Author: Dr. Jenny McCormack Walker, Literacy Texas Executive Director
Watch someone repair an engine, manage a busy kitchen, or guide a frustrated customer through a problem, and you’ll notice something important:
Technical skills matter, but the real magic often lives in the soft skills (also called fundamental or durability skills).
These subtle superpowers allow us to professionally communicate, solve problems, work well with others on teams, adapt to change, and manage time effectively.
As we prepare adult learners for their next level of education or employment, we must intentionally incorporate these learning objectives into our lessons.
Many adults enter our programs with a clear goal – perhaps to earn a credential, improve reading and writing, qualify for a better job, or advance in their current position. Academic knowledge and training will certainly open doors, but durability skills are what keep those doors open.
Employers consistently report that these fundamental skills matter at least as much as a worker’s ability to perform the technical parts of the job.
Additionally, durability skills also strengthen confidence in the population of learners we serve. When our students can practice explaining an idea clearly, ask thoughtful questions, or work through a challenge with a team, they build a sense of capability. Over time, that confidence becomes momentum, and momentum leads to opportunity.
These skills also support resiliency. Workplaces change quickly, especially where technology is concerned. Roles shift, positions are reorganized, and industries transform. Durability skills help people adapt when inevitable change comes their way. Adult education programs must not only recognize this reality, but they should also strive to weave it into instruction.
By integrating teamwork exercises, workplace communication, and critical thinking into lessons, adult literacy programs will help students have well-rounded instruction as they prepare to navigate their career path. Adult literacy opens the door to knowledge and opportunity, and durability skills help learners walk through the door.
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