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Employability Skills
Employers ask for soft skills as much as academics. This only makes sense! When we hire teachers, we certainly want math teachers to know their math content, as well as best practices of instruction. However, just as important and arguably more important are self-reflection, teamwork, social awareness, organization, relationship building, and growth mindset.
We hear this from employers all across the country. Quantitative data through surveys and research, as well as qualitative data through conversations and various meetings, indicate these soft skills are super important.
In my opinion, the federal government push in the early 1990’s that lasted through about 2005 was regarding math, science, reading, and writing. Elective courses in the high school such as agriculture, technology education (woods, metals, automotive), family and consumer sciences (a.k.a. home economics), and other courses, were cut from many budgets or reduced in scope. This is also true for art, music, and a wide range of leadership courses in elementary and middle school. To the frustration of teachers, we “pushed the testing” to meet the new arbitrary measurement of success.
Fast forward to today, and we have brought back much effort on these soft skills employers are looking for. Examples and definitions of various employability skills are as follows:
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Grit - How well students (employees) are able to persevere through setbacks to achieve important long-term goals.
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Growth Mindset - Student (employee) perceptions of whether they have the potential to change factors that are central to their performance.
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Self Management - How well students (employees) manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in different situations.
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Social Awareness - How well students (employees) consider the perspectives of others and empathize with them.
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Supportive Relationships - How supported students feel through their relationships with friends, family, and adults at school.
As you read this article and consider your own line of work, these are skill sets that many employers desire for a well rounded employee. Colleagues in many work settings desire their teammates on the job to also exhibit these well managed characteristics.
Leah Martone, our new School Counselor, has worked with every classroom and every teacher on various lessons focused on these skills. The students at Yorkville self reported through a survey in the fall of 2021, and then again in the spring of 2022. Growth is evident. Here are the results:
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