CAPACITY BUILDING PROGRAMME: WORKSHOP FOR LIFE SKILL DEVELOPMNET

 A Capacity Building Programme, based on EDU-06: Education in Indian Society, was

 organized in the college auditorium on 26 October 2022 from 10:30 am to 4:15 pm. The

 programme intended to develop the capacity pertaining to ‘life skills.’ The capacity

 building programme was successful in helping the trainees to promote their idea on the

 concept of life skills. It helped in creating in them awareness about the various life skill

 practices that become handy in the day-to-day life. For the Capacity Building Programme,

 the trainees were divided into seven groups. Each group was assigned specific life skill

 practices as topics. I could be a part of the second group, the topic of which was ‘Creative

 Thinking’ and ‘Critical Thinking.’

            The activities on ‘Creative Thinking’ focused on illustrating the individual differences, divergent thinking and uniqueness of individuals. While preparing for the activities to be conducted based on ‘Critical Thinking,’ I could learn that people with high levels of critical thinking are keenly aware of the inherently flawed nature of human thinking, when left unchecked.

            The demonstration on creative thinking served the purpose of conveying the significance of free responses in facilitating easy learning. A sheet of newspaper could be turned into certain divergent products when the participants were allowed some time and freedom to respond without limiting their thought processes. Both the activities emphasized on the relevance of the two different yet connected life skills- creative thinking and critical thinking. The active participation of the trainees increased the probability of cultivating among them the qualities required for both the skills. Most of the activities were some of the easy techniques to be practiced in a classroom in order to keep the students interested besides imparting the life skill practices. If employed in a classroom situation, these activities would definitely have the potential to indirectly teach the students the value of life skill practices.

            All the seven groups came up with different activities aiming at the development of specific life skill practices like problem-solving, assertion, effective communication skills, decision-making, creative thinking, interpersonal relationship skills and empathy. It was noted that some of the activities stood to show the interrelations among the various life skills. For instance, the activity on critical thinking also included other skills like problem solving, decision-making and assertiveness skill. In the activity, the participants took great care about the instructions and so they had to watch each of their moves. For this, they spent some time to construct hypotheses, think of the consequences of their moves and thus, reach at a perfect solution to the problem involved in the task.

            The activities for the Capacity Building Programme were organized and conducted by the trainees themselves. This increased the authenticity of the activities given. Moreover, the trainees could develop their knowledge on the life skills while working to organize appropriate activities. As a programme that lasted for one whole day, the Capacity Building on life skills seemed to be fruitful as it, at least, demanded the trainees to spend a while thinking about the various skill practices meant for life. Different strategies to develop these skills were also familiarized through the programme. Most important of all, the relevance of life skills in managing one’s life in a smooth manner was depicted through the capacity building programme.