Integrity seems to be a skill that needs work with many students. The value of getting students to do what they are asked to do and should do on time and with an adequate level of quality is a skill that has not been widely accepted or adopted, it seems. Thus, instructors need to hold students accountable, as they continually remind them why they are doing it!
Professionalism and managing emotions seems to be my area of problems when it comes to a couple of our students. I have stressed the importance of yes know your job and doing it to the best of their ability, but they seem not to take the professionalism piece as important. I reiterate HIPAA often and the fines and the secret audits but again they cant leave their personal issues at the door when they get to their place of employment.
janice,
Managing emotions is difficult when someone is under stress.
Philip Campbell
Mangaging emotions when you know someone is making an attempt to openly put you down in front of others
Leslie,
We all need to work on communication. As much as we need to learn how to get the message out, others need to work equally as hard to understand the messages.
Philip Campbell
I think that the most difficult soft skill to teach are communication skills, and problem solving. Each of these takes a lot of time and hands on activities. Also, each situation is going to be different, so trying to teach each type of situation will be difficult.
Kathaleen,
Great questions. You can start by asking them what a good model would be? Once they tell you ask them if they think they could do that? Usually they will say yes, and then hold them to that standard. What is nice is they came up with them. Not you. They can't blame you for forcing them to comply.
Philip Campbell
How do we get students to quit focusing on ME!!! I always think of the sea gulls in "Finding Nemo"...MINE MINE MINE... A lot of my students have not had role models who get up and go to work every day. They don't realize how important it will be for them to be at work everyday and be focused. Please put down your cell phones and work. I try to set the example by being there everyday - being on time - and being positive. And how do we get them to use three phrases some of us learned as children - please, thank you, and you're welcome.
Bernie,
This is a hard skills that most still need to work on.
Philip Campbell
Adel ,
Identifying work ethic and helping students to get better helps.
Philip Campbell
The ability to control their emotion. I say this because most of our students have very low self-control. They feel they need to control everyone around them, but not themselves. Showing control as a teacher is the first step in showing them how to control themselves.
In my field of instruction, I find that many students lack a strong work ethic. They sinply do not have the life or work experience to understand how challenging and competitive the workplace can be. They do not grasp that a lack of work ethic in the classroom equals difficulty in holding a job. This is true of many regardless of sex, race, age or economic background.
Phillip,
Teaching how to be respectful to others is a challenging skill. This is especially difficult to the adult non-traditional learner.
I believe integrity is the most difficult trait for a student to learn.
I think a code of values is established as one grows.
The value of integrity and the influence of all that we do as it effects others is not taught as an adult, but it is accumulated throughout life.
Getting along with each other, even when they dont like each other
Carolyn,
Emotions are difficult to manage. Once we can control them we are effective.
Philip Campbell
I agree that it is difficult to choose just one! So many seem to overlap and influence one another.
The one I perhaps try to focus on with my students most frequently is dependability/personal responsibility. You must know what was expected of you and what your role was in performing a task. If you cannot own up to where you failed to complete your portion, you will also likely never succeed. I often feel dismayed when I see societal influences telling us that something is "not our fault" when in fact, we chose a certain attitude or action. I hope not to let my students fall into that trap of our current culture. I try to get students to see that I can only do so much for them, and that it is ultimately up to them to decide whether or not they follow through with their part to achieve success. This goes for managing absences, turning in work, asking questions, etc. I don't want to hear "it's not my fault" -- I want to hear, "What could I do better next time?"
I think it is often very difficult for instructors to manage their emotions. When someone is in the grip of a strong emotion, it takes a firm, concentrated effort to recognize the emotion for what it is, to question why they are reacting the way they are, and then calm down. This takes practice.
Positive Attitude...very hard to break the "Negative Nelly" pattern! Most students who have negative attitudes come from homes where negativity is in the "water" so to speak. When I teach class, I start the day with what was your "High" what was your "low"...we then evaluate the low and turn it into a positive. This seems to work well with overly-negative students and it helps me establish a trusting relationship with them. Over time, I see those students changing the negative mindset and begin developing positive attitudes towards school, classes, and even personal issues.
Being empathetic to other's situation. My students are so busy scrambling to remember what they are doing to assess their patient, that they forget it's a real person in front of them. We've talked about how to assess while interviewing the patient to get the big picture. However, this is an area that does not come easily to them. In one way I think it is easier to do the assessment without getting personal with a patient that is critically ill. On the other hand it is hard to know where to draw the line between medical background and personal background until further experience is gained.
