Thus, while there is consistency about the term “essential skills” as foundational literacy skills, the additional six skills named by HRSDC are not necessarily agreed upon by others as being “essential”.
I suspect (and others have proposed) there is a hierarchy of essential skills. That is, some of the essential skills such as Reading Text, Document Use and Numeracy exist at the most basic level (basic literacy). These skills must be present to add to them additional skills. These skills are also the most “portable” in that they are required for all contexts – life, workplace, social, academic contexts. They are the most “context free” skills.
Then there are some ‘personal management” skills (study skills, time management, staying motivated, etc.). These come with experience and maturity. They are also relatively context-free insofar as they are required for all effective goal-seeking behaviours regardless of their context.
Next in the hierarchy would include interpersonal skills (oral speaking, working in groups, etc.). These, too, become better over time as individuals receive feedback about their interpersonal interactions. These are less transferable than the personal management skills, because their relevance to each person would be dependent on the degree to which they had to use them in their everyday lives.
Finally, would be the more specific skills oriented to careers (science, computers, writing, etc.). These skills are narrow in scope and would thus be likely to focus on workplace and academic contexts. The emphasis on each would be specific to the training/job.
This hierarchical approach to essential skills is shared by others. The specific content of each level, etc. will vary, however. It is probably most important to recognize that there is likely a hierarchy, and it will be a while before a formal and validated hierarchy is recognized.
In stark contrast to the consistency about essential literacy skills, the term “academic skills” brings forward a myriad of skills, some of which overlap with essential skills, but many of which do not. The one thing they seem to have in common is the focus on academic success, i.e., the skills needed to successfully complete high school, college, technical school, university, graduate school, etc. The focus is on the academic environment.
A brief search of the Internet using the search term “academic skills” brought forth a series of sites – mostly university or colleges – that offered assistance with academic skill enhancement. A brief description of each site and a listing of academic skills for each sites are provided. Following that is a summary of the overall theme of academic skills. Finally, connections between essential and academic skills are drawn.