Page 20 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

Project Name: Manual for Soft Skills
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to prepare the student for success beyond the classroom. To help achieve these
outcomes, teachers work with students to set short-term goals, which are steps
to prepare students for what they want to do after graduation. Teachers need to
follow the student’s school career to set goals and determine the activities, which
will help students to achieve them. Transition actually commences in the school
years of a student. Hence, many of the critical skills are taught while in school,
including not only academic skills but also ‘soft skills’ such as social skills, team-
work, taking responsibility, following directions, attitude, and good attendance.
Beginning at age 14, teachers should address transition planning, preparing the
student for what or how he or she will be performing as an adult.

SKILL ACQUISITION

Soft skills come naturally to some people, or they can be learnt and consequently
applied in practice. Let us examine the process of skill acquisition. Guthrie (1952)
defined a skill as the ability to bring about some result with maximum certainty
and minimum outlay of energy or of time and energy. Skill acquisition is an
essential component of any learning system. The development of a skill, from
playing basketball to resolving a conflict, will progress in levels of achievement.
An individual will begin by struggling through attempts to perform the skill.
In time, success and improved confidence will ensue. With enough practice, a
person can become an expert in the performance of the desired skill. It has been
described that this progression occurs through four steps (see Figure 1.2).
Described further, a person can begin to learn a skill
Unconsciously Incompetent with no concept of it, and no ability to perform it. With some
teaching and/or practice, the individual becomes aware of
To the skill and its goal, but still cannot perform the skill with
any significant success. With vigorous teaching and prac-
tice, the skill is acquired and can be performed well, with
Consciously Incompetent
higher levels of concentration. More practice positions the
person to the highest level of function in which the skill
To
can be performed with great success and without the need
to concentrate intently. At this point, as one understands,
Consciously Competent the skill has become very repetitious. There are a great
number of examples to illustrate this point. A child learn-
To ing how to walk is an obvious case. At the earliest stages,
the child will rise to its feet, will stagger and fall, and
attempt again to rise and make a move. It does not know
Unconsciously Competent
how to perform the skill and has no knowledge of how
Figure 1.2 to improve. It is unconsciously incompetent. With more
Four steps towards achievement attempts, the child begins to realize the potential to walk or
of desired skill move, but is unable to perform the skill to any significant

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