FUNCTIONAL EDUCATION AND EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS IN A COMPETITIVE SOCIETY

FUNCTIONAL EDUCATION AND EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS IN A COMPETITIVE SOCIETY

Ø Sound education for self-sustainability.

Ø Skills for employability.

Ø Self-employment as the SURE employment.

Functional Education

In the work of Yehudah Zeilberger translated from Hebrew to English, of the entry "Functional Education", Educational Encyclopedia (Encyclopedia Khinukhit) v. 1 706-710, published by The Israel Ministry of Education and Mossad Bialik, Jerusalem, Israel, 1961 -translated by Doron Zeilberger, Dec. 29, 1999; Presents the perception of functional education across the world.

  In the United States and in Germany (starting around 1920), the adjective "functional" refers to education that comes spontaneously from the influence of the environment; It is a kind of undirected, "natural" education, that is different from the deliberate, goal-oriented education, that is directed by man.

In Western Europe this term refers to education that comes from the child's needs, and that uses the child's interest as a mechanism for activating him and towards his desirable activities; Its purpose is to develop the life of the mind, that acts from the wholeness of organic life, with relation to practical life in the present and in the future.

A functionally educated person should be able to demonstrate skills, abilities, competences and technical know-how his or her training presents. A person trained as a teacher should be able to teach, medical doctor should be able to treat patients, pilot should be able to fly plane and so it should be in all fields of endeavour.

B. The Psychological Background of Functional Education.-

The psychological basis of Functional Education is Functional Psychology, as it was first expressed by William James, and was extended later by Eduard Claparede. The functional world-view claims to the wholeness of the psychic phenomena, and attributes value to their role in the adaptation of an organism to its natural and social environment. To "educate" means therefore: to adapt the child to his environment, while emphasizing his needs and inclinations, as they are revealed in his developmental stages. According to Claparede, a living organism is a system that strives to preserve its wholeness and equilibrium; when it is in danger of collapse, it tends to bring itself back to its former state.

From these follow laws that clarify the functional activity:

(a) The law of the biological need. "

 (b) The law of the expansion of the spiritual life.

(c) The law of conscious understanding.

(d) The law of anticipation.

(e) The law of "interest".

(f) The law of the present interest.

(g) The law of repeats. "

 (h) The law of groping. "

 (j) The law of functional autonomy.

All these laws inform while people involve in functional activities

The principles of Functional Education. -

(1) One has to judge the child from the standpoint of his own world-view, and to describe him in terms of concepts drawn from his experience and to teach him according to his criteria:

(2) The Functional Education is based on the natural need of the child to enquire and to know, to observe and to work.

 (3) One has to put the child in the center of the curriculum that will no longer be made according to principles exterior to the child.

(4) The educator should get to know properly the child's interests and the changes that he undergoes as he grows up physically and emotionally; hence the teacher should adapt his teaching to the natural growth of the child.

(5) One should not demand from the child an action, unless he has a natural need for it.

 (6) The Education will develop the intellectual and moral abilities of the child rather than force-feeding him with many facts, that are quickly forgotten, or are accumulated in the memory like a foreign substance, without any connection to his life.

(7) An "active school" is needed, where the classroom would be a kind of laboratory.

(8) Because the child must in the future live in a social framework, one must introduce the child to work and to subjects that prepare for social activity.

(9) The teacher should stimulate moral and spiritual needs, cooperate with his students, rather than lecture at them

 (10) There is no point in trying to develop skills that not everyone has a talent for; the school should have a minimum of a common, core, curriculum, and leave other subjects as free electives

 (11) One should no longer have exams that are but a burden on the memory; instead one has to introduce an "achievement summary"

Functional Instruction

Functional education starts with functional instruction. In this way the child will gain thinking habits and develop the technical means needed for them that will improve as time goes on, and that will aid him in solving his practical problems.

Formal Knowledge has no educational value, because the activity of the mind is separated from life, and does not arouse interest in the outcome of the performed work. In this way, learning becomes an end for itself. This is not the case in Functional Education, that attempts at non-formal goals - to train students towards a practical mastery of the subject, to get them into the habit to adapt to any situation, to bring them to experience first-hand with the studied subject by do-it-yourself work and experiments. The teacher is just a "go-between" between the subject and the student, and he enables the functioning- the live relation between the student and the studied subject, and the relation between them.

Employability skills

Employability skill can be defined as the transferable skills needed by an individual to make them have an edge over others in a competitive labour market to secure a job.

According to British Council, by “skills for employability “ we mean the knowledge, skills and competences which help you negotiate the labour market and secure job. These are not just the technical or vocational skills but the softer skills.

Ten (10) Top Employability Skills

University of kent (the UK’s European university) summarizes a number of surveys on the skills required by graduates to be employable as follows;

Verbal Communication: Able to express your ideas clearly and confidently in speech
Teamwork : Work confidently within a group

Commercial Awareness: Understand the commercial realities affecting the organisation.

Analysing & Investigating : Gather information systematically to establish facts & principles. Problem solving.

Initiative/Self Motivation : Able to act on initiative, identify opportunities & proactive in putting forward ideas & solutions

Drive: Determination to get things done. Make things happen & constantly looking for better ways of doing things.

Written Communication: Able to express yourself clearly in writing

Planning & Organizing: Able to plan activities & carry them through effectively

Flexibility: Adapt successfully to changing situations & environments

Time Management: Manage time effectively, prioritizing tasks and able to work to deadlines.

The best employability skills can give is employment where there is vacancy. What about countries where few vacancies cannot take everybody? Go beyond employability skills to employment opportunity creator by developing and starting up your own business organization from millions of business opportunity around us. Self- employment is the SURE employment.

In conclusion, you are coming to school when many graduates are roaming the streets without job for many years unlike when jobs looked for applicants in this country. Your time also witness when employers of labour and general public have little confidence on products of educational institutions. Ensure you meticulously work to acquire skills and competences your area of study presents as well as softer skills that make you winsome to employers. Remember, self-employment is the SURE employment.

References

Claparede E (1950). functional education. Neuchatel: London  

Ferriere, A.: The ABC of the New Education (Hakhinukh 1951-52, v.24, 305-330 (Hebrew translation); Dewey J., Democracy and Education, Jerusalem, 1960.

www.kent.ac.uk/careers/sk/top-ten-skills.htm

Yehudah Zeilberger translation from Hebrew to English, of the entry "Functional Education", Educational Encyclopedia. 1 706-710, published by The Israel Ministry of Education and Mossad Bialik, Jerusalem, Israel, 1961 -translated by Doron Zeilberger, Dec. 29, 1999;