Personal Mindset
Humans are intuitively curious and motivated to take action to pursue their interests and ideas. As people develop and their interests change, their motivations may also ebb and flow. Through interactions with others and their own decisions, people gain confidence in themselves as capable actors in the world. As they continue to challenge themselves, people learn to cope with disappointment, to rebound from failure, to set themselves up for success and to persevere despite setbacks or difficulty. Their belief in themselves as learners enables them to take initiative in their own learning process.
Needs minimal supervision to complete tasks.
Attempts to complete tasks independently before asking for help.
Follows rules/directions as required by the task/situation.
Maintains focus on tasks despite internal (e.g., emotional) and/or external distractions.
Avoids actions that have produced undesirable consequences or results in the past.
Strives to overcome barriers/set-backs, seeking assistance when needed.
Adapts approach in response to new conditions or others’ actions
Planning for Success
“Planning is choice with intention. People begin with a specific goal or purpose in mind that results in the choice. Planning involves deciding on actions, predicting interactions, recognizing problems and proposing solutions, and anticipating consequences and reactions. Reflection is remembering with analysis. Reflection occurs at the end of a planned activity as a means of reviewing that activity, the feelings, learning and changes associated with it, and as a way to potentially plan for future encounters with the same subject. In an engaged learning environment, reflection can often lead to new ideas or planning for future activities.” (Ramaswamy, McGovern, Akiva, Okasinski, & Smith, 2012)
Sets and prioritizes goals that reflect a self-awareness of one’s capabilities, interests, emotions, and/or needs.
Breaks goals into actionable steps.
Accurately estimates level of effort and establishes realistic timelines.
Manages time to complete tasks on schedule.
Applies existing/newly acquired knowledge, skills, and/or strategies that one determines to be useful for achieving goals.
Monitors progress and own performance, adjusting approach as necessary.
Demonstrates a belief that one’s own actions are associated with goal attainment.
Social Awareness
People are social beings. We rely on each other to develop personal and community identity as well as build skills and resources. As people develop, they being to test their social skills in relation to others, learning how their actions impact those around them. They begin to understand the “give and take” process that builds constructive and supportive relationships. As they explore beyond their comfort zone, people are often challenged to evolve their skills and behaviors to navigate in new contexts, learning new norms and patterns of behavior.
Recognizes the consequences of one’s actions.
Balances own needs with the needs of others.
Takes into consideration others’ situations/feelings.
Develops and implements strategies for navigating in different cultures/contexts (i.e., manages different patterns of behavior, rules, and norms).
Verbal Communication
Our ability to effectively communicate, both verbally and non-verbally can be used to inform others of our needs or to impart knowledge. Verbal communication encompasses any form of communication involving words – spoken, written or signed. As people have more varied experiences, they learn the communication styles of different groups, and learn to use the appropriate communication style for their message to be best received.
Organizes information that serves the purpose of the message, context, and audience.
Uses and adjusts communication strategies as needed based on the purpose of the message, context, and audience.
Signals listening according to the rules/norms of the context and audience.
Seeks input to gauge others’ understanding of the message.
Asks questions to deepen and/or clarify one’s understanding when listening to others.
Collaboration
Skills for teamwork and collaboration – working constructively and cooperatively with others – shouldn’t be undervalued. These skills are gaining importance in and outside of the workplace. Collaborative settings promote a welcoming atmosphere where people feel comfortable and accepted. Team leaders and facilitators monitor group dynamics to ensure that no one is left out and that attention is paid to issues of power and control, comfort levels with activities and peers, experiences of new group members in particular, and to group stage development. By bringing attention to these details of group dynamics, people are made aware of typical group interaction patterns and expected behaviors. They develop, through practice and feedback, skills for developing relationships with peers and for respectful collaboration.
Completes tasks as they have been assigned or agreed upon by the group.
Helps team members complete tasks, as needed.
Encourages the ideas, opinions, and contributions of others, leveraging individual strengths.
Provides feedback in a manner that is sensitive to others’ situation/feelings.
Clarifies areas of disagreement/conflict that need to be addressed to achieve a common goal.
Seeks to obtain resolution of disagreements/conflicts to achieve a common goal.
Problem Solving
Identifying problems and finding solutions is a process. Due to the procedural nature of the problem solving process, often teaching problem solving gets relegated to the fields of math and science. Where in reality, problem solving processes are part of every decision. Sometimes a person can cycle through the entire process subconsciously in seconds, sometimes more methodically over the course of a planned activity. The process can be applied to a wide range of personal, social, economic issues as well as typical academic and technical subject matter. Making this process transparent to youth in all settings will habituate problem solving as a core adaptive skill.
Defines problems by considering all potential parts and related causes.
Gathers and organizes relevant information about a problem from multiple sources.
Generates potential solutions to a problem, seeking and leveraging diverse perspectives.
Identifies alternative ideas/processes that are more effective than the ones previously used/suggested.
Evaluates the advantages and disadvantages associated with each potential solution identified for a problem.
Selects and implements best solution based on evaluation of advantages and disadvantages of each potential solution.