A Comparative Study of Life Skills among Science, Commerce and Art Stream Pupil Teacher

Abstract

Life Skills development is a lifelong process. It is a process that helps individuals grow and learn to have confidence in one’s own decisions and actions discover sources of strength within and outside oneself. Education plays a vital role in skill development among individuals. An interactive educational methodology which focuses on acquiring knowledge, attitude and interpersonal skills is the demand of the time. Different subjects are included in the curriculum to inculcate values and life skills. The present investigation has made an attempt to investigate the amount of life skills presented in different courses of studies (Science, Commerce and Arts) how far are able to inculcate the life skills among the student teachers of different streams. The study was based on Descriptive Survey Methodology and questionnaire technique was used to collect the data. For this purpose student teachers (N=225) of Dayalbagh Educational Institute of various streams (Science, Commerce and Arts) of Agra city were taken as the sample by using simple random sampling technique. The questionnaire prepared on life skills (given by WHO) was to be answered by the students of different streams. On the basis of analysis of data it was found that the pupil teachers of science streams were found rich in four skills out of 10 namely Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Decision Making and Communication Skills. Two were found substantially present, two minimally present and two were present to some extent. Commerce and Arts students were found rich with three and four life skills respectively. Creative Thinking and empathy were found minimally in Commerce pupil teachers where Decision Making and Critical Thinking were found present to some extent. Problem Solving, Communication Skills, Empathy and Self- awareness were substantially present in Arts Stream student teachers. The results focus on inclusion of different subjects with different nature in the curriculum for the development of all life skills in student teachers in a comprehensive manner so that all life skills can be equally developed among the students of different streams for their harmonious development.