Developing core capabilities and embedding essential skills into curriculum delivery

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The model assumes that to enable useful skill development attention has to be paid to the learning of the whole person, that skills and knowledge that are meaningful to individuals are organised within their personal framework. The model assumes that the beliefs the individual has of themselves will effect their capacity to learn. It also recognises that there are overarching skills that if developed are more likely to enable the student to learn other skills. These include the ability to make connections, to accommodate to new ideas, to be able to reflect, to be able to articulate thoughts effectively. These skills need to be identified and opportunities provided for the students to practice them.

Next in the hierarchy are personal effectiveness skills such as being self organised, able to problem solve, being emotionally literate, able to communicate and work effectively with others. These are followed by the basic skills that we need to operate effectively in our culture i.e. literacy, numeracy and increasingly, IT.

All of these skills are developed through their application to academic, vocational and social contexts.

My approach recognises the importance both of identifying the skills that a student needs to develop in order to be more effective and of providing opportunities for them to develop them. The approach takes the view that skills need to be learned, where possible, and applied, within a meaningful context. The approach is of particular value as we replace the spurious basic/key skills divide and return to the concept or core skills as identified in the Tomlinson Report.

The degree of focus on core skills is dependant on the level of course – students on programmes at level 2 and below will need more focus on the basic skills than students who are literate and numerate at level 2.

The staff skills required to embed core skills in curriculum delivery are sophisticated and many staff need support to do this. As well as plugging in to all the initiatives available through Skills for Life, I have developed a mentoring programme that trains staff as mentors to work with individuals and curriculum teams to support them in embedding the delivery of basic/key/core skills.