SFS-2.8 – Skills for Success Practitioner Tools & Resources

Adverse Experiences

Adverse experiences are potentially traumatic events, such as experiences of violence, abuse, war, substance abuse, mental health issues, natural disasters, loss of a loved one, etc. These experiences can have lasting impacts on an adult’s ability to work and learn effectively.

Learner Variability Project: https://lvp.digitalpromiseglobal.org/content-area/adult-learner/factors/adverse-experiences-adult-learner/summary

Anxiety

Disability, Numeracy, Social-Emotional LearningSFS-2.8, SFS-3.2, SFS-3.8

Anxiety is a feeling of worry, nervousness or unease. While everyone experiences anxiety at times, some individuals may find that their anxiety seriously impacts their lives and ability to learn. Some participants may experience anxiety only in specific learning situations, such as Math Anxiety.

Anxiety Canada. Anxiety in Adults. https://www.anxietycanada.com/learn-about-anxiety/anxiety-in-adults/
Bigdeli, S. (2010). Affective learning: the anxiety construct in adult learners. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042810023219
Overcoming Anxiety in Adult Education. Decoda Literacy Solutions. https://decoda.ca/overcoming-anxiety-in-adult-education/
Hewitt, J. (2017). Yes, I Can: A Mental Health Guide for Adult Literacy Facilitators. https://projectread.ca/pdf/MentalHealthGuide2017.pdf

Math anxiety:

Zelazny, A., Bean, C., David, S., & Bruton, A., (n.d.). Who is afraid of math? what is math anxiety? and what can you do about it? Frontiers for Young Minds. https://kids.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frym.2017.00057
Barroso, C., Ganley, C.M., McGraw, A.L., Geer, E.A., Hart, S.A., and Daucourt, M.C. (2021). A meta-analysis of the relation between math anxiety and math achievement. Psychological Bulletin, 147(2), 134-168.

Goal Setting

Active Learning Strategies, AdaptabilitySFS-2.8, SFS-3.7

Goal setting is the process of setting an outcome (a goal) that makes the direction of learning clear. It also helps increase participants’ motivation and achievement levels.

Goal setting: Literacy basics. Literacy Basics RSS2. (n.d.). https://literacybasics.ca/learner-retention/goal-setting/
Bridges, M. (2022, March 18). The importance of setting goals as an adult learner. ReUp Education. https://reupeducation.com/the-importance-of-setting-goals-as-an-adult-learner/

Growth Mindset

Adaptability, Problem-solvingASS-3.2, SFS-1.1, SFS-2.8, SFS-3.7

Growth mindset refers to the belief that the most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work.

Transforming Education: Growth Mindset Toolkit
Campbell, A., Craig, T., & Collier-Reed, B. (2020). A framework for using learning theories to inform ‘growth mindset’ activities. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 51(1), 26-43. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2018.1562118

Mindfulness

Social-Emotional LearningSFS-2.8, SFS-3.7

Mindfulness maintains a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and surrounding environment. This can reduce the negative effects of stress and increase a participant’s ability to stay engaged, stay on track academically and avoid behavior problems.

Bartlett, L., Martin, A., Neil, A. L., Memish, K., Otahal, P., Kilpatrick, M., & Sanderson, K. (2019). A systematic review and meta-analysis of workplace mindfulness training randomized controlled trials. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 24(1), 108-126. https://doi.org/10.1037/ocp0000146 (login required).
Hülsheger, U. R., Alberts, H. J. E. M., Feinholdt, A., & Lang, J. W. B. (2013). Benefits of mindfulness at work: The role of mindfulness in emotion regulation, emotional exhaustion, and job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(2), 310-325. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0031313 (login required).
Making Time for Mindfulness

Personality

Adaptability, Research, Social-Emotional LearningSFS-1.1, SFS-2.8, SFS-3.5, SFS-3.7

Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving.

Personality trait change happens continuously into adulthood and can affect how participants learn as they grow older.

Bleidorn, W., Hill, P. L., Back, M. D., Denissen, J. J. A., Hennecke, M., Hopwood, C. J., Jokela, M., Kandler, C., Lucas, R. E., Luhmann, M., Orth, U., Wagner, J., Wrzus, C., Zimmermann, J., & Roberts, B. (2019). The policy relevance of personality traits. American Psychologist, 74(9), 1056-1067. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000503 (login required).
Roberts, B. W., Luo, J., Briley, D. A., Chow, P. I., Su, R., & Hill, P. L. (2017). A systematic review of personality trait change through intervention. Psychological Bulletin, 143(2), 117-141. https://www.greenhousetherapycenter.com/storage/app/media/file/Psychotherapy_change_meta-analysis_2017.pdf
Sackett, P. R., & Walmsley, P. T. (2014). Which Personality Attributes Are Most Important in the Workplace? Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9(5), 538-551. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614543972 (login required).

Psychological Interventions

Research, Social-Emotional LearningSFS-2.8, SFS-3.7

Psychological interventions are actions used to bring about change in a participants. These could include exercises that that focus on mindfulness, perspectives and emotional state or feelings rather than academic teaching.

Mental Health Education In Canada. https://phecanada.ca/. (2022, June 2). https://phecanada.ca/

Self-regulation

Social-Emotional LearningDEL-1.3, DES-2.2, SFS-2.8

Self-regulation is the ability to monitor attention, thoughts and emotions. Participants who have the ability to regulate their emotions and behavior are able to better engage with other participants and respond to the varying activities of the day.

Sitzmann, T., & Ely, K. (2011). A meta-analysis of self-regulated learning in work-related training and educational attainment: What we know and where we need to go. Psychological Bulletin, 137(3), 421-442. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022777 (login required).
Parrish, N. (2022). How to Teach Self-Regulation: To succeed in school, students need to be able to focus, control their emotions, and adjust to change. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-teach-self-regulation

Social-emotional skills

Social-Emotional LearningDEL-1.2, DEL-3.4, SFS-1.1, SFS-2.8

Social-emotional skills include the self-awareness, self-control, and interpersonal skills that are vital for school, work, and life success.

Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The Impact of Enhancing Students’ Social and Emotional Learning: A Meta-Analysis of School-Based Universal Interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405-432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x (login required).
What are the Big 5 Personality Traits? https://www.verywellmind.com/the-big-five-personality-dimensions-2795422
On the Use of the Big Five Model as a SEL Assessment Framework. https://measuringsel.casel.org/use-big-five-model-sel-assessment-framework/

Soft Skills

Adaptability, CommunicationSFS-1.1, SFS-1.4, SFS-2.8

Soft skills are interpersonal skills or people skills such as communication, listening and time management. These are important in the workplace as they deal with how people work with each other.

Building a Pan-Canadian Soft Skills Framework. FutureWorx. https://futureworx.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Soft-Skills-Framework-Report.pdf
Touloumakos, A. K. (2022). Taking a step back to move forward: Understanding communication skills and their characteristics in the workplace. Studies in Continuing Education, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2022.2030698