching to which the learner is exposed, the educational facilities, the environment available in the institutions and the temperament and approach of a learner towards study. Of all the above-mentioned factors, the teacher plays a prominent role in enhancing quality in education. So it is necessary for a teacher to acquire all the skills which are essential for his or her teaching profession. Updating the teachers with soft skills is not only important for his or her career proficiency but also it helps to mould the future generations as integrated personalities.

Soft Skills

            Soft Skills play a vital role in professional success of the individuals. They help the person to excel in his/her workplace.

            Soft Skills are also called human skill and people skill, complementing the hard skill. They are the interpersonal and human relation skill. It refers to the cluster of personality traits such as social graces, facility with language, personal habits, friendliness and optimism.

            A classroom situation demands an effective use of soft skills. Teaching-learning, being a process of interaction and interpretation becomes meaningful and successful only in the presence and application of soft skills. The teacher helps the students acquire not only the right knowledge but also values, attitudes, habits and skills that are necessary to cope with the world of tomorrow. In the same way, a pupil enhances his or her personality in relation with the experienced teacher.

            As the teachers are the torchbearers in creating social cohesion, national integration and a learning society, the colleges of education should provide formal professional training in soft skills to the prospective teacher-students on a continuous basic. They are necessary to become a good teacher as they cater to the development of one’s personality and sharpening of communication skills and commitment to a code of ethics.

Components of Soft Skills

i) Social

            The social component of soft skills incorporates the group interaction and welfare of the outdoor program participants. The social component may include the understanding of group dynamics, the ability to resolve group conflict, develop and provide a supportive climate (reassurance and encouragement), being sensitive to the needs of others and establishing effective group relations.

ii) Psychological

            The psychological component combines the skill necessary to relate to the participants presence of mind and behaviour. Some examples of the psychological component include building a climate of trust within a group, understanding what motivation is, and how to stimulate it. Other examples may include promoting values, understanding attitudes of others, team building, developing ethics and responding to a person’s risks in a trustworthy manner.

iii) Communication

            The communication component combines written, verbal and nonverbal transmission and exchange of information. Examples of this component range from being able to “think on your feet” and speak clearly in front of the group, to interpreting nonverbal expressions (hunching of the shoulders, furrowed brow, pursed lips). Other examples may include expressing directions in written format (or) listening attentively.  

Importance of Soft Skills

            Relationships play a vital role in human life and one of the keys to successful relationships is development of soft skills. A teacher/student who has interpersonal problems and another who has difficulty in taking decisions, suffer from lack of soft skills. Hence, a continuous renewal of soft skills is essential for students and teachers. This will make their dealings effective and successful

·            to handle interpersonal relations.

·            to take appropriate decisions.

·            to communicate effectively.

·            to have good impression and impact.

·            to gain professional development.

            Soft skills can enhance the career mobility of a person and increase the chances of success in launching the job s/he wants. They are essential for a student to develop so that s/he can cope with different situations in the study/workplace.

Soft Skills for Prospective Teachers

            There are various soft skills essential to succeed in any job environment. Some of them are briefed below.

I. Communication skill

            The teacher must have excellent communication skills to succeed as a teacher. The teacher must be able to explain his/her lessons in a clear way so that it can be understood by children of different ages and abilities. S/he must be able to tactfully communicate with parents on a regular basis. S/he must also be an effective team member with colleagues and the principal. Finally, a teacher’s verbal and written language skills must be impeccable. The following are important components of communication skill.

i) Listening

            To become a good teacher, s/he must have excellent listening skills. S/he will face a lot of questions from students on a daily basis, and s/he must be able to understand what the students are trying to convey when they speak.

ii) Presentation

            It is vitally important to be able to communicate teacher’s thoughts and ideas effectively, using a variety of tools and medium. The teacher will need to develop and use this skill throughout his/her career.

iii) Delegation

            Delegation skill is the ability of the teacher to effectively assign tasks, responsibility and authority to students and colleagues. Delegation skills is a teacher’s ability to get things done by using work and time of other people.

II. Leadership Sills

            “Leadership is the ability and readiness to inspire, guide, direct or manage others” (Murnane & Levy 1996). A leader is defined as one who has followers. Often teachers are not considered official leaders; yet they perform superbly once they are asked. Teachers have been expected to have the necessary skills on entry into leadership positions, or to develop them on the job.

v   A teacher should have the ability to engage with people-to persuade, influence and be very versatile in doing that.

v   A teacher requires a whole set of skills for leading and managing pupils, setting objectives, giving feedback, sometimes saying hard things, budgeting the available resources.

v   A teacher must have the vision of his/her educational institution and know how to do the strategic and tactical planning to achieve it.

III. Interpersonal Skills

            Teaching can be considered as fifty percent knowledge and fifty percent Interpersonal Skills (Sharma, 2004). That means, while teaching, a teacher should not just maintain the quantity of his lecture but also the quality of lecture. This quality of lecture can be provided with the help of interpersonal skills.

            Interpersonal communication is the manner in which information is shared or exchanged between a small number of people, whether they are same or different from each other. These can be healthy as well as harsh. Healthy Interpersonal Skills lead to creative and effective approaches to solving problems and getting work done.

A teacher should be

Ø  able to support and encourage others.

Ø  able to give and receive constructive criticism as well as able to negotiate.

Ø  able to listen to and value others opinions.

Ø  able to convey his/her point clearly to a student group.

IV. Time Management Skill

            It is important to prioritize your tasks as per the institution needs or the project needs and execute them in the descending order of priority.

One can use aids like.

·          Planners

·          Maintain a list of things to be done

·          Prepare action plan

·          Activity logs

·          Review the timelines and progress closely and regularly.

V. Team work Skill

            Teamwork is to develop a strong sense of commitment and responsibilities. It also develops qualities like responsibilities. It also develops qualities like respecting the thoughts and opinions of others in the group. The success of the entire program depends on the cooperation extended. Hence skill of cooperation is essential among the teachers to organize the whole educational activities. Teamwork skill is developed by the teacher educators by giving related activities such as group work, group discussion, project and group assignment.

VI. Problem-solving skill

            Problem solving is a planned attack upon a difficulty or perplexity for the purpose of finding a solution. It enables a teacher to exercise control over his activities and learning environment. The teacher has to define the problem solving technique needs the ability to see the problem clearly and the power to analyze with a keen discernment and the faculty to synthesize and draw conclusions with an uncanny accuracy.

A teacher should

v   focus more on the problem where it occurs.

v   develop relationship between the students and the background of the problems.

v   have careful and systematic approach with an active process of search.

v   have positive attitude and self-confidence in solving the problem.

Soft Skills : A Need for Teaching Community

            The teachers should improve their soft skills for effective teaching-learning process, for the following reasons.

1. Certification is not an end in itself Technical skills do matter

            In order to succeed in teaching, teachers definitely need to have solid technical skills with a good grasp of the fundamentals. To make any headway, teachers need to be solid on the ground with hard tech know-how. And the institution requires a teacher to fortify himself on a continuous basis with up-to-date tech knowledge and concepts. Training, certification, the Internet, books, provide opportunities for lifelong learning. (Roger Buckley and Jim Caple-2005). A teacher needs soft skills to create opportunity for himself. The essence of education is opportunity. The essence of teacher technical ability is opportunity. Use soft skills to cultivate opportunity. Use soft skills to grab opportunity with both hands.

2. Soft skills help advance teacher career

            To bring value to institution and students, teachers are getting more involved in many non-technical activities to carry out their teaching tasks. Teacher interpersonal skills should be top notch to deliver results with teacher colleagues and people in non-teaching areas the teacher has to work with.

3. Soft skills empower teacher in creating opportunities

            Soft skills are useful for creating and taking advantage of opportunities – jobs, career and administration. No matter how great teacher technical skills are, in job hunting, teacher marketing skills should be first-class. There are opportunities in teaching profession. But there are also challenges and competition. In such a competitive environment, perception often reigns supreme.

4. Soft skills not only improve teachers’ career, but also offer personal growth

            The acquisition of soft skills also empowers teacher to build flexibility into future teaching career plans. Most soft skills are regarded as transferable skills, e.g. communication, administration and teamwork, which are needed in nearly all aspects of life, not just for teacher career alone, since teachers need to grow not just as techies but as persons.

5. Do teachers have more tech skills than sense? Work on communication and leadership

            As teaching professionals, teachers have confidence in teacher technical abilities. Technical skills are important, but such abilities are no guarantee for career fulfillment. A teacher cannot sustain a teaching career with just tech skills. It’s good to acquire skills, but please be sensible. Unfortunately, many of us seem to emphasize having more skills than sense. (Roger Buckely and Jim Caple-2005).

            Key skills that make a difference include communication, leadership, teamwork, and problem solving. Having the required interpersonal skills provides a must-have foundation for career growth. They give teachers the ability to take advantage of challenges and opportunities that will come in a teacher’s way. When a teacher empowers himself, he stays ahead of the crowed.

6. Soft skills help teacher grow beyond money motivation

            Get rid of the technical-only approach. Teacher technical expertise doesn’t stop teacher from developing leadership and motivational skills. A teacher cannot go far without a positive, can-do, can-bounce-back mindset. When facing challenges, stop being a moaner, instead develop some backbone. Grow beyond money motivation. A teacher can not only be self-motivated but can also motivate everyone around him.

7. Developing professional ethics is vital to teacher career

            Stop negative conduct whether deliberate, due to ignorance, or because of an unsupportive environment. Teachers can’t afford to be ignorant, insensitive or unprofessional simply because they feel that teachers are technical gurus. Make a conscious effort to close the gap. Nobody is perfect. But that’s no excuse. Developing teacher’s technical skills while actively cultivating poor soft skills is like moving one step forward, two steps backwards. It burns and wastes what teachers hold dear-time, money and resources.

8. Control co-worker’s perception of teacher as a professional and an expert in teacher field

            If teachers are perceived as being difficult and unfriendly, of what value are teachers? Are teachers doing their best in their area of specialization? It’s a hard fact of life, but they will often be judged by their exterior. Most importantly, it’s not just about succeeding in work. To grow as a professional, to grow with the institution, a teacher must also grow as a person.

Conclusion

            Prospective teachers have a great responsibility in developing the society with values and good culture. They are the transmitters of culture. To transmit the culture to the society, soft skills are needed at different levels. The prospective teachers who are able to acquire these skills not only find work in the career of their choice but they also experience stronger and happier relationship in their personal lives.

References

-        Bharathi et. al (2007), Personality Development and Communicative English, New Delhi: Neelkamal Publications Pvt. Ltd.

-        Murnane, R.J. & Levy (1996), Teaching the new basic skills; Principles for educating children to thrive in a changing economy, New Delhi.

-        Sasipriya and Annarja (2008), Relationship between performance in soft skills and academic achievement among Higher Secondary Students, unpublished M.Phil thesis, M.S. University, Tirunelveli, May-2008.

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