Careers Gateway - Be The Best

Yes…it's the last one!

We have now arrived at the last keyskill, which is called 'Improving own learning and performance' and it is another wider keyskill.

What's it about

Well, it's about lots of different things and once again, you may find that you already recognise some of them in your daily lives. Think about it in a simple way. If you are setting up a new computer for the first time, you might put the wrong leads in and find that it doesn't work. So you would then find out where you went wrong and start again until you get it right! You improve your own learning and performance.

What will I need to show?

You will need to show that you look at your current capabilities (what you can do now) and your future achievements (what you want to be able to do). This requires planning, setting targets and looking for ways in which to help you find useful information. You will also need to show that you have the skills in time management, getting and using feedback (others opinions and ideas) and being able to monitor and critically reflect on your learning (which in English means finding faults in how you have been learning and performing…. Which is more difficult than it sounds!). You will need to find ways to present your achievements to show what you have learned and finally assess your planning and methods for improving your learning and performance. The higher the keyskill level, the more detailed the tasks will be in each unit. (See previous articles for examples)

This sounds familiar!

Like other keyskills, it starts off sounding very complicated but usually comes down to common sense and recognising or organising your daily skills into keyskill areas and making sure that you use them to help you with opportunities in both education, employment or any other area of your life. It's difficult to picture your keyskills in work or school activities, so spend some time thinking about the things you do and by using your keyskills, how you could improve each activity, whether it be in your football team or when you volunteer in a community project. Don't forget to ask your careers / connexions adviser for help and use the web, careers library and careers / connexions centre to find more detailed information on the keyskills we have looked at over the past few months.

So, if you want to be a SURVIVOR in the world of work, you need to know that PROBLEM SOLVERS always seem to know WHAT'S THE MAGIC NUMBER. Or LET'S TALK ABOUT how you are MAKING IT WORK as a TEAM CHAMPION.

BE THE BEST!

Links

General DfES information on Key Skills
http://www.dfes.gov.uk/keyskills/

Key Skills Student Website
http://www.keyskills4u.com/

QCA website
http://www.qca.org.uk/603.html

Good Luck
Jennie Glitherow.

At school or college? Look out for Jennie's future articles which we'll have here for the first Monday of each month, and which we'll link to the best sites we can find on the Web. Why not bookmark us now?

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