This open access volume critically reviews a diverse body of scholarship and practice that informs the conceptualization, curriculum, teaching and measurement of life skills in education settings around the world. It discusses life skills as they are implemented in schools and non-formal education, providing both qualitative and quantitative evidence of when, with whom, and how life skills do or do not impact young women’s and men’s lives in various contexts. Specifically, it examines the nature and importance of life skills, and how they are taught. It looks at the synergies and differences between life skills educational programmes and the way in which they promote social and emotional learning, vocational/employment education, and health and sexuality education. Finally, it explores how life skills may be better incorporated into education and how such education can address structures and relations of power to help youth achieve desired future outcomes, and goals set out in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Life skills education has gained considerable attention by education policymakers, researchers and educators as being the sine qua non for later achievements in life. It is nearly ubiquitous in global and national education policies, including the SDGs, because life skills are regarded as essential for a diverse set of purposes: reducing poverty, achieving gender equality, promoting economic growth, addressing climate change, fostering peace and global citizenship, and creating sustainable and healthy communities. Yet, to achieve these broad goals, questions persist as to which life skills are important, who needs to learn them, how they can be taught, and how they are best measured. This book addresses these questions.

Boys Town's trademark manual, offering the step-by-step component behaviors to 183 skills. The skills range from basic to complex, and have been updated, removing several obsolete skills and adding skills to match challenges today's youth face. The manual still offers hallmark treatment examples, demonstrating how and when to teach the skills; but also incorporates references to and information from the latest research findings. The 3rd edition incorporates multi-tiered approaches to social and emotional learning, as well as how the skills relate to executive function.

"Digital Life Skills for Youth is for parents, guardians, educators, and anyone who wants to be a positive guiding influence on the next generation of digital citizens. General concepts such as digital citizenship and reputation management are discussed. Also included are core skills for functioning in today's job market. If your child or teen needs social skills, study skills, business skills, safety skills, or other skills to thrive in their digital life, author Angela Crocker offers this book full of real-world solutions, guidance, and practical steps to setting kids up for digital success."--

"Many young people around the world --- especially the disadvantaged --- are leaving school without the skills they need to thrive in society and find decent jobs. As well as thwarting young people's hopes, these education failures are jeopardizing equitable economic growth and social cohesion, and preventing many countries from reaping the potential benefits of their growing youth populations. The 2012 Education for All Global Monitoring Report examines how skills development programmes can be improved to boost young people's opportunities for decent jobs and better lives."--Publisher's description

This guidebook provides a handy reference for youth to the eight most important social skills and their behavioural steps. Each step includes a rationale for why it is important and hints on how it can best be applied. Eight social skills are included: following instructions, disagreeing appropriately, accepting criticism or a consequence, talking with others, showing respect, accepting "no" for an answer, introducing yourself, and showing sensitivity to others. The behavioural steps to each skill are presented, each with a rationale that youth will respond to and helpful hints on how they can accomplish the behaviour.

Minority youth unemployment is an enduring economic and social concern. This book evaluates two new initiatives for minority high school students that seek to cultivate marketable job skills. The first is an after-school program that provides experiences similar to apprenticeships, and the second emphasizes new approaches to improving job interview performance. The evaluation research has several distinct strengths. It involves a randomized controlled trial, uncommon in assessments of this issue and age group. Marketable job skills are assessed through a mock job interview developed for this research and administered by experienced human resource professionals. Mixed methods are utilized, with qualitative data shedding light on what actually happens inside the programs, and a developmental science approach situating the findings in terms of adolescent development. Beneficial for policy makers and practitioners as well as scholars, Job Skills and Minority Youth focuses on identifying the most promising tactics and addressing likely implementation issues.

One of the most complete sources of information on the development of social skills training with youth, this useful volume integrates current research and practice. Practitioners interested in establishing or revising current social service delivery programs for children and adolescents will discover valuable conceptual and programmatic ideas.