Stop The World - I Want To Get On

The role of life skills in community development

THE LIFESKILLS PROGRAM

In 1968, the Employment and Immigration Commission initiated a Canada wide project called Newstart. It encouraged provinces over a 5 year period to research "new and innovative approaches in adult education". One such joint venture, Saskatchewan Newstart, involved the province of Saskatchewan in the research design and implementation of a program to assist the chronically unemployed.

     Five years of research produced Life Skills, a 2 part training program. On the one hand, it engaged students in a 12 week course in problem solving behaviors for use in the management of their personal affairs: self, family, community leisure and job/education. On the other hand, the program presented a curriculum for the training of a cadre of life skills coaches. Life Skills was first implemented in Saskatchewan, Ontario and British Columbia.

THE PROCESS

The Life Skills program was and remains first and foremost a group process for individual empowerment - what I call "emotional empowerment". In my experience, many people wanting to improve their lifestyle are "stuck" emotionally and behaviourally. All the academic and skill upgrading, or encouragement and vision about long range goals won't bring about the personal motivation to hang in for the long term. Community people need a process through which they can stop the world for a while and take a good look at themselves before trying to organize their lives or communities.

     The Life Skills group process enables people to assess past experiences, to consider their present situation, and make choices about future behavior and goals.  It is a time to learn and renew, interpersonal and problem solving skills, and to take responsibility for future actions. Participants can compare their own view of themselves with what others see.

They experience validation as people, and learn the importance of taking care of themselves and others. They experience increased self esteem and self worth, and are much more emotionally balanced for themselves, their families, and their communities.

     Essential to the program is the period of time in which group members build the mutual trust necessary to learn and work together honestly. Given the 12 week time commitment, students can discuss and resolve personal issues that would have never surfaced in other skills upgrading programs. "Emotional Baggage" diminishes or disappears. Upon completion, student are highly motivated and eager to continue learning. They also have a set of problem solving skills to apply in the months ahead.

SHORTCOMINGS

A major short coming of the Life Skills program has been they way the community colleges and other learning institutions have implemented it. Too many learning institutions have not included life skills programs because they believe academic/vocational training will suffice, that the program is a waste of time and money. Other institutions have fragmented it to suit existing budgets and congested schedules. In addition, they have had the course delivered by instructors who are not certified Life skills Coaches.

     This had worked to the detriment of both the program and the students. An extreme case was the college that delivered "life skills" in two hour segments each week combined with other Adult Basic Education. The whole group building essence of the Life Skills Program was lost. The college, finding it's expectations unmet, blamed the program. Several other colleges made the same error.

     In addition, Life Skills has too often lacked linkage to meaningful community development. The course has too often been delivered as if it should stand on it's own, and without regard to the political and organizational realities of the community and it's environment. Co-ordination and linkage with other upgrading programs was considered unnecessary. In places suffering high unemployment and with little or no access to resources - a common situation in many rural and northern communities -  the consequences of this outlook were serious. Within six months, the high motivation experienced by the program graduated began to deteriorate.

     Clearly, change at the community level must include individual and family development. However, particularly in aboriginal and northern communities, the planning and delivery of Life Skills must be linked to the political and organizational capacity building process.

     To ignore these key areas is to ignore the broader forces that bring about inequality and deprivation. The exercise of political and economic power by outsiders has been important in creating unstable conditions in marginalized communities. Ignoring this historical and contemporary reality can be disempowering.

     Individuals and families live in a context. Life Skills should help people understand their own history and their potential for transforming it. Life Skills must also be linked to community planning and programming aimed at increasing, specific skills training, job opportunities, and leadership developments.

Too many times, community leaders begin the process of development having overlooked the basic needs of families and individuals including themselves. It is assumed that empowerment, business development, creating jobs or managing training programs are the essence of development. But it is just as important for leaders to address the well being and healthiness of their community. Otherwise, leaders will have difficulty developing and maintaining a base of functional and motivated citizens.

WHERE DOES IT FIT ?

Meaningful community development will not work unless people of a community control their socio-economic institutions and their sense of well-being. A sense of well-being for self, family, and community depends, in part, on two basic needs: the need to love and be loved, and the need to feel worthwhile and be seen as worthwhile.

Too many times, community leaders begin the process of development having overlooked the basic need of individuals and families - including themselves. It is assumed that empowerment, business development, creating jjobs or managing training programs are the essence of development. But it is just as important for leaders to address the well being and healthiness of their community. Otherwise, leaders will have difficulty developing and maintaining a base of functional and motivated citizens.

     For whatever reasons, many people have a poor image of themselves and have no idea of future goals. The Life Skills programs is a excellent process for individuals to kick start themselves into the future. It is a program which teaches problems solving in everyday living, addresses staying in the hear and now, and assists in establishing future goals. The increased sense of worthiness and validation gives people the motivation, tenacity and clarity to strive for self fulfillment in their lives.

Over the past ten years, I've seem many students significantly transformed by the program. A woman in Saskatchewan, for example, came into the program at age 20 as a single parent with three children and a grade 7 education. She was a survivor of three suicide attempts and drug addiction, and had absolutely no concept of future goals. Six years after completing her Life Skills training, she graduated with a degree in nursing.

     These experiences convince me that a serious life skills program is essential to community development strategies. Organizing for healthy communities, discussions of political empowerment, planning for academic upgrading, pre-employment, trades training, job skills, or the establishment of community institutions - any realistic effort to enable people to become motivated and goal orientated must include a meaningful Life Skills program. Communities need a strong healthy membership to support present and future endeavors, to provide on-going leadership, and to secure a balanced lifestyle.

CONCLUSION

Life Skills is not a magic formula. It is a very small portion of the vast amount of organizing and planning needed to empower people and communities. However, it is a very important and logical step toward the development of self, family, and community. For people who are "stuck", it provides motivation to take charge of the future to the maximum extent possible. Life becomes something you "do", rather than something that is "done to you".

     It is my hope that leaders and community members will demand inclusion of the Life Skills program in any community development planning. With a track record of twenty years, it is a proven process as long as the original format and quality is maintained.

Bill Farley is a co-ordinator of industrial re-training for Forest Renewal BC Corporation. He graduated as a Life Skills coach in 1981, after 15 years of community development experiences in the Northwest and Saskatchewan.

Article reprinted by permission