13. Conclusion

The framework for life skills presented here is ambitious—it seeks to establish a unifying relationship among theories about skills and intelligence that have widely varying purposes, perspectives, and language. As a result, one might argue that it is incomplete, that it takes liberties with the original theories, or that the relationships proposed are less valid in some instances than in others. It derives strength, however, from the fact that it is based on consensus found within the two types of theories it examines: employability skills and psychological models. Further, it generally accommodates other theories, examples of contextual applications of skills and thinking abilities, and the assessments developed for the ALL project. Future work in the area of life skills may require modifications to the framework but, even in its initial state, it provides an important theoretical foundation for the ALL project. Not only does it address the many different models and theories that have been developed to describe concepts similar to life skills, it distils a comprehensive set of life skills from this convergence. It is intended that this set can accommodate other theories and models, so that future consideration of them does not result in completely new sets of skills and abilities that need to be addressed. The framework also creates a useful means of examining the assessment efforts of the ALL project. By placing them into the framework, it is possible to gauge how "complete" the efforts are and to identify possible areas for future assessment development. Finally, the framework can contribute to the overall vision for the project, focusing both theoretical and practical discussions on what life skills are and how an understanding of them can help enrich people's lives.