Life Skills Education Toolkit

2•PART TWO: FACILITATOR’S GUIDE

SECTION ONE: Understanding Life Skills

What are Life Skills?

Life skills refers to a large group of psychosocial

and interpersonal skills that promotes mental well-

being and that leads to a healthy and productive

life. Health is defined as a “state of complete

physical, mental and social well being and not

merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (World

Health Organization)

Life skills develop competencies and actual

behaviors. They result in personal actions, actions

directed to others and actions to change the

surrounding environment in a healthy, safe way.

There are many definitions of life skills. The

World Health Organization (WHO, 1993) defines

life skills as “the abilities for adaptive and positive

behavior that enables individuals to deal

effectively with the demands and challenges of

everyday life.” WHO (1994) has also identified a

core set of life skills for the promotion and well

being of children and adolescents.

Core Life Skills

Problem-solving

Decision-making (including goal setting)

Critical thinking

Creative thinking (including value clarification)

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills (including assertiveness)

Self-awareness

Empathy

Coping with stress

Coping with emotions

Life skills are often categorized different ways.

Whichever way life skills are categorized, they all

address similar issues. Some of the classifications

include:

• Communication, relationship and decision-
  making skills;


• Thinking, social and negotiation skills; and


• Decision-making, interpersonal
  communication, values, emotions, saying
  no, and our future.
  These are referred to as generic life skills; they
  help people deal effectively with the demands and
  challenges of everyday life.
  Life skills are also applied to specific risk
  situations to prevent health damaging behavior.
  The selection and emphasis on particular skills will
  depend on the specific risk behavior. For example,
  in a HIV prevention program, decision-making is
  emphasized; in a care and support program with
  orphans, coping with emotions and stress is
  important. Emphasis does not mean choosing one
  life skill over another, as all life skills are important
  and interrelated.
  Life skills are sometimes confused with skills such as
  finding a job, going to a police station or learning
  first aid. While these skills are important, they are
  not what are meant by life skills.