A group of students completing an exercise in a Life Skills workshop

Our Life Skills programme consists of two modules:

  • Life Skills: Developing Active Citizens, which consists of six one-hour workshops for children and teenagers aged 10 to 16.
  • Life Skills: Developing Social Entrepreneurs, which consists of online training sessions for teachers and six one-hour workshops for young adults aged 16 to 24.

Both Life Skills modules are designed to help children and young adults effectively manage the challenges of daily life by improving their confidence, assertiveness and decision-making, as well as their ability to stay safe and healthy so that they can develop into successful and employable adults.

Life Skills: Developing Social Entrepreneurs 2020–21

For the past four years we have been delivering our Life Skills: Developing Social Entrepreneurs module for free in schools and vocational education and training (VET) institutions, either with a specialist British Council trainer or with a local educator who has attended our Life Skills training session for teachers.

This year, the module has been adjusted to meet the needs and health and safety requirements of Greek schools, offering a series of online teacher training sessions through which our experienced team of trainers will equip particpants with the tools to implement the programme in the classroom, while at the same time providing support through mentoring sessions throughout Greece.

The teacher training sessions are free of charge and consist of two two-hour live sessions with our trainers, as well as asynchronous training material that takes three hours to complete (seven hours training in total).

The teams formed during the implementation of the programme will have the opportunity to submit their proposals by 28 April 2021 in a country-wide competition we are organising as part of the programme. The teams that present the best social enterprise ideas will be offered supplementary training on presentation skills and will compete for the competition awards at the final event, which we will organise digitally in May 2021.

Aims and objectives of the programme

The aim of the programme is to teach students how to:

  • participate actively in a variety of decision-making and voting processes
  • weigh up what is fair and unfair in different situations, realise that justice is fundamental to a democratic society, and study the role of law in maintaining order and resolving disputes
  • assess how democracy, justice, diversity, tolerance, respect and freedom are valued by people of different beliefs, backgrounds and traditions within a changing democratic society
  • comprehend the role of active citizens and actions with social impact
  • explore diverse national, regional, ethnic and religious cultures, groups and communities in Greece, and the connections between them
  • take into account the interaction between Greece, the rest of Europe and the world

and provide teachers with:

  • a community of peers with a special interest in the idea of the community
  • the tools they need to:
    – cultivate the idea of social entrepreneurship among their students
    – help their students develop the skills they need individually and in groups
       to create, innovate and develop their critical thinking
    – support co-operation between young people in order to resolve social
       and environmental issues.

Methodology

The most effective form of learning in life skills education is:

  • active: emphasises learning by doing
  • interactive: uses discussion and debate
  • relevant: focuses on real-life issues facing young people and society
  • critical: encourages young people to think for themselves
  • collaborative: includes group work and collaborative learning
  • participative: gives young people a say in their own learning.

What are the main components of life skills training?

Life skills education involves a wide range of diverse learning elements, which include:

  • Knowledge: Understanding of topics such as laws and rules, the democratic process, the media, human rights, diversity, money and the economy, sustainable development, the world as a global community, and of concepts such as democracy, justice, equality, freedom, authority and the rule of law
  • Skills and aptitudes: Critical thinking, analysing information, expressing opinions, taking part in discussions and debates, negotiating, dispute resolution and participating in community actions
  • Values and attitudes: Respect for justice, democracy and the rule of law, openness, tolerance, courage to defend a point of view, and a willingness to listen to, work with and stand up for others.

For the purposes of this programme, we focus on life skills relating to three main areas:

  • respect for ourselves and others
  • communication
  • social skills.

Language skills

The programme will also help the students to develop their language skills by providing them with opportunities to:

  • answer complex questions
  • explain simple choices through structured reasoning
  • negotiate turns in speaking
  • actively listen and question the contribution of others
  • identify similarities and differences and make an evaluation
  • demonstrate understanding of others’ contributions and develop their own contributions as a result
  • scan texts for information
  • skim texts for gist and overall impression
  • extract specific information from texts through attentive reading.
Share this