Need-to-Know

Recently, I was thinking about my adult students.  We picked them carefully: there was an interview for our program.  Invariably, they'd say:

"I want to study English to defend myself in society, help my children with their schoolwork, and get a better job" (in some cases, just "get a job"!).

Got me thinking: what are the ten most important qualities I possess?  And what the heck might that have to do with my adult learners?  If you'll pardon this tooting-of-horn moment, here's what I came up with:

1)    Bachelor’s degree
2)    Second language
3)    Writing skills in my first language
4)    Computer literacy
5)    Transportation know-how and access to my job
6)    Experience working with diverse folks
7)    Diligence
8)    Punctuality
9)    Networking skills
10)    Critical thinking

The results?  One credential (the diploma).  One concrete skill (the second language).

And eight--count 'em, eight!--of what I'll call "work skills."  I've got a further breakdown--if you're uneasy about so many divisions, rest assured--it's for the sake of the argument!:

Learnable soft skills:

• Writing
• Transportation know-how
• Computer skills

Experientially-based soft skills

• Working with diverse people
• Diligence
• Networking
• Critical thinking
• Punctuality

Most of what we learn, we learn by experience.  Equally important, though, may be a single credential.  So families in poverty--the kinds of families I see--would benefit from a range of experiences that give them access to model behaviors: punctuality, good family health and nutrition, parenting ideas, and so forth.  But they must be on track to a realistic, meaningful credential. 

And that’s the problem with some of those parent-volunteer positions.  The ones where you help out in the lunchroom or on the playground.  It’s experience, but it’s not likely to stretch you.  And it may end up being a dead end. 

Our adult learners want to be on-track to college.  They want to be on-track to good jobs--or at least some paying job!  We can help them get there.  But we've got to be honest about the skills they really need--and help them build those skills.