Exploring Essential Skills Sarah Sampara, Curriculum Developer Exploring Essential Skills

Introduction A bit about me A bit about you What is your experience with Essential Skills? What interests you about them? What brings you here today?

Essential Skills Definitions What are the 9 Essential Skills? Reading Document Use Writing Numeracy Oral Communication Thinking Digital Technology Working with Others Continuous Learning With a partner, define each.

Essential Skills Definitions What are your definitions? Read the definitions. Which definition belongs to which skill? Reading Document Use Writing Numeracy Oral Communication Thinking Digital Technology Working with Others Continuous Learning

Essential Skills Definitions These are the skills in order of the handout. Reading Writing Document Use Oral Communication Working with Others Digital Technology Thinking Numeracy Continuous Learning

Essential Skills Definitions Reflect on the definitions. Was there anything that surprised you? Was there anything you disagreed with? Was there anything you thought should be added? All definitions were taken from: www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/essential-skills/profiles/guide.html

Essential Skills Definitions Which skills relate to language? Reading Document Use Writing Numeracy Oral Communication Thinking Digital Technology Working with Others Continuous Learning

Essential Skills & Language Which skills relate to language? Reading Document Use Writing Numeracy Oral Communication Thinking Digital Technology Working with Others Continuous Learning Relating CLB to Essential Skills: A Comparative Framework (free download on www.language.ca)

Essential Skills & Language Which skills relate to language? Reading Document Use Writing Numeracy Oral Communication Thinking Digital Technology Working with Others Continuous Learning All of them!

Essential Skills Tasks Essential Skills Profiles list: Specific tasks for Specific occupations for Each specific Essential Skill www.jobbank.gc.ca/essentialskills

Essential Skills Tasks Your job is to take each task and decide which Essential Skill it relates to. Reading Document Use Writing Numeracy Oral Communication Thinking Digital Technology Working with Others Continuous Learning Write the Essential Skill you think each task relates to next to the task itself.

Essential Skills Tasks The answers might surprise you… Each task relates to a “non-language” Essential Skill. However, each task has a distinctive language component.

Essential Skill: Numeracy The following were Numeracy tasks. Receive cash, credit and debit card payments for cash-on-delivery (COD) and make change. Record expenses incurred during travel against categories of budgets. Schedule tour events and adjust as necessary. Estimate timing of tour activities.

Essential Skill: Thinking The following were Thinking tasks. Encounter delays due to weather, traffic conditions and equipment malfunctions. They phone dispatchers and loading dock personnel to arrange for late arrivals. Locate road and weather conditions by contacting travel hotlines, speaking with other drivers and reading advisories accessed using the Internet. Solve problems regarding dissatisfied customers or co-workers and relating to interpersonal conflicts. Prepare commentary, deciding what to include in it and how to present it.

Essential Skill: Digital Technology The following were Digital Technology tasks. Use browsers and search engines to learn about road conditions and access weather advisories. Use intranets and the Internet to access training courses and seminars offered by trainers, suppliers, employers, associations and sector councils. Carry out research using Internet resources. Send and receive e-mails.

Essential Skill: Working with Others The following were Working with Others tasks. May work as members of a team when loading and unloading large cargoes and also with dispatchers, office and maintenance staff. Have a considerable degree of interaction with customers and supervisors. Participate in formal group discussions with coworkers, supervisors and/or supervisees concerning methods for improving work processes or product quality and the allocation of responsibilities.

Essential Skill: Continuous Learning The following were Continuous Learning tasks. Participate in a number of courses, such as Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG), Air Brakes Class 1, defensive driving and forklift training. May attend information sessions to learn about safety regulations and new machinery and trucks purchased by the company. Take courses and read journals, trade magazines, history books, almanacs, children's books, encyclopedias, etc. to acquire new or updated information for their commentary and information about new sites and places.  Talk to experts or co-workers by joining industry associations or participating in historical societies meetings.

Essential Skills Tasks In short, all tasks, regardless of whether or not they are overtly language-related, have language-related components in them and should be taken into consideration when teaching or developing.

Essential Skills Goal Setting Activity Review the goal-setting activity. How could you use this with your learners? What do you see as the advantages of using it? What do you see as the disadvantages of using it? How can you help learners with widely varying profiles meet their goals?

Essential Skills Goal Setting Activity Imagine you’re learners for a minute. Individually pick one task each that interests you. This is your goal. Put all the goals in a pile. Put all the unused tasks away. Be the instructor. How can you meet these widely diverse goals in your EAL classroom? What strategies would you use? How would you incorporate them?

Essential Skills Goal Setting Activity With all EAL tasks, the focus is: Connecting our content to Our learner’s needs and interests with General scaffolding that applies to everyone and Specific assignments that learners can customize to their own unique needs and contexts

Essential Skills Goal Setting Activity First example of two goals: Solve problems regarding dissatisfied customers or co-workers and relating to interpersonal conflicts. Send emails. We could: Do a unit on conflict resolution. Focus on oral and written language and strategies. Do role-plays and mock emails.

Essential Skills Goal Setting Activity Second example of two goals: Encounter delays due to weather, traffic and malfunctions and phone dispatchers and loading dock personnel to arrange for late arrivals. Have considerable interaction with customers and supervisors. We could: Do a unit on telephone language. Focus on oral language and strategies for customer and colleagues. Do role-plays noting differences of formality, audience and purpose.

Before we wrap up, are there… Any questions?

Thank you for coming!