Running head: READY BEYOND HIGHSCHOOL 1

Ready Beyond Highschool: The Importance of Teaching Soft Skills Across Every Classroom

Andrea Lomeli

Arizona State University

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Ready Beyond Highschool: The Importance of Teaching Soft Skills Across Every Classroom

As high school students in the United States prepare to graduate, they are optimistic

about the future ahead of them. Some students will attend a postsecondary institution to further

their education, others will enlist in the military and some will immediately join the workforce.

Whichever path students choose to take, they are embarking on a journey they were preparing for

as they attended school. Teachers constantly reiterated they were preparing students for life after

high school- the real world. But are students sufficiently prepared for the real world that awaits

them beyond the comfort of high school? Many students, parents, colleges, and employers beg to

differ. Students are graduating high school unprepared and lacking necessary soft skills to

navigate through the beginning of their lives. Unfortunately, these nonacademic skills were not a

key component to the curriculum despite being important for the rest of students’ lives.

Background

The notion of developing nonacademic skills is not a new concept. In fact, many states

have adopted what is referred to as college and career readiness standards (CCR) to address the

need of the development of soft skills. These standards were designed to prepare students to

successfully transition into college or the workforce after graduating high school. Gosner

describes the soft skills students should develop as critical thinking, collaboration and

communication in all respects to the workforce including among coworkers (2018). These skills

are not necessarily explicitly taught in school but follow students across all academic contents

and throughout their lives. Soft skills helps student mature into adults and transition into their

next phase in life. They are valued not only by future employers, but necessary for students’

personal lives as well.

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Stakeholders

The stakeholders in this problem include parents, teachers, school administration,

colleges and employers. Parents want to know their children are leaving high school prepared to

for postsecondary education, joining the work force, or simply being a successful individual.

Teachers and school administration, inherently having students’ best interest, also want them to

be successful outside the classroom. Colleges and employers want to know that the prospective

students or employees are prepared to face the challenges in the real world and act as

independent, responsible adults. Each stakeholder has an interest in students succeeding as

competent adults because the future depends on them.

Existing Challenges and Potential Barriers

Incorporating soft skills into the curriculum has its challenges that currently prevent

educators from effectively teaching them. Teachers in secondary education, particularly those

teaching mathematics, English, and the sciences are bound by time constraints. They are

expected to teach students a vast assortment of standards within an academic school year for the

purpose of passing state assessments. Some teachers can feel the pressure and begin to “teach-to-

the-test” where they deposit information onto their students in order to pass state assessments.

This type of teaching prevents students from becoming critical thinkers and problem solvers thus

stifling creativity and problem solving. Other challenges surrounding effective implementation

of teaching soft skills is the agreement of what soft skills should be taught in school. Depending

on the stakeholder, different skills will be considered important to teach. Moreover, since soft

skills are not formally part of the curriculum, they are not directly assessed by teachers, district

or state (Chamorro‐Premuzic, Arteche, Bremner, Greven & Furnham, 2010).

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The larger barrier to this issue comes in the form of debate whether schools are even

responsible for teaching soft skills. Since what is considered important in terms of nonacademic

skills, is subjective, the responsibility of who should develop these skills in students is arguable.

Every stakeholder agrees soft skills are important but for some it may not be the schools’

responsibility.

Environmental Analysis

To understand how soft skills are currently taught in the classroom and the future

direction, it is important to analyze the environment. Within the school system, there are internal

strengths that will aid in the development of soft skills but also internal weakness that will hinder

the development of soft skills due to the limited resources. While the school system would be the

prominent role in addressing the need to implement soft skills, external factors have an equally

important role in teaching soft skills. The external factors will have both a positive and negative

effect on how these skills are taught and valued.

Internal Strengths

In the recent years there has a been a need established for the development of soft skills

in secondary education in Arizona. The state of Arizona has developed standards for college and

career readiness. Within those standards, soft skills, specifically interpersonal skills are

highlighted and regarded as necessary for students to be successful after graduation. Setting these

standards establishes a consensus of what skills should be taught to students in the Arizona

receiving public education.

In addition to having a set of standards by the state, high schools are equipped with

Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs that focus on developing industry specific
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skills. CTE programs include classes such as child development, business, automotive, welding,

sports science, nursing, and construction. They include an array of trades and hands-on

experiences for students. These CTE programs vary by school, but they offer students insight on

what skills and qualities employers in specific fields are searching for in employees. CTE

programs help students develop the soft skills needed for future employment but the question

arises of whether students receive enough training.

Internal Weaknesses

While CTE programs and standards set by the state of Arizona are a starting point for the

development of soft skills, it is uncertain how well students are learning. Since there is no state

assessment, or even school assessment it is difficult to gauge the level of proficiency for the soft

skills students are learning. The Northwest Evaluation Survey (2018) concluded that while

standardized test scores are viewed as indicators of academic success, there is no test to

“adequately assess all of the nonacademic skills or soft skills — personality traits, motivations,

or goals that are valued in the job market and in school — that may be better predictors of

success in life” (2018, p. 4). Without a system to monitor student development of soft skills and

assess the growth, it is impossible to ascertain students are meeting the standards set forth by the

state.

Assessing soft skills would help determine the growth of each trait, but the debate still

holds whether it is the responsibility of the school to teach soft skills. This debate can influence

teachers’ attitudes and create reluctance in implement college and career readiness standards in

their classroom. Schools need to be in a consensus of the importance of soft skills if students are

to develop them properly across all classrooms.

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External Opportunities

Even though schools are left with the burden of determining how to effectively

implement and assess the college and career readiness standards set forth by the state, there are

opportunities for involvement from the community. CTE programs allow students to receive

experience inside the classroom but local employers could be telling schools what to teach. This

would streamline the transition from high school to careers. Gosner (2018) argues schools need

input from local business on what to teach to students in order for any type of training program

to be effective. Since local business are the employers and students are future workforce, there

should be open communication and collaboration between business and the school. This strategy

could include having experts involved and working alongside the CTE programs and providing

more realistic hands-on experiences.

External Challenges

Involving local business in the development of soft skills can be a great asset in

promoting the development of a program but it also comes with its challenges. Asking business

to be involved can be a challenge of its own. Lack of involvement from business can lead to

undeveloped programs and unauthentic experiences for students. A lack of parent involvement is

can also hinder students from learning soft skills if students are not involved or encouraged to

take CTE classes. This lack of involvement can lead to a breakdown in communication between

parents and teachers as seen in a survey by the Northwest Evaluation Association. “Consistent

with communication about academic results, only 43% of parents say their child’s teachers give

them
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feedback about their child’s nonacademic skill development very often or often. However, 60%

of teachers say they give parents feedback about their child’s nonacademic skill development

very often or often — a 17-point gap.” (NEA, 2018, p. 16). This gap in communication causes

faulty understanding and unfortunately, the students are still unprepared. For students to thrive,

they need all stakeholders to be involved and willing to participate.

Stakeholder Analysis

The stakeholders within the effective implementation of soft skills are parents, teachers

and school administration, and colleges and employers. These three group of people stand to gain

and lose various things if high school students do not acquire enough and adequate soft skills

during their education. Each of these groups of stakeholders will play a distinctive role to better

student acquisition of soft skills within the school system.

Parents

Parents are the most recognizable stakeholders when it comes to this issue since it

involves the future of their children. Parents need reassurance that their student is receiving

adequate preparation for life beyond high school. If parents feel their child does not receive a

proper education that prepares them for life beyond high school, they feel time is wasted and

question the validity and importance of school. On the other hand, if parents see their child

emerging as a young adult capable of navigating through life beyond high school, they are

confident in the school system. “When asked to compare the quality of their K-12 education with

their children’s schools, over half of parents (52%) say the education their child is receiving is

better than the education they received” (NEA, 2018, p. 12). In other words, parents’ levels of
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confidence in schools is affected by their perception of their children’s development of soft

skills.

Teachers and School Administration

Teachers and school administration are also greatly affected by the implementation and

development of soft skills in high schools. Teachers see first-hand how students develop

interpersonal skills. Even though they do not formally assess these traits and skills, especially

content area teachers, they can see the growth and need for soft skills. Most teachers and school

administration believe soft skills are an important component to the education of students.

Chamorro-Premuzic et al (2010) suggest teaching soft skills before and during content-based

curriculum. Therefore, content area teachers will be expected to teach soft skills in conjunction

to content material. Teachers and administration believe students will gain valuable skills from

developing soft skills such as problem solving in the real-world, critical thinking skills, adopt

different perspectives and develop teamwork (NEA, 2010). Teachers have more work in

adjusting their curriculum to meet the needs of teaching soft skills, but they can also feel

unprepared for such task. They would have to learn how to adjust for inclusion of career and

readiness standards with the help of administration.

Colleges and Employers

The final stakeholders in this problem are colleges and employers. While the previous

stakeholders interact with students during high school, colleges and employers will interact with

students as postgraduates. Both entities require students be independent and capable of

navigating through the work force and as new coming college students. They require high school

graduates to exercise characteristics of maturing, prepared adults. Since colleges and employers
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provide the workforce for the future, they have a great deal to lose if students do not develop soft

skills in high school. Students lacking soft skills, specifically interpersonal traits, struggle to find

employment and graduate college thus diminishing the amount of highly trained professionals

for the workforce. If students can receive the training and develop soft skills in high school, then

they can more easily transition into college or become employed.

Conclusion

While students should be learning the fundamentals of literature, mathematics, science

and history, it is equally important students learn the traits and skills required to navigate through

life. These traits need beyond high school are soft skills, more commonly referred to people

skills, include teamwork, critical thinking, presentation skills, and problem solving. Currently,

CTE programs in schools allow for students to receive exposure to technical training, but there

could be a smooth pathway between high school and college or work. Teachers, schools, parents,

and local businesses should work together to develop a set of characteristics graduating students

should possess.
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References

Chamorro-Premuzic, T., Arteche, A., Bremner, A., Greven, C., & Furnham, A. (2010). Soft

skills in higher education: Importance and improvement ratings as a function of

individual differences and academic performance. Educational Psychology, 30(2), 221-

241.

Ellis, M., Kisling, E., & Hackworth, R. G. (2014). Teaching soft skills employers need.

Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 38(5), 433-453.

doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/10.1080/10668926.2011.567143

Gonser, S. (2018). Businesses say students aren’t mastering basic workplace skills. Are they

right? Retrieved from https://hechingerreport.org/businesses-say-students-arent-

mastering-basic-workplace-skills-are-they-right/.

Northwest Evaluation Association. (2018). Assessing Soft Skills: Are We Preparing Students for

Successful Futures? Retrieved from

https://www.nwea.org/content/uploads/2018/08/NWEA_Gallup-Report_August-2018.pdf