An in-house orientation programme on Life Skills was organised for teachers. The training centred on the importance of proper nurturing of one’s own body and mind so as to impart knowledge in a balanced manner to the students. Through UNESCO’s five pillars of education, the participants were briefed on how to create a better educational environment for the students.
During the training, the teachers were informed on what life skill is and its importance. They got to know that any skill that is useful in life can be considered as a life skill and there is no definitive list of life skills. Certain skills may be more or less relevant depending on the circumstances, culture, customs, faith, beliefs, religion, age, geographic location, etc.Life skills are not always taught directly but often learned indirectly through experience and practice and by learning new skills, one increases their understanding of the world around them and learn how to cope with challenges that comes on the way. Life skills teaches how to lead a better quality of life by accomplishing the desired wishes and goals.
The teachers were also briefed on the importance of vital life skills like dealing with personal emotions, body language and non-verbal communication, keeping calm, stress and anger management, as well as the relation between life skill and health. The trainers spoke on the correlation between social skills, emotional skills and thinking skills, detailing out the components of each skill. They also spoke on the essential skills like creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making, the ability for effective communication and collaboration that is required for leading a successful life in the 21st century.
The objective of the training was to enhance students’ performance by minimizing the negative effects of stress in the classroom, which can be done by identifying and addressing specific sources of stress that undermine effective teaching and learning.
