SOCIAL SKILLS TRAINING METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE

Introduction

“Mind the gap” is a learning partnership that has been working between 2008 and 2010, created in the framework of the Lifelong Learning Programme Grundtvig of the European Commission (2007-2013). The organisations that make up this partnership develop training and educational programmes with young adults, aged from 16 to 25, where some of them are socially disadvantaged or have failed at school and have a low level of basic social skills. The partners teach social skills from different perspectives and with different methodological approaches.

The fundamental aim of the “Mind the Gap” project is to share, compare, exchange and assess different teaching methodologies and procedures. The goal is to improve the quality of the training offered, the teachers’ teaching skills and the learning level achieved by the learners, in order to make social inclusion easier for the young participants in the project. This methodological guide is the final product of our common work.

The guide will be made available to other professionals who work with young people at risk of social exclusion. This should assist them in their search for methods, techniques and activities to teach them social skills in order to facilitate their social and labour inclusion and their active participation as European citizenship in a democratic society.

How we define “social skills”

Social skills are competencies defined by the behaviour which an individual can have, in his or her understanding of the various social codes, in his/her attitudes and his/her expressions in the society. Social skills allow a person to express her or him own sentiments, needs and opinions and this fact permit the personal well-being, that is the first step for the further social integration.

As main aspects of social skills we could find: behaviours adapted to the contexts and in relation to other people, with a cultural and intercultural dimension; self-organisation, punctuality, self-efficacy, regularity, self-motivation, ability of conflicts prevention and resolution.

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HOW TO USE THIS METHODOLOGICAL GUIDE

The methodological guide has four sections connected with the four topics that had being analysed during the project in order to improve the work on social skills. We consider that these topics are key factors in the acquisition and development of social skills and they are:

In every section you can find an introduction to every topic, result of the joint reflection of the five organisations on their daily practice, and a selection of activities used by the partners to work on social skills work with their students.
In any activity we point out its main characteristics with the intention that any professional can easily use it.