10. Envisioning Life Skills "Profiles"

The proposed framework describes those skills that a comprehensive set of life skills contains. If it is valid, it should be relevant across a wide variety of people and contexts. Where differences arise, however, is in the amount of each skill a person possesses or a context requires. In other words, while most people need communication skills, some people have and need more than others, such as in the case of a reporter or a counsellor. Similarly, a particular occupation might require all four types of thinking skills, but might rely less on creative than on crystallized abilities. Extending the proposed framework to address skill levels creates a potentially powerful tool for describing people and contexts (e.g., cultures, occupations, and lifestyles).

Figure 7 presents a hypothetical life skills profile for a single life context. It is based on the matrix of the proposed life skills framework, and indicates the relative amounts of each skill the person possesses. In this case, the person possesses fairly strong communication skills and has strong creative abilities in some instances. Rather than focusing on a particular person, the same profile could be used to describe skills required of a particular job. Profiles such as this one could be developed to describe both individuals and occupations and to compare similarities and differences in strengths and emphases.

It is important to remember that these profiles are highly theoretical by nature. The ability to conceive of life skills far exceeds the ability to assess them, and even further exceeds the ability to assess them as a unified set within practical constraints by using comparable methodology and scales. The profiles do, however, serve as useful heuristic devices, not only to help envision the potential applications of a life skills framework, but also to better understand and refine the framework itself.

Figure 7
A Theoretical Life Skills "Profile" for a single life context