The Nine Essential Skills are as identified the Government of Canada
are:
1.
Reading
·
notes, letters, memos, manuals, specifications,
regulations, books, reports or journals
·
forms and labels if they contain at least one
paragraph
·
print and non-print media (text on computer
screens)
2.
Writing
·
writing texts and writing in documents (filling
in forms)
·
non-paper-based writing (typing on a computer)
3.
Document Use
·
information displays in which words, numbers,
icons and other visual characteristics (eg. line, colour, shape) are given
meaning by their spatial arrangement. For example, graphs, lists, tables,
blueprints, schematics, drawings, signs and labels are documents used in the
world of work.
·
print and non-print media (equipment gauges,
clocks and flags)
4.
Numeracy
·
the workers' use of numbers and their capability
to think in quantitative terms
5.
Computer Use
·
covers the variety and complexity of computer
use in the workplace
6.
Thinking
·
differentiates between six different types of
interconnected cognitive functions:
·
problem solving
·
decision making
·
critical thinking
·
job task planning and organizing
·
significant use of memory
·
finding information
7.
Oral Communication
·
use of speech to give and exchange thoughts and
information
8.
Working with Others
·
extent to which employees work with others to
carry out their tasks.
9.
Continuous Learning
·
knowing how to learn
·
knowing how to gain access to a variety of
materials, resources and learning opportunities
But the key piece of understanding Essential Skills is that
Essential Skills are the application of everyday basic literacy skills: reading,
writing, to which we can also add numeracy and technology. (Many people will
add other skills to the basic list.) It is the application of those skills to workplace tasks. Essential Skills
are all tied to specific tasks that are present in the workplace.
So far, so good. It would appear that one could then figure
out the Essential Skills for any job (yes, and it has been done) and then test
for those Essential Skills. And this is where it gets tricky.
Let’s consider my job. One of my tasks is to create
documents using a computer. Pretty easy to create a test for that, and to get a
fairly accurate assessment of my skills in the three Essential Skills required
for that task.
Now let’s consider a millworker. One of the tasks a
millworker might perform is running a saw to cut a log for maximum production,
after assessing the log and consulting the computer screen. There are at least
five of the Essential Skills all mixed up in that task. How do you test, with
pen and paper for that? Or with a computer? How can you simulate that task to
test those skills?
And what about testing workers for their Essential Skill
Levels, prior to them getting a job? Or teaching those skills? Remember
Essential Skills must have a task, so in teaching it is sometimes teaching the
literacy skill and then how to apply the literacy skill to an out of context workplace
task for practice. Workers learn how to use their reading and writing skills to
fill in a workplace form. Or they may be tested for their Essential Skill Level
using forms they have never seen before.
If this is beginning to sound like rocket science, that is good. It is rocket science. The problem is, not everyone realizes this. Essential Skills have become catch words for what a non-skilled workforce needs; they can be tested, “skilled up” then retested and made into a skilled worker in six months or six weeks or whatever the government funding might determine.
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