Listening
Initially, the skill steps concentrate on being able to listen effectively to others - including remembering short instructions, understanding why others are communication and recording important information.
Individuals then focus on how they demonstrate that they are listening effectively, thinking about body language, open questioning and summarising and rephrasing.
Beyond that, the focus is on being aware of how they might be being influenced by a speaker, through tone and language.
The final steps are about critical listening - comparing perspectives, identifying biases, evaluating ideas and being objective.
Speaking
Initially, this skill focuses on being able to speak clearly - first with well known individuals and small groups and then with those who are not known.
The next stage is about being an effective speaker by making points logically, by thinking about what listeners already know and using appropriate language, tone and gesture.
Beyond that, individuals focus on speaking engagingly through use of facts and examples, visual aids, and their expression and gesture.
Beyond that stage, speakers will be adaptive to the response of their listeners and ready for different scenarios. The final steps focus on speaking influentially - using structure, examples, facts and vision to persuade listeners.
Problem Solving
The first steps focus on being able to follow instructions to complete tasks, seeking help and extra information if needed. The next stage focuses on being able to explore problems by creating and assessing different potential solutions. This includes more complex problems, without a simple technical solution.
Beyond this, the focus is on exploring complex solutions - thinking about causes and effects, generating options, and evaluating those options. This extends into analysis using logical reasoning and hypotheses.
Finally, individuals implement strategic plans to solve complex problems, assess their success, and draw out learning for the future.
Creativity
The first few steps focus on the individual's confidence in imagining different situations and sharing their ideas.
The focus is then on generating ideas - using a clear brief, making improvements to something that already exists and combining concepts.
Individuals then apply creativity in the context of their work and their wider life. They can build off this to develop ideas using tools like mind mapping, questioning, and considering different perspectives.
The most advanced steps focus on building effective innovation in group settings and by seeking out varied experiences and stimuli. Finally, individuals support others to innovate, by sharing tools, identifying the right tools for the situation and through coaching.
Staying Positive
The early steps focus on identifying emotions - particularly feeling positive or negative. Building off that is the ability to keep trying - and then staying calm, thinking about what went wrong, and trying to cheer up and encourage others.
The focus then turns to identifying new opportunities in difficult situations, sharing those, and adapting or creating plans accordingly. At more advanced steps, individuals identify and manage risks and gains in opportunities.
Finally, individuals support others to stay positive by managing their own response, helping others to see opportunities and creating plans to achieve them.
Aiming High
The focus is then about working with care and attention, taking pride in success and having a positive approach to new challenges. Building on this, individuals set goals for themselves, informed by an understanding of what is needed, and then be able to order and prioritise tasks, secure resources and involve others effectively.
At the higher steps, the focus is creating plans informed by an individual's skill set, with clear targets, and building on external views. At the most advanced level, individuals develop long-term strategies. These are informed by an assessment of internal and external factors, structured through regular milestones and feedback loops.
Leadership
At the earliest stages, the focus is on basic empathy - understanding their own feelings, being able to share them, and recognising the feelings of others. The focus is on managing - dividing up tasks, managing time and sharing resources, managing group discussions and dealing with disagreements.
Beyond that, individuals build their awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses, and those of their teams. This allows them to allocate tasks effectively. They then build techniques to mentor, coach and motivate others. At the highest steps, individuals will be able to reflect on their own leadership style and understand its effect on others.
Ultimately, they should be able to build on their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses, and adapt their leadership style to the situation.
Teamwork
The next steps focus on making a contribution to a team through group decision making recognising the value of others' ideas and encourage others to contribute too.Beyond that, individuals improve their teams through managing conflict and building relationships beyond the immediate team. At the top steps, individuals focus on how they influence their team through suggesting improvements and learning lessons from setbacks.
Ultimately, individuals support the team by evaluating others strengths and weaknesses and bringing in external expertise and relationships.
Skill Step
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Skill Step
To achieve Step 4, individuals should show that they can take a positive attitude to new challenges.
In earlier steps, individuals built some of the foundations of this step. They have shown they can recognise and take pride in success, as well as knowing when something is too difficult or dangerous for them to attempt.
Building blocks
The building blocks of this step are learning:
- Why new challenges are a good opportunity
- How to find opportunities for stretch
Reflection questions
- Why is it important to be willing to take on new challenges?
- What would happen if we avoided new challenges?
- Can you give any examples of when you have learnt from a new challenge?
- How can you find challenges that work for you?
- What does it mean to work in your stretch zone?
What you need to know
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Finding new challenges
In the previous step, we explore the idea of being successful – that is, being able to achieve success criteria. We saw that it was essential to take pride and enjoy that success.
Over time though, we mustn’t just stick to safe challenges – only doing things where we think that we are very likely to achieve the success criteria. It might feel that we are very successful initially, but eventually we will take less satisfaction from doing the same things over and over again.
The bigger problem is that if we only do the same challenges or activities over and over again we will stop learning.
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Learning through challenges
When we first do an activity or use a new skill, we tend not to be very good at it. We find it difficult because we have to think hard about how to do it, and we will often make mistakes. Over time though, we get better at it – it starts to feel more natural and we are more successful.
This is because we have learnt how to do the task well, and we will be able to do that task again in the future with success. This expands the range of what we can do and means that we can be confident in lots more situations.
Anything that we have learnt to do in our lives started off being difficult – whether learning to read and write, swim, ride a bicycle, cook, or any number of other skills we have built over time. By working hard at them, and adding those skills to our toolkit, we are much better able to be successful in lots of different situations in the future.
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Spotting or creating challenges
Sometimes we will be given challenges to work on – particularly in education where teachers will often think hard about what the next thing to learn is to give the right level of challenge. However, in education, it is still good to push ourselves to try difficult tasks, and outside of education – in the workplace, or our broader lives – we have to take even more responsibility for finding challenges for ourselves.
In finding or setting ourselves challenges, we need to get the balance right:
- Too easy, and we will just be doing something that we already know how to do – we might be successful, but we won’t be learning.
- Too difficult, and we might place ourselves in a situation that is dangerous (see Step 0) or where we have no chance of success, no matter how hard we work at something.
Instead, we need to find our stretch zone. This is the area where the level of challenge is just right – where we have enough support to help us be successful, but not too much to make it easy. In our stretch zone, we should feel like it what we are doing is difficult and needs us to think and work hard – but it should not feel impossible.
The reward of working in our stretch zone is lots of learning – and therefore being able to get better.
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Why this skill step matters in education
In education there are lots of opportunities to take on new challenges: starting a new class, learning a different topic or subject, managing homework or independent study, working with new people or volunteering on a student council. Taking on different challenges is what helps us learn and is anexciting way to discover new interests. In every subject, when we find our stretch zone we should feel like the balance is just right – not too easy but not too difficult. We can try to work out our stretch zone ourselves or our teachers may support us and suggest work that is at the right level.
Why this skill step matters in the workplace
The context of the workplace is rapidly changing and jobs and projects can often present new challenges. Working with a positive approach helps us grow and develop our skills and can open up new pathways in our career. We might take on a new responsibility, navigate new software or collaborate with a different team. Working positively also helps to create a good environment for those around us, be it our colleagues, customers or clients.
Why this skill step matters in wider life
We can come across challenges in all areas of our lives. We might find we have reached a point in a hobby or sport where it is too easy, or we no longer enjoy it as much, and feel ready to take on the next level. If we avoid doing things which are more challenging, and just stick to what we are already good at, then we won’t learn or improve. For example, we might feel nervous about meeting people but by staying positive we have the chance to make new friends. Often if we look back at challenges we have overcome, and the decisions we made as a result, these are key moments which we can be proud of and which help us to move forward.
How to practise this skill step
To best practise this step of Aiming High, apply what you have learnt to a real-life situation. Choose one or more of the activities below, remind yourself of the key points and strategies in the step, and have a go!
- When we find something very easy or repetitive, we sometimes use the expression ‘I could do this in my sleep’. What would you say you find very easy? Challenge yourself to take it to the next level and stretch yourself.
- If you are working in a group, offer to take responsibility for something new or different from what you would usually do (e.g. being the note taker or timekeeper).
- During the week, look for opportunities to try a new challenge in your stretch zone or ask someone to help suggest ideas. You could try cooking a new recipe, improving your personal best in a game, recycling instead of buying something new, starting a new book, reducing your screen time or practising a foreign language. Remember to make sure it’s not too easy but not impossible either.
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Teaching It
To teach this step:
- The teacher should introduce the idea of why it is essential to take on new challenges through a group discussion with learners.
- Learners could be asked for examples of things that they found to be difficult when they got started but which they are now able to do because they practised.
- The teacher can then introduce the idea of the stretch zone. They could model some examples of where the stretch zone is for them – whether in terms of physical exercise, learning, or a challenge they are doing outside of work.
- Learners should then think about some examples of when they felt that they were working in their stretch zone, reflecting on how it felt and what they achieved as a result.
Reinforcing it
This step lends itself to reinforcement in the classroom. The teacher can introduce opportunities for learners to take on more stretching challenges if they feel that they can quickly achieve the success criteria for tasks that they have been given.
Recognition can also be given to learners who are trying out something new and stretching so that they build new knowledge or skill. This is an essential complement to recognising success.
Assessing it
This step is best assessed through sustained observation and reflection with learners about whether they seek out new challenges or whether they stay in their comfort zone of only doing things that they know they will be successful at.
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Build it at work:
This step is relevant to everyone who has the opportunity to take on new challenges in the workplace.
To build this step in the work environment, managers could:
- Discuss with the individual why it is essential to take on new challenges.
- Model the effects of setting ourselves a challenge that is in our stretch zone. A manager might do this by providing an example of a challenge that is in their stretch zone and describing what happened as a result.
- Task an individual on an exercise where they interview experienced colleagues for examples of things that they found to be difficult when they got started but which they are now able to do because they practised. This can help the individual to recognise the value of creating challenges.
- Reflect with the individual about new challenges that they have taken on, and what they have got out of doing so.
Practising it:
There are plenty of opportunities for building this skill in the workplace:
- Working with colleagues: When there is an opportunity to take on a new challenge with a focus on doing so with a positive attitude.
- Working with customers or clients: when we spot an opportunity to serve a customer in a new way, with a focus on taking on the right level of challenge to give us the best possible chance of success.
Reviewing it:
For those already employed, this step is best assessed through sustained observation. For instance:
- Observing an individual over a prolonged period, to look for evidence of them exploring new challenges at work. Evidence of this step can be found in the individual pursuing challenges which stretch them.
- A manager might also assess for this skill step by asking for an individual’s colleagues to provide feedback on how frequently this individual sets themselves challenges in their stretch zone.
Spotting it in recruitment:
During the recruitment process, this step could be assessed for by:
- Questioning the individual during an interview, asking them to describe a time when they have set themselves a challenge in their stretch zone. Here an observer can look for evidence which suggests the individual correctly identified their stretch zone. An observer might draw on an individual’s reference to look for evidence which supports an individual’s claims.
Build this step
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We work with a wide range of organisations, who use the Skills Builder approach in lots of different settings – from youth clubs, to STEM organisations, to careers and employability providers.
We have a lot of materials available to support you to use the Skills Builder Universal Framework with the individuals you work with, including:
- Tools for self-reflection
- Materials to support you to teach the skills, if appropriate in your setting
- Reward systems like printable certificates
We also do a lot of work with organisations who join the Skills Builder Partnership to build the Universal Framework into their work and impact measurement systems. You can find out a lot more using the links below.
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At home, you can easily support your child to build their essential skills. The good news is that there
are lots of ways that you can have a big impact, including:
- Talking with your child about the essential skills, what they are and how they are useful in all
aspects of life, whether at school, home or in the workplace - Talking about how you use these skill steps in your own work or wider life
- Helping your child to identify where they already build their skills at school, at home or
through other activities and clubs - Praising your child when they show they are using the skills well, and helping them to feel a
sense of achievement - Encouraging them to recognise and talk confidently about their skill strengths with others, and
supporting them to develop their skills further
