Written by Drew Appleby, Lindsey Herting, Sejal Schullo
Purpose
Transferable skills refer to a “broad set of knowledge, skills, work habits, and character traits that are believed—by educators, school reformers, college professors, employers and others—to be critically important to success in today’s world, particularly in collegiate programs and contemporary careers and workplaces (Abbott, 2014, para. 1). The purpose of this document is to introduce high school psychology teachers to the concept of transferable skills and to provide them with strategies to enable their students to identify, understand, value and develop these skills within the high school psychology classroom. Within the field of Positive Psychology, there is empirical evidence that demonstrates knowledge and possession of transferable skills promotes wellness and success. Psychology courses are a natural place to focus on these skills as they can be developed in conjunction with much of the content that is taught in such a course. Teachers could embed activities which build transferable skills within content areas already taught or could use stand-alone lessons. These skills make a Psychology course relevant, applicable and significant to a student’s experiences in high school.
National Standards for High School Psychology
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Domain: All Domains
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Standard Area: All Standard Areas
Time Required
Varies
Materials
1. Access to (printed or electronic) articles discussing transferable skills. Appropriate materials will vary depending on student reading level.
2. Teachers may find it useful to view the following list of aspirations and challenges in teaching transferable skills and resources to do so:
b. Challenges and Resources for Understanding, Teaching, Assessing, and Promoting Transferable Skills in the High School Psychology Classroom
Task
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Teachers should introduce the concept of transferable skills by having students read articles (some options have been provided below and in the documents linked above).
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Students can make a list of traits, individually or with partners, that are desired by employers and colleges. These could be presented using digital tools such as Padletopens in new window or Wordleopens in new window.
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Students can go to this Skills Assessment Worksheetopens in new window and complete the survey and reflection questions.
Assessment
Observation of student responses and summaries of transferable skills.
Extension Ideas
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Teachers can use activities linked below which address a few of the transferable skills connected to various Psychology content.
a. Behavior Modification
b. Time Management
c. Skills and Careers
d. Honesty and Ethics -
Teachers can create other natural connections to Psychology content as they see fit. Suggested areas include (but are not limited to) the following:
a. Cognitive unit: analytical thinking/critical thinking/ judgment and decision making
b. Intelligence unit: adaptability, collaboration, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills
c. Social unit: leadership styles, cooperation, group processes, and diversity
References and Resources
Abbot, S. (Ed.). (2014). 21st century skills. The Glossary of Education Reform. Retrieved from https://www.edglossary.org/21st-century-skills/opens in new window
Appleby, D., Herting, L., & Schullo, S. (2018). Challenges and Resources for Understanding, Teaching, Assessing, and Promoting Transferable Skills in the High School Psychology Classroom. American Psychological Association: Washington, DC.
Robles, M.M. (2012, October 8). Executive perceptions of the top 10 soft skills needed in today’s workplace. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, 75(4), 453-465. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1080569912460400opens in new window
Stich, C. (2017, June). The key to unlocking success for the whole student: Five formative success skills defined [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.stanfield.com/blog/2017/06/key-unlocking-success-whole-student-five-formative-success-skills-defined/opens in new window
This resource was developed by a Working Group on Skills that Promote Well-Being and Flourishing from the APA Summit on High School Psychology Education (July 2017).