10 Life skills we could be teaching in schools.

School teaches you many of the fundamentals to succeed in certain areas of your life, but not all of it can be chalked up on the blackboard. At least not yet.

We have listed 10 essential life skills that determine your success, yet they aren’t part of a typical school curriculum, although they really should be.

1. Conversation & communication

Nowadays with technology ruling the world, a common skill such as communication is quite difficult to grasp amongst younger generations, hindering their interpersonal communication skills. This would be an essential life skill to teach the “silent generation”, since communication is the basis of forming all meaningful connections with others. This can be with your boss, friends, co-workers, romantic relationships and spouses, etc. Not having regular conversations or communication with peers can lead to mental health problems, and it can cause barriers in connection with relationships or job opportunities.

2. Critical thinking

With the typical education system revolving around memorisation, critical thinking has been thrown at the back of the priority lists in schools. Students are not often taught how to think their way around a situation and provide valid solutions. The stakes are high when it comes to real life situations, since your actions have real consequences and can affect you, and others. In short, being taught how to think and develop ideas is a skill that has a lifetime of benefits.

3. Personal credit

One of the most valuable life skills is to establish and maintain a good credit score. We all start off with no credit, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But, with reverse psychology having its own hand at play, you need to make debt in order to gain a valid credit score. Once your credit has been established over time a bank may be more comfortable with extending your credit limit or give out loans. It is a great life skill to learn early on since we all may want to buy a house or a car at some point.

4. How to find and keep a job

Finding a job is a crucial part of life since you need to be able to support yourself and possibly your family. Students would benefit from being taught how to successfully find a job, apply for a job, building a resume and cover letter, the interview process, and understanding and negotiating employment contracts. Practicing mock interviews would be beneficial when taught in school since it takes the insecurity out of the process. It would also teach students what is beneficial and detrimental in their particular interview and would guide them in the future when applying for any job.

5. Emergencies & first aid

Basic first aid is a necessary skill, not just in schools but in everyday life. Science is consistently finding new ways to medically treat people, and some of the old breathing assistance techniques that you saw on television back when you were a kid are now considered archaic - and even dangerous. Teaching first aid in schools can go a long way to helping someone out if a serious situation occurs in the future, especially when taught in various intervals with different age groups.

6. Thinking outside of the box

Most of us only have theoretical wisdom and are unable to put our well-earned education and qualifications into action or to think uniquely. Thinking outside of the box certainly isn’t a skill that you can obtain easily. Currently, companies are constantly on the lookout for individuals who can unconventionally think outside of the box in order to do their job. If schools would teach us this vital life skill, it would indeed help us to come up with new and improved ways to deal with problems and situations.

7. How to take care of money effectively

Money is something that is required to maintain a proper standard of living, whether we like to admit it or not. If we have less money than being able to afford basic things like food and shelter, it becomes rather tough. A life skill which isn’t taught to us in school is how we ought to take care of our money in an effective manner so that we live a good life now and have enough for our future and old age. It would help us a great deal if we knew how and where to invest our money so that we can get high rates of interest and have our money saved in a safe and secure place.

8. How to do your taxes

We all dream about our future lives when we are younger, but none of us could’ve ever imagined what a nightmare taxes might be in the future. Doing your taxes is indeed a life skill, believe it or not. At some point or another we all need to learn how to do our taxes, since every citizen of a country is required to pay their dues. Most of us aren’t informed about the process and seek advice, either from our trusty parents or professionals. If schools taught this basic life skill, we might be better off as adults.

9. The way to manage time effectively

Time management is a life skill that some of us can fully master over a long period of time, and some of us still struggle with this problem long into adulthood. It is an important life skill that schools fail to teach. In school, everybody is responsible for their own actions and if the work is not getting done, they simply punish the students for their actions by using negative reinforcement, rather than teaching them how to manage their time effectively.

10. Be dynamic

Expecting the unexpected isn’t exactly a skill that you can successfully teach your students, but it would sure be helpful to prepare them for it. It is a rule that everyone should live by to be a successful person. The world is an utterly unpredictable place. It’s a scary thought, but at the same time it’s also kind of wonderful - if you’re prepared for it. Putting yourself in the mindset that absolutely anything might be lying around the corner in wait can actively improve your personality and help you to deal with life when times get tough.

What do you think – would you add any more life skills to this list?