Teaching and Assessing Essential Life Skills
Life Skills for All Learners: How to Teach, Assess, and Report Education’s New Essentials
By Antarina S.F. Amir and Thomas R. Guskey
(ASCD, 2024 – Learn more)
Reviewed by Melinda Stewart
Life Skills for All Learners How to Teach, Assess, and Report Education’s New Essentials offers a comprehensive exploration into the crucial domain of life skills education for our learners.
As an educator committed to fostering holistic development in students, I found this book to be not just insightful but also a practical guide to implementing life skills education in the classroom.
One of the standout features of the book is its clarity in defining what constitutes life skills and why they are essential for all learners. Amir and Guskey persuasively argue that alongside academic proficiency, students must develop competencies such as critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and resilience to thrive in the complexities of the modern world. This foundational understanding sets the stage for the practical strategies they present throughout the book.
Integrating life skills into lessons
As soon as I read the title, my first thoughts were, “Great. One more thing to try and add to my already full schedule. What else do I need to get rid of to try and make room for a new initiative?”
Fortunately, the authors skillfully navigate the challenges educators face in integrating life skills into existing curricula. They provide numerous examples, case studies and classroom activities that illustrate how these skills can be taught across different subjects and grade levels.
Aligning learning processes with the goal of nurturing what they identify as the essential competencies helps to ensure that life skills are not taught in isolation but are integrated into everyday instruction, making skills development a natural and consistent part of the learning experience rather than an extra.
Assessing life skills learning
The book is structured to support educators in various aspects of teaching. I was impressed most with the emphasis on assessment and reporting, establishing the practice that life skills are not just taught but also evaluated in a meaningful way that informs both students and stakeholders about their progress.
Amir and Guskey provide descriptions of each life skill, key elements necessary for nurturing these abilities, and practical examples that illustrate how to incorporate these skills into lessons. The inclusion of rubrics and graphic organizers throughout the book is particularly noteworthy, as these tools offer clear, tangible methods for assessing and guiding students’ progress.
Deliberate practice is essential. Amir and Guskey advocate for a reflective approach to teaching life skills, urging educators to think deeply about what and why they are teaching, to plan strategically, and to anticipate follow-up needs. This process mirrors what learners are also being asked to do. This reflective practice actively engages both educators and students in their own development and is complemented by narrative examples that bring some of the abstract concepts to life, making the content more accessible and relatable.
Life Skills for All Learners How to Teach, Assess, and Report Education’s New Essentials acknowledges that while it offers one approach to integrating life skills into education, it is not the only method available. This openness to multiple strategies respects the diversity of educational settings and encourages educators to adapt the book’s suggestions to fit their specific contexts.
Melinda Stewart has been an educator for 30 years. She has an MA in Teaching, Education and Learning and has done graduate work in the areas of English as a Second Language, Reading, Spanish, and most recently English Language Arts. She is currently working as a Spanish teacher and ELM coach at Fairmont Junior Senior High School. Melinda is an MEA and AFT professional development facilitator and trainer who has a deep passion for learning and equity.
