Gauri P. Hardikar, Ph. D.
Asso. Prof., Smt. Kapila Khandvala College of Education, Santacruz, Mumbai.
Promotion of positive mental health is widely being recognized as a key resource for the population well-being and the social and economic prosperity of society. Life Skills are the crucial for individuals to make proactive choices leading to positive mental health. A Life skills Training program titled the Skills For Life Program was developed to empower prospective teachers with Life Skills essential for a fulfilling professional and personal life leading to positive mental health. The duration of the program was 40 hours, which includes 30 hours of face to face interactive sessions and 10 hours of assignments. The target group was pre-service teachers from B.Ed colleges affiliated to the University of Mumbai. Total sample size is 123 male as well as female prospective teachers. Participative techniques with a focus on reflection, individual goal setting and self assessment are planned. Experiential learning will involve role plays, analysis of films and video clips and creative group exercises. Practicing the Life skills and ongoing facilitator support to practice the same is the highlight of the program. This paper discusses development of a life skills program for positive mental health based on the Person Centered approach advocated by Carl Rogers. The paper briefly outlines the basic concepts and the goals of the Person Centered approach and explains the development of the Life skills Training program for positive mental health based on the principles of Person Centered Approach.
Key words: Life skills Training, Person Centered approach, Positive Mental Health.
Introduction:
There is growing recognition that mental health is an integral part of general health and well- being. WHO asserts that ‗there is no health without mental health‘? Positive mental health focuses on the promotion of mental health as opposed to dealing with mental illness. Positive mental health is recognized as a key resource for population well-being and the social and economic prosperity of society (Barry, 2009). Life skills are abilities which empower the
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individual to make proactive choices for individual well-being and also to ensure meaningful contribution to the society. Research findings suggest a strong link between life skills and positive mental health.
This paper discusses the use of the Person Centered Approach for development of a life skills training program for positive mental health. The program was implemented for prospective secondary school teachers.
Concept of Life Skills:
A skill is a learned ability to do something well. Life Skills are skills that enable individuals to live a fruitful life. Life Skills are subject to interpretation and there is no single definition of life skills. UNICEF defines Life Skills as ―A behavior change or behavior development approach designed to address a balance of three areas, knowledge, attitude and behavior.‖The International Bureau of Education (2000) defines Life Skills as ―personal management and social skills that are necessary for adequate functioning on an independent basis.‖ World Health Organization (WHO) defines Life Skills as, ―The abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life.‖ According to WHO (1999) life skills consist of personal, interpersonal, cognitive and physical skills that enable people to control and direct their lives and to develop the capacity to live with and produce change in their environment.
Life skills involve the processes of thinking, feeling and acting that develop an attitude favoring positive change, knowledge revealing how to change and skills in realizing the desired change. (Tung, 2002)
The Skills for Life program is a comprehensive program conceived with the objective of training prospective teachers in the areas of selected life skills, to enhance personal as well as professional competence.
The Life Skills are based on targeted Life Skills areas according to World Health Organization (1997). The focus of the program is the Coping and Self Management Skills cluster, which will include the following three sub skills viz. Skills for increasing internal locus of control, Skills for managing feelings and Skills for managing stress.
The duration of the program is 40 hours, which includes 30 hours of face to face interactive sessions and 10 hours of assignments. The target group is pre-service teachers from B.Ed colleges affiliated to the University of Mumbai. Total sample size is 123 prospective teachers.
Participative techniques with a focus on reflection, individual goal setting and self assessment are planned. Experiential learning will involve role plays, analysis of films and video clips
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and creative group exercises. Practicing the Life skills and ongoing facilitator support to practice the same is the highlight of the program.
It is expected that effective acquisition of life skills can influence the way one feels about oneself and others and can enhance one‘s productivity, efficacy, self-esteem and self- confidence. They also provide tools and techniques to improve interpersonal relations. Hence as an outcome of the program, the prospective teachers are expected to feel empowered with the skills of self management, which may lead to enhanced effectiveness in their career as well as fulfillment in their personal lives.
The program is based on humanistic principles, and more specifically, the Person Centered Approach has been kept in mind while designing the program.