Developing Business Education Programmes to deliver Skills, Competences and Employability David Taylor Riga Oct 06

1. Developing Business Education Programmes to deliver Skills, Competences and EmployabilityDavid TaylorRiga Oct 06

2. “Employability Skills are not specific, but are skills which cut horizontally across all industries and vertically across all jobs from entry level to chief executive officer“(Shearer and Eadie,1987)

3. “While… employers are generally satisfied with the subject knowledge of their new recruits, they explicitly stated that they were dissatisfied with the employability skills of the young people”(Hind and Moss, 2005)

4. A review of graduate entry level job advertisement reveals the skills that employers look for. These skills include: • communication skills • group work skills • numeracy skills • negotiation skills • problem solving skills • decision making skills

5. Questions • What skills and traits do employers value most prospective entry-level employees? • Why have employability skills become so important? • What educational practises has research shown to be effective in developing employability skills and traits?

6. Comparisons of the employability attributes listed by the different researchers revealed those that were cited. These were then organised into the three categories of basic skills; higher-order thinking skills; and affective skills and traits, as shown in the displayon the following page.

7. Higher-Order Basic Skills Thinking Skills Affective Skills and Traits Oral communications Problem solving Dependability/Responsibility (speaking, listening) Reading, esp. understanding Learning skills, Positive attitude toward workand following instructions strategies Creative, innovative Conscientiousness, punctualityBasic arithmetic thinking efficiency Writing Decision making Interpersonal skills, cooperation, working as a team member Self-confidence, positive self-image Adaptability, flexibility Enthusiasm, motivation Self-discipline, self-management Appropriate dress, grooming Honesty, integrity Ability to work without supervision

8. Employability skills are best learned when they are included among instructional goals and explicitly taught.

9. In school settings, employability skills are best learned when classrooms replicate key features of real work settings and student tasks approximate those performed by workers in those settings.

10. A key feature of classes that successfully teach employability skills is that instructors hold and communicate high expectations for the learning and behaviour of their students- whether or not the overall culture of the school holds high expectations for them.

11. In classes that effectively teach employability skills, instructors assume the role of facilitators and coaches rather than lecturers and order givers, requiring students to take much the responsibility for their own learning.

12. In classes those participants acquire a high level of employability skills, learning is individualized - determined by students’ learning needs and styles rather than being regulated by textbooks or rigid lesson plans.