http://thelatebreakfastsociety.disqus.com/enThu, 25 Sep 2008 07:50:43 -0000http://www.breakfastsociety.com/2008/09/assessing-soft-skills/#comment-2623681'Employability' isn't quite so much my focus as trying to illustrate the value of soft skills and more importantly find ways to help ensure that in programmes for young people that claim to develop things like 'leadership', 'assertiveness' & so on, that they actually are, and that they do so in a way that is relevant to the needs of the young people involved.<br><br>For example for our course evaluations I've always said that feedback that says "I'm more confident" isn't necessarily good feedback - confident to do what? - confident to do certain teambuilding activities or confident to deal with issues back home?<br><br>I'm a bit bemused that you wouldn't want to use citizenship to create good 'citizens' - isn't that the point?! <br><br>I don't see volunteering as a route to employment - while I accept that it often can be, I think there needs to be much more consideration given to the idea of people volunteering simply because they want to - however in terms of youth provision, providing a programme without concern for helping participants to develop useful skills seems like a wasted opportunity to me.masyomoThu, 25 Sep 2008 07:50:43 -0000http://www.breakfastsociety.com/2008/09/assessing-soft-skills/#comment-2623580interesting idea but I am not sure I am entirely comfortable with the premise of using citizenship to create 'good citizens' - who are employable and will volunteer. For a society to develop effectively, its citizens have to be capable of engaing in processess both positively and negatively as long they have a critical understanding of the wider society.<br><br>I know V is very interested in the link beteween volunteering and employability, so it might be useful to speak to them about this?AdeThu, 25 Sep 2008 07:34:28 -0000