SOFT SKILLS TRAINING APPROACHES FOR IMPROVING COLLEGE AND CAREER OUTCOMES

Transcription

1 SOFT SKILLS TRAINING APPROACHES FOR IMPROVING COLLEGE AND CAREER OUTCOMES Dr. Jon L. Thomas, LPC Pamela Barton D Main Street, Fairfax, VA

2 WHAT ARE SOFT SKILLS? Soft skills are the personal attributes, personality traits, inherent social cues, and communication abilities needed for success on the job. Soft skills characterize how a person interacts in his or her relationships with others.

3 Most in Demand: Leadership Communication Collaboration Time Management Teamwork Creative Problem-Solving According to Forbes June 2017 article, and the September 24, 2018 article, citing LinkedIn s 2018 Workforce report.

4 KEY OR UMBRELLA SKILLS THAT EMPOWER THESE 6 SOFT SKILLS: Critical thinking Executive functioning Emotional intelligence

5 WHY SOFT SKILLS? Nearly every job requires employees to engage with others in some way. Therefore, being able to interact well with others is important in any job. Employers look for applicants with soft skills is because soft skills are transferable skills that can be used regardless of the job at which the person is working. This makes job candidates with soft skills very adaptable employees.

6 HISTORICALLY SPEAKING Definition of Soft Skills began with Charles Spearman and general learning ability Edward Thorndike and Social Intelligence

7 SOFT SKILLS SHOW UP IN RESEARCH AS CORRELATES OF CAREER SUCCESS, JOB PERFORMANCE, AND LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL As college and the workplace become more team-based and collaborative in nature, these skills are becoming even more essential. Soft skills such as critical thinking, Executive Function and Emotional intelligence emerge in our work as two of the most challenging skill sets for people with ADHD. Challenging in a way they show up as deficits and ADHD poses functional barriers to attaining them. High School and College Students are inadequately taught Soft skills.

8 EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: The capacity for recognizing and managing our own feelings and the feelings of others. * * Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman

9 BASIC COMPONENTS OF EI: Self-Awareness Management of Emotions Otherness /Empathy Use of Social Skills

10 EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS: Brain functions that activate, organize, integrate and manage other functions.

11 CAN SOFT SKILLS BE TAUGHT? Some say Soft skills can only be cultivated. We say they CAN be taught! We have PROOF!

12 But ADHD poses significant challenges to learning these skills.

13 THEORY OF MIND: Theory of Mind involves understanding another person's knowledge, beliefs, emotions, and intentions and using that understanding to navigate social situations.

14 Subjective nature of the experience of ADHD.. From this.. To THIS.And the inherent difficulty in finding words to express the problems inherent in this subjective experience.

15 THE HISTORY OF HUMAN EMOTIONS TIFFANY WATT SMITH Toska A longing for nothing to long for Awumnbuk Inertia and distraction caused by guests departing Amae Temporary surrender in perfect safety

16 What words adequately convey a personal perspective of the: Challenges of ADHD Skills needed to overcome these obstacles Means whereby a person can apply these skills?

17 CLOWN SUIT?

18 MULTI-SENSORY ASPECT OF LANGUAGING

19 LANGUAGE OF SOFT SKILLS FOR ADHD: EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE 5 Basic feelings: Glad Sad Mad Afraid Ashamed

20 LANGUAGE OF SOFT SKILLS FOR ADHD:

21 LANGUAGE OF SOFT SKILLS FOR ADHD:

22 DREAMER, REALIST, CRITIC: Dreamer: Creative problem solving, creativity, possibility Realist: Executive function, select plan execute plan Critic: Critical thinking; What could go wrong? How can we avert failure? Is this the best way?

23 DREAMER, REALIST, CRITIC: Dreamer Dominant Emerging Dormant Realist Critic Individuated/enmeshed Healthy/contaminated

24 After years of developing, evolving, and applying this pseudo code based language, we naturally wondered, How well does this work?

25 RESEARCH MODEL: Results and Conclusions: Initial pre and post T-test results indicated significant improvement in tested skill levels.

26 This is the beginning of a more vast research project. We are comfortable predicting increased skill levels will correlate with improved college and career outcomes. And that the uniqueness of language facilitates these improved skills and resulting outcomes.

27 Thank you for attending our presentation Dr. Jon Thomas, LPC, Pamela Barton