Contextualizing and Integrating Soft/Life Skills in Positive Youth Development (PYD): Implementation and Measurement in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)
Attached below are the presentations from a panel presented at CIES 2018.
Participants learned how to design and integrate soft skills into PYD programs in formalized and non-formalized education, and how to measure them. Presentations included new tools, successes and challenges of contextualizing soft skills programs and measurement in LMICs.
Over the last decade, there has been a shift in recognizing the importance of soft or life skills. Soft skills/life skills refer to a broad set of skills, behaviors, and personal qualities that enable people to work collaboratively with others, communicate effectively, and navigate their environment. These skills are broadly applicable across sectors and complement the acquisition of technical, vocational, and academic skills. While these skills generally apply across sectors, certain soft skills have been shown to be particularly important for certain outcomes; a recent study by Gates et al. (2016) found that positive self-concept, self-control, and higher-order thinking skills are particularly important for workforce development.
Despite considerable progress made in understanding the importance of soft skills for positive youth development and gathering evidence, challenges remain to developing effective and contextualized soft skills curricula, successfully measuring these skills, and interpreting the results.
This panel explored what we know about the importance of soft skills in different contexts, how we adapt and teach them, and how we measure them. Presenters also shared recent evidence.
Building on research carried out under the USAID funded YouthPower Learning project and other studies, this panel started by presenting results from a YouthPower Learning systematic review on positive youth development and the role of soft skills in PYD. This was followed by presentations on soft skills curriculum integration and implementation. IYF has integrated soft skills into a TVET program in Mexico. A representative from USAID's project Puentes in El Salvador presented an approach for integrating life/soft skills into technical training curricula for high-risk youth in El Salvador under the Bridges for Employment (or Puentes) program. A representative from YouthPower Action contributed their experiences from the Programa para O Futuro project in Mozambique, where they leveraged research on soft skills building and PYD to help youth build the skills needed to transition into a healthy, productive adulthood.
Despite ample evidence on the benefits of soft skills for youth development, challenges persist in measuring these skills. The speaker from Room to Read focused on how we measure soft skills, based on experiences from a large baseline study in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The speaker presented the challenges they faced in applying soft skills measurement tools and interpreting the results in different contexts. She also shared how they have overcome these challenges.
Speakers:
- Kevin Corbin (Chair) representing YouthPower grantee, EDC
- Maria Brindmayer, YouthPower Learning
- Paul Frisoli, YouthPower Action
- Leesa Kaplan, YouthPower Puentes
- Liz Vance, International Youth Foundation, and
- Christine Beggs, Room to Read
Attached presentations:
- Positive Youth Development – Does it matter in LMICs, and what is the role of soft skills? (by YouthPower Learning)
- Integrating soft skills building in a PYD program in Mozambique (by YouthPower Action)
- Integrating soft skills into a TVET high school system in Mexico (Rutas) (by IYF)
- How do we measure life skills? – Lessons from a multi-country research initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. (by Room to Read)
CIES 2018
Mexico City
Thursday, March 29, 2018
8:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.