УДК 378

Sharing experience of Vietnam in the life skill education for students

Pham Bich Thuy – lecturer in the Department of Management Education – School of the Educational Manager in Ho Chi Minh city VietNam.

Abstact: Life skill education for students is an urgent issue, is identified as an important task and is gotten a lot of attention of the leadership, faculty, students, human resource users, and parents of students who are studying in universities, colleges in Viet Nam. However, the implementation is incosistent, superficial, ineffective. This paper shares some experiences in implementing educational measures in order to improve training to meet needs of high human resources of the society.

Аннотация: Обучение студентов жизненным навыкам – это актуальный и важный вопрос сегодня. Сотрудники учебных заведений, сами студенты, специалисты в области человеческих ресурсов, а также родители учащихся университетов и колледжей Вьетнама уделяют этому вопросу большое внимание. Однако внедрение такой образовательной программы в жизнь не имеет единых стандартов и является неэффективным. В этой статье авторы делятся своим опытом применения образовательных мер для улучшения качества обучения и удовлетворения потребностей общества в человеческих ресурсах.

Keywords: Experience, Life skills, Life skill education, Universities, Students, Methods, Training

Ключевые слова: Опыт, жизненные навыки, образование, университеты, студенты, методы, обучение.

Life skill education is to form a positive lifestyle in modern society, is to build healthy behaviors and change negative behaviors and habits on the basis of helping learners to have both knowlegde and appropriate skills.

1. Situation of measures of life skill education for students at a university in Viet Nam.

The rapid development of socio-economic sectors and international exchange has been creating complext, multi-dimensional effects. It has influenced the formation and development of personality of the young generation. To be success and to have a qualitative life in the modern society, people should have life skills. Life skills have both social and personal property. The life skill education becomes a target and is a mission in education of comprehensive personality for students.

We conducted a survey of 120 students in 3 sectors of college in Thu Dau 1 university including: Foreign languages, Literature Pedagogy and Elementary Education. The results show as following:

Table 1. The level of students’ participation in life skill training activities

Life skill training activities	Level of participation
	Never	Seldom	Sometimes	Often	Very often
Extracurricular activities
Class of the life skill training	41,5	56,4	2,1	0	0
Team activities	0	12,8	40,4	40,4	6,4
Volunteer, social activities	0	12,8	40,4	38,3	8,5
Integrated the life skill education into courses in the class	20.4	34,4	38,7	6,5
Separated life skill lessons
Listening and writing lessons	100
Integrated games into the lessons	100
Integrated the professional learning (seminar, theme).	100
Group discussion	100
Presentation	100

 

Among 9 basic life skill training activities in above, notably, there are 56,4% students who are seldom participated in life skill training activities and there are 41,5% students who are never participated in life skill training activities. There are 93,5% students who choose the activity of participation in lessons that intergrate with the life skill in classroom with the level from “never” to “sometimes”. There is any student who participates in the life skill education lessons that play as a separate lesson because educational programs of Thu Dau 1 university in all of specialities do not have separate life skill education lessons.

Table 2. Evaluation of students and teachers about effectiveness of life skill training activities

Forms of the life skill training	Object	Inefficiency	Low efficiency	Avarage efficiency	High efficiency	Very high efficiency
Extracurricular activities
Class of the life skill training Team activities	Teacher			31.6	52.6	15.8
	Student		4.3	13.8	54.3	27.7
Volunteer, social activities Integrated the life skill education into courses in the class	Teacher			21.1	57.9	21.1
	Student		9.6	22.3	41.5	26.6
Separated life skill lessons Listening and writing lessons	Teacher			15.8	42.1	42.1
	Student		2.1	16.0	40.4	41.5
Integrated games into the lessons Integrated the professional learning (seminar, theme).	Teacher			15.8	52.6	31.6
	Student		12.8	37.2	41.5	8.5
Group discussion
Presentation Class of the life skill training	Teacher	21.1	47.4	31.6
	Student	19.1	39.4	40.4	1.1
Team activities Volunteer, social activities	Teacher			26.3	63.2	10.5
	Student	3.2	10.6	29.8	42.6	13.8
Integrated the life skill education into courses in the class Separated life skill lessons	Teacher		5.3	47.4	42.1	5.3
	Student	7.4	11.7	52.1	27.7	1.1
Listening and writing lessons Integrated games into the lessons	Teacher		5.3	57.9	26.3	10.5
	Student		16.0	33.0	51.1
Integrated the professional learning (seminar, theme).	Teacher			31.6	52.6	15.8
	Student	2.1	12.8	21.3	58.5	5.3

 

The majority of teachers and students assessed activities such as life skill training, group activities, social activities, volunteer activities.. that bring a high efficiency in the training process for students. Other forms such as presentation, group discussion, games that intergrate with life skills.. are evaluated an average efficiency; form of listening and writing the lesson is evaluated an inefficiency. It can be seen that the evaluation of teachers and students about effectiveness of these forms is not different. For the form of life skill education integrated into lessons, the majority of teachers evaluated high and very high efficiency, but students evaluated an average efficiency and inefficiency (50%). Thus, there are a distinct difference between teachers’ opinion and students’ opinion about this form (based on the data table of SPSS software, it has Sig = 0,001 Sig = <0.05). In contrast, for the form of life skill education integrated into professional lessons, it is not significantly different between teachers’ opinion and students’ opinion.

 

The chart shows, the element, that creates the most difficult to the life skill education for students, is the document that is only theory without practice (17,2%), in the next this is the student do not know where to train and how to train” (15,9%), “the school does not have separately life skill education lessons for students” (12,7%) and “the school does not orgnize diverse activities for students” (12,5%)…

2. Some measures to improve the quality of life skill education for students.

2.1. The leadership in universities and colleges should define the life skill education as a target of education.

Accordingly, all of courses, activities in the school are ditected to a target of life skill education for students. The life skills are defined as an outcome standard for graduates. Outcome standards about some basic life skills that are announed at beginning of the school year such as foreign language, physical, …. One of required conditions for a bachelor’s degree is that you have to have some basic life skill certificates such as foreign language, computer science, physical, national defense… Students can get these certifications during 3-4 years of bachelor’s degree program. It can say that, this is a strong method and has a decisive significane to the life skill education for students. Thus, the life skill education for students is done regularly, continuously, and actively (both time and space), so that targets of the life skill education for students reach at a high level. The life skills are taught by school , that are determined by a scientific basis, and based on the practical requirements of enterprises, local cultural characteristics.

2.2. To create a genenral consensus in the whole school to all members in the different positions participate in each stage of the life skill education for students.

This measure will mobilize the combined strength to achieve a high efficiency in the life skill education. To create a general consensus, the school issued distinct regulations, rules for the whole school and for each unit. In the meetings, seminars about curriculum content, training methods… the leadership should strengthen viewpoints of the life skill education for students to leaders of departments. Especially, when students won awards in the talent contest about the life skills, the leadership’s role as well as lecturers was appreciated. That creates a competition among units in training the life skills for students.

2.3. To integrate the content of the life skill education into domain courseworks or other educational activities.

The life skills are formed and developed via experience and assiociated with students’ activities, so the life skill education for students following to the form of integration is an appropriate form. The intergrated form have been made with some educational contents, which should be updated into educational programs such as population education, environmental education.

The determination to build a separate subject or integrated courses depends on different majors. Majors also need to determine both syllabus and life skills that need for teachers and students in different majors. At the same time, the school should invite representatives of enterprises to teach, consult, or design subjects in eduacational programs in order to accumulate life experiences for students.

2.4. Building the Center of life skill education for students.

It is necessary to define responsibilities clearly: the center is responsible for financial, the school is responsible for management and qualitative monitoring. The center can open many courses, and each course can include various life skills or a single life skill with diversity programs and flexible time. The graduates are certified. There are only certifications of the center, which are recognized for graduation.

2.5. To maximize the role of unions in the life skill education for students.

Unions should organize various attractitve activities to attract students’ participation to improve the autonomy and creativity for students. On the other hand, the school organizes clubs, teams, groups widely for students who can take part in activities following to their interests, their abilities, especially academic clubs, young talent clubs; organizes thematic meetings…

2.6. Training a dedicated faculty.

The faculty should recognize the necessity of the life skill education program for students; is trained basically as well as methods of progagation, comunication, and teaching effectively. The teachers, who teach the life skills, should have a wide knowlegde, and are an example of morality and lifestyle. In the many schools, these teachers often come from psychology – education majors. However, to create the diversity and depth of expertise, the schools need to invite teachers from other departments, especially the human society, economy… to teach.

2.7. Compliting teaching material, educational program of the life skills under the advanced national program to inherit available experiences and apply to the practice of school. Documents of the life skill education ensure systematic, not patchwork; the content of education is reality in order to achieve the target of comprehensive education.

2.8. Strengthening inspection and assessment in the training and learning process about life skills of students.

To supplement and rectify the drawbacks of students timely. The most useful form of inspection and evaluation is through the expression of the life skills of students while studying in the school, via the evaluation of employers after graduation.

2.9. Building a healthy favorable educational environment.

This step aims to help learners develop their life skills actively and positively, and then they can apply for their life. To create an infrastructure such as yard, training and cultural exchanging places, sports, practice facilities for students to train life skills.

2.10. Deployment of encouragement, cheering for students participate in activities of the life skill education.

Self-awareness and activeness of students are still key issues so that they can equip the most basic life skills. If they are voluntarily aware of life skills that is an important target to help them in the real life, they will seek to learn the most effective way.

3. Conclusion:

The life skill education is one of key issues in a comprehensive education for students. The outcome publication for graduates requires each university not only equipped basic knowlegde for students, but also equipped with “soft skills” for them, especially basic life skills in order to help them integrate into the professional life quickly.

The life skills help students to recognize and have a positive attitude towards stressful situations, willing to accept the difficulties and challenges in life. At the same time, students also have a positive response in many different situations, how to release emotions and to maintain themselves, always cultivate positive thinking skills, communication skills, skill of self-emotional perception of themselves. Because of the great importance of life skills, we need to find ways to practice life skills for ourself ...

Reference

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