Teaching life skills in schools

Teaching life skills in schools

Many people support the idea of teaching life skills in schools though it is a fact that schools have not yet embraced it. There are some who argue that life skills classes should not be there since they are short and do not reflect the curriculum requirement. However, there is a need to have classes that teach multiple life skills to have students who are more educated. Most college graduates have found themselves in a challenging world where they cannot compete effectively.  They often are unable to secure employment for lack of life skills, some cannot run businesses competitively, and others cannot become creative enough to cope up with the life outside of college.  Dr. Carol Morgan is among the advocates of having life skills taught at the school as students go through various levels of learning. Miss Morgan who is a TV personality and has been teaching communication skills at the university calls upon teachers to teach life skills at schools. She builds her credibility through personal facts, using examples to put her argument into the standard context, and various reasons to support the idea that schools do not teach life skills as she concludes with the need to have life skills taught in schools.

Morgan first sets the stage in her argument to ethos appeal by highlighting various practical circumstances under with students have been failed to apply life skills when needed most to do so. She draws the support of the communication skills that are always on the top of the list as the employers seek to recruit. It is unfortunate that most college graduates find it a challenge to embrace proper communication skills to lure employers into absorbing them. Research indicates that the best way to learn new skills is when a student is younger, and this should start from kindergarten as the child starts schooling. However, the argument here is presented by an instructor who has been teaching communications skills in the university over many years. The writer firmly believes that between kindergarten and high school, no student is taught about managing conflict in any situation.  If they do, students only meet conflict management at the college level, and this is just for lucky ones. Teachers and the educational policymakers are the primary target audience for this argument following the fact that teaching life skills have been adequately captured in the learning system. For instance, taking the case of the student who has never encountered a lesson on how to manage conflict, the author makes his argument strong that such a student will have difficulties staying in the social environment.

The author uses logos appeal to add to her ethos appeal that schools need to teach life skills since they do not exist today. She does this by going beyond the lack of communication skills for students at the lower learning levels and those who are not lucky to learn at the university as she highlights other essential skills that lack in schools. She highlights a lack of financial skills for students in the K-12 educational system who cannot even balance the budget for lack of this great skill. She goes ahead to highlight the case of her own two children whom she believes are doing great in learning history and calculus. However, she wonders what happens to this knowledge taught in history and calculus if one does become either a professor or an engineer. Her argument, in this case, is in support of the idea that schools are not exploring general life skills that will facilitate a student in the outside world.

Besides the logos appeal, Morgan uses pathos appeals almost throughout her text. As she begins, her chosen words are emotionally charged and quite sympathetic especially to young people who have to meet the challenges of life that need these skills. She argues that young people, for example, would not be having troubles in the future on how to play guitar or speak Spanish. It would have then been easier for them to live in other parts of the world and do many things without difficulties. Here, her tone is sympathetic and tends to develop much concern for students who are not exposed to life skill in schools but later have to face the challenges alone in future.  She makes her argument trustworthy and convincing to the readers through this emotional appeal. She even states clearly that she has been having a lot of questions on why life skills are not taught in schools when they are this important to people.

Morgan’s argument can be rated the most effective to the readers considering her conclusion which she reiterates her opening remarks that Job interviews need communications skills. It is through this her reminder as she closes the article that a reader sees the whole sense in what Morgan is trying to put across. A reader will then develop the interest of knowing why communication skill is never taught in schools until college for lucky ones if it is this important to students. The reader will have many questions as to whether there are other essential skills apart from communication skills that have been left out. As one tries to find answers to these questions, any rational person will find Morgan’s message convincing.

 

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