The following step-by-step guide is a very simple way to start looking at how you might integrate transferable skills into your curriculum:
Transferable skills are known by a variety of terms - key skills, core skills, soft skills, generic skills, generic competences. Transferable skills have been defined by the project quite simply as "skills developed in one situation which can be transferred to another situation". They are the kinds of skills which are necessary for effective performance by individuals, not only in the workplace but in life in general. Some examples of such skills include team working, communication skills, problem solving and planning skills.
Another good definition is:
They are skills that all study, work and careers have in common. Thus they serve as a bridge from study to work or from one career to another. Once you have demonstrated or mastered a skill in one career, you can easily transfer it from one job to another, from one field to another, from one career to another. That is why they are called transferable skills.
Adapted from Nelson Bolles (1996)
It is important to define for yourself what the term "transferable skills" means to you.
All the things we learn automatically while we do our courses, which aren't necessarily related to the academic content. So presentation skills, communication skills, computer skills - all kinds of things.
Italian & History of Art, Year 3
Skills you develop in college that you can use and transfer over into the workplace - things like good communication skills...being able to think on your feet, being able to work in a group, being able to get your ideas across. So I suppose the essential skills you need to be successful in your job.
International Business and Language, Year 4
Sources of information for identifying these skills and qualities could include the institution's or school's strategic plan or mission statement. They could also include the existing learning outcomes of academic programmes or requirements of relevant professional bodies. Brainstorming among colleagues is another way to identify skills which are particularly important to a programme of study or discipline.
back to top
Auditing a course allows you to identify the transferable skills that are already an integral part of that course. A skills audit is a reflective tool which enables you to consider more deeply the extent to which each individual skill is currently being developed and consequently to identify whether there are any "gaps" e.g. skills which may be present, but not currently being developed. The skills audit tool on the skills resources section of this website is designed for just such a purpose.
back to top
It is important in identifying gaps to maintain a balance in skills development across a course or programme so that no one lecturer or module is "overloaded" by skills development. Using the information gathered from skills audits of individual courses, a skills matrix can be built which would show at a glance how well balanced skills development is across any particular academic programme.
If it could be implemented to first years and the...and then second years and then third and fourth years, integrated more tactfully into the programme...because it's an excellent idea.
Languages & Marketing, Year 4
High |
a. Adapt / design skills materials for use in class |
|---|---|
| b. Integrate existing skills materials into class work | |
| c. Integrate existing skills materials into subject for students to use outside of class | |
| d. Write skills into learning outcomes | |
| Low | e. Mention skills being developed in class through activities being undertaken |
The levels at which skills can be integrated or developed can vary considerably. At a very "low" level (e.g. as per (e) above) it could simply mean using teaching sessions as "an opportunity to point out...that learning activities can have a "carry" beyond the immediate programme context" (Brown et al, 2004, p.14) by "the connections between higher education activities and work (being) made in introductory and concluding remarks, and during evaluation and reflection sessions".
At a higher level (e.g. as per (b) above) this may mean "using the teaching of the subject discipline as an opportunity for introducing activities that simultaneously address more generic concerns" (Brown et al, 2004, p.12).
back to top
Skills materials can include anything from basic information on a skill, to reflective exercises on the use of a skill, to tips for the development of a particular skill. Suggestions for suitable resources are contained in the skills resources section of this website.
back to top
Much debate has focused on the question as to whether transferable skills should or should not be assessed, and indeed, how such assessment could even be undertaken. Brown et al (2004, p.27) recommend that "in order to reduce clutter and 'task overload', it is a good idea to design modules to have a few 'target' outcomes that naturally call upon understanding and skilful practices that will not be directly assessed in that module."
The Transferable Skills Project adopted this approach (partly because of the short time period over which the pilot took place) and decided not to address the issue of assessment directly in the pilot programme, preferring instead to concentrate on developing ways to make the skills more visible and explicit to students and on measuring the impact of such strategies on the students in the short term. The project does recognise however, that this is an issue over which there is much debate, and if strategies for skills development are implemented in the longer term, it is one which would clearly need to be addressed.)
back to top
Download the leaflet (PDF, 384 Kb)
Brown et al (Pedagogy for Employability Group) (2004) Pedagogy for Employability, Learning and Employability Series, ESECT/The Higher Education Academy: UK. Available on: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resources.asp?process=full_record§ion=generic&id=338.
Nelson Bolles, R. (1996) The 1996 What Colour is Your Parachute? A practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers, Ten Speed Press: USA
back to top