SKILLS are abilities to do something that are either related to a physical or a psychosocial behaviour:

1. MANUAL SKILLS which relate to dexterity, ie hands-on know how required for a certain physical behaviour.

2. PSYCHOSOCIAL SKILLS, often referred to as LIFE SKILLS, which relate to a capability of a person to reflect, act and interact:

 
i) Thinking abilities, including problem-solving, understanding consequences, decision-making, critical thinking, self-evaluation.

ii) Personal abilities, including managing stress, managing feelings, self-management and self-monitoring

iii) Social abilities, including communication, negotiation/refusal skills, assertiveness, cooperation, empathy.                                                                                                 

 

 II -THE FOUR PILLARS OF EDUCATION



The ability to do something can be categorized into four dimensions, the cognitive, personal, and social dimension of psycho-social abilities and the instrumental dimension of manual skills.

The four pillars of education described in the Report to UNESO of the International Commission on Education for the Twenty-first Century offer a framework for teaching and learning the essential combination of psychosocial abilities, or life skills (learning to know, to be and to live together) and manual skills (learning to do):
Teaching and learning related to:

· learning to know - acquiring knowledge (thinking abilities);
· learning to be - developing values (personal abilities);
· learning to live together - expressing attitudes (social abilities);
· learning to do - practicing know-how (manual skills).