Social literacy

• Social literacy


  The development of social skills, knowledge and positive human values toward desire and ability in human beings to act and react positively and responsibly in a wide range of complex social settings
• Social skills


  Aspects of social literacy involving good manners, communicating effectively with others, being considerate of others' feelings and expressing personal needs
• How social skills are gained


  • Children gain through playing
  • Adults obtain through interrelating with others, both verbally and non-verbally
• Importance of social skills in schools

  • Help build, maintain and grow relationships of students with classmates, peers, teachers, superiors, colleagues, parents, students, and others
  • Can be attained through gaining ideas, providing own perspective, accomplishing tasks and working together, providing mutual support, expanding network, gaining feedback and referrals, making the school a healthy and conducive learning environment
• Types of social skills teachers can demonstrate

  • Effective communication
  • Conflict resolution
  • Active listening
  • Empathy
  • Relationship management
  • Respect
  • Problem-solving skills
  • Interpersonal skills
• Improving social skills


  Focus on sustaining desirable attitudes and eliminating undesirable ones through modeling, role-playing and performance feedback mechanisms
• Other ways to improve social skills


  • Maintain eye contact
  • Use proper body language
  • Know the difference between assertive and aggressive
  • Use selective effective communication channels
  • Be flexible
  • Accept criticisms without being defensive
  • Remain positive
  • Be teachable and a good student
• Impact of social skills


  • Better relationships
  • Better communication
  • Greater efficiency
  • Advanced career prospects
  • Increased overall happiness
• Emotional intelligence (EQ)


  The ability to recognize, understand and manage one's own emotions, and recognize, understand and influence the emotions of others
• Strategies for enhancing emotional intelligence

  • Think about feelings
  • Pause
  • Strive to control one's thoughts
  • Benefit from criticism
  • Show authenticity
  • Demonstrate empathy
  • Praise others
  • Give helpful feedback
  • Apologize
  • Forgive and forget
  • Keep commitments
  • Help others
  • Protect from emotional sabotage
• Recommended tools in enhancing emotional intelligence


  • Emotional Literacy Workshop
  • Emotional Literacy Museum
  • Mixed Emotions Cards
  • eMotion Cards
  • Biodots
  • Bingo Emotions
  • Feeling faces
  • Six Seconds Emotional Intelligence Assessment
  • The Zoo: Animal Workshop
  • Face Workshop
  • The Machine Transformer
  • Tower Building
  • Build Me a House
• The Zoo: Animal Workshop


  • It is an activity that intends to imitate an animal behavior and gesture that ends with reflections and group sharing
• Face Workshop


  • It is an activity, in which partners face each other while showing different facial expressions and qualities that ends with reflections
• The Machine Transformer


  • Participants in groups have to transform into assigned machine or vehicle, of which each member shall comprise different parts, deemed essentials and equally important that usually ends up with interactions and reflections
• Tower Building


  • Groups will be tasked to build a tower using pop sticks and straws. The goal is to make the tallest and strongest tower of all. This will end up with interactions, sharing, open forums and patching of emotional barriers
• Build Me a House


  • The participants in groups will be tasked to build a house using any available material around them. The goal is to make the strongest house. Then, the facilitator will suddenly destroy the house made by the group and observe the members' emotions and reactions and let them express their feelings and thoughts. At the end, each one will draw realizations, lessons and values for reflection
• Internalization Activity


  • This is an activity that helps participants to reflect on the narrations of the facilitator with a background music in a dim and candle lighted room. Everyone can express his/her emotions and feelings of resentment, remorse, agony, disappointment, and sadness
• Mirroring and Unmasking Activity


  • Each participant shall prepare a piece of paper and put it at his/her back. In a circular formation, everyone has to write that person's negative attitude on that paper. Everyone will be given time to see those feedbacks and reflect on them while they are also given time a chance to express themselves. These negative feedbacks will be called masks to be torn-off and burned at the end of the activity and they will be led to a prayer for self-renewal and rejuvenation
• Empathy


  The capacity to understand or feel what another person is experiencing from within their frame of reference
• Affective empathy


  Refers to the sensations and feelings that one gets in response to others' emotions including mirroring what that person is feeling, or just feeling stressed when he/she detects another's fear or anxiety
• Cognitive empathy


  Refers to one's ability to identify and understand other people's emotions
• Self-awareness


  The art of understanding one's self, recognizing the stimuli that he/she faces and preparing how to manage him/herself, both in a proactive and reactive manner
• Curiosity


  One's willingness to learn and improve. When one is curious, he/she is passionate and therefore, he/she is driven to desire to be at his/her best
• Analytical mind


  Being a critical thinker that analyzes and processes all new information that comes hi/her way and see if they can extract ways to improve
• Belief


  The power of believing in one's self, both at present and the future. It is a matter of affirming that people and things in one's life happen for a reason and that everything will ultimately turn out to be good
• Needs and wants


  Discerning between things that one needs versus things that he/she just wants and establishing needs prior to fulfilling wants
• Passion


  The natural desire, instinct, drive, ambition and motivated love for a subject or someone. More so, it brings positive energy that helps sustain and inspire one to keep going
• Optimism


  Maintaining a positive attitude that may increase one's opportunities, improve relationships and think clearly and constructively
• Adaptability


  An important recognition and the ability to make or remake decisions in one's best interest. It is also determining when to continue his/her course, or when is the time for a change
• Desire to help others succeed


  Becoming interested and appreciative of the success and achievement of others
• People skills


  Patterns of behavior and behavioral interactions. It is an area of exploration about how a person behaves and how he/she is perceived irrespective of his/her thinking and feeling
• People skills


  The dynamics between personal ecology (cognitive, affective, physical and spiritual dimensions) and its function with other people's personality styles in numerous environments (life events, institutions, challenges, etc.)
• People skills


  Tools used to communicate and interact effectively with others. Individuals with strong people skills are able to predict behavior, relate to others and socialize easily
• Three sets of people skills abilities

  • Personal effectiveness or about how one comes across with others
  • Interaction ability or how well one predicts and decodes behavior
  • Intercede easily or ability to lead, influence and build bridges between people
• People skills


  The ability to accept, appreciate and admire others on a personal or professional level. Good people skills extend to the ability to listen and empathize with others, as well as work toward common goals with them
• General description of people skills

  • Ability to effectively communicate, understand and empathize
  • Ability to interact with others respectfully and develop productive working relationship to minimize conflict and maximize rapport
  • Ability to build sincerity and trust, moderate behaviors (less impulsive) and enhance aggreableness
• Educational impact of people skills


  People skills are important for teachers in effective classroom management. Knowing how to communicate and teach people instead of simply teaching their subjects will help make a difference in the classroom
• Almost 50 percent of classroom success lies on effective interpersonal relationships, while the other 50 percent lies within academic skills
• Strategies in obtaining good people skills


  • Good communication skills
  • Conflict resolution skills
  • The value of patience
  • Tolerance and understanding
• 5 A's to improve people skills


  • Acceptance
  • Appreciation
  • Approval
  • Admiration
  • Attention