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Caroline Saunders
The purpose of a Literature Review is to summarize what you have learned from an immersion in
the literature related to your Critical Issue. The written Literature Review is an organized
narrative that conveys to the readers of your action research project the relevance of published
research to your Critical Issue. Students may choose to write either a literature review or a
manuscript (PhD students). The lit review/manuscript should be centered around themes (3 to 5
themes are sufficient). The lit review/manuscript should be 8 to 10 pages (not including title
page) and written in APA format.
Introduction
Imagine being a 18 year old high school graduate. You have finally finished high school.
Congratulations! Now, you are expected to pay your own rent, health insurance, car insurance,
weekly grocery bills, monthly cell phone bills, and file your yearly taxes. What are you going to
do? You are also expected to participate in society by interviewing for and maintaining a job.
Hopefully you have found a job you like and that allows you to work towards earning a
promotion. Before you are able to do this, however, you need to have a resume that stands out
among your peers. If you are one of the lucky ones who scores an interview, you need to dress
appropriately and speak properly. How do you do this? Also, now that you’re done with high
school, you want to have an adult relationships with a special person. How do you meet a
potential match? What do you say first to get the conversation started? How do you handle
yourself when your mate is having a bad day? How do you break up amicably if things are not
working out? What do you say and do if your match breaks up with you? With all these decisions
and things to figure out what are you going to do? Wouldn’t it be helpful if there was a way to
learn some of these items before being faced with them in the real world?
It has often been argued that schools should teach life skills in addition to academics.
Young adults often complain that they do not feel prepared for real life after high school. Many
high school graduates do not feel prepared to file taxes, pay bills, budget money properly or
manage time. Other life skills could include mental health related traits like how to be
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empathetic, coping with emotions, being assertive, problem solving or decision making. Young
adults who move out of their parents’ house for the first time don’t have these skills to feel
successful.
If life skills were to be taught regularly at school, what should they be? Which academic
areas could be cut to accommodate time to teach life skills? What grade should life stills be
introduced into the school day? Some of these questions are answered in the articles discussed in
this literature review. Other questions are meant to be pondered and explored individually.
Upon research into this topic, it was discovered that this topic is widely reported on.
There is data on this topic spanning from preschool up to 12th grade. Some researchers report on
high school graduates’ feelings and desires for life skills training in schools. Additionally,
parents were interviewed as well. Many of resources were based in the United States, however, a
few come from other countries like Germany. Also, there is a wide range of life skills that are
explored. Life skills range from keeping a home or apartment to managing money to dealing
with emotions.
Researchers Bateman, Lloyd & Tankersley (2015) question, “whether there is room in the
school day of our elementary and secondary schools to emphasize both academic and functional
life skills” (p. 15) for students with disabilities and non-disabled students.
Theme 1
Elementary & Middle School
Teaching life skills to youngsters looks differently than teaching such skills to older
students simply because they aren’t going to set out into the real world for some time. Fahima
(2018) and her team conducted a study in with preschoolers learning life skills such as
responding appropriately when your name is called, requesting attention, and acknowledging or
complimenting others. Of course, these life skills look differently than life skills that are taught
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to older students. Fahima reported that these youngest students are expected to enter kindergarten
with a certain life skills to be successful. What’s more, this team discovered that these students
are more successful than students who didn’t receive these life skills lessons.
Theme 2
High School
Theme 3
Life After High School
An overwhelming amount of research has been conducted analyzing high school
graduates lack of life skills. What’s more, research has been conducted on students who have
received life skills while in high school. Anderson (2009) informed readers of the positive
attributes one Montessori school in Nebraska reaps because it teaches life skills constantly.
Cohesive themes
Gap in research
Conclusion/next step
I believe the next step for me is to try to find ways to teach my students life skill.
Teachers may not be allotted time to teach life skills, however, I believe these skills need to be
taught. A way to teach life skills could be to work real life problems into the curriculum. For
example, during reading, an 8th grade teacher may have a unit on empathy and compassion for
others. By doing this, students would still be receiving reading instruction but they would also
learn valuable life lessons that could shape their behaviors and outlook. Another way teacher
could work life skills into their curriculum is to have math problems relating to money
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management. For example, Sam has $100 and needs to buy groceries for the week. The teacher
could give students coupon adds from the paper and have students find items Sam can purchase.
This would teach money management and planning. I believe that they are ways to teach life
skills without having a structured or designed time. Teachers can be mindful about teaching life
Reflection
I thought this project was very interesting. I liked being able to focus on one topic very
deeply and see it from different points of view. I feel as though I have a better understanding of
I liked the freedom of writing a narrative paper that allowed us to share what we learned.
I liked that we didn’t have to argue a viewpoint or side, we simply were allowed to inform our
Parents were interviewed about the success and mindset of their children after attending
Lincoln Montessori School in Nebraska as former students gathered for a reunion at their
elementary school. This source explains the philosophy of Montessori which gives students the
opportunity to teach themselves academics, social and life skills. The students from the early
Montessori classes were described as, “energetic, challenging and always into something,” from
their parents. Computers and other electronic gadgets are not seen in Montessori schools because
they believe in learning information first- hand. Here, students learn the following life skills: “
planting a garden, building puzzles, peeling carrots, washing tables, taking turns and interacting
respectfully.” (Andersen 2009). This source argues that students who attended Montessori
schools turn out to be well adjusted members of the society because of the life and social skills
taught.
tests and a t-test. The research analyzed the results and found, “low-reported receipt of life skills
instruction/training in schools and preschools for individuals with mild ID, few students with
moderate/severe ID reported receiving life skills training out of school (Bouck, 2010).
Furthermore, when students with mild ID or moderate/severe ID receive instruction in life skills
at school, those skills aren’t actually related to life skills training after school. Teachers who
want to be advocates for life skills training should be prepared to find innovative ways and times
to teach such skills. In other words, teacher should find real life scenarios to teach life skills they
want to focus on.
(Fahima) Elementary
This is a follow up study to research completed in 2007 that introduce the preschool life
skills (PLS) program. The study conducted by Fahmia in 2018 identified 13 skills in 4 unites that
preschools are expected to have as they enter kindergarten. Teaching these preschoolers was
presented in the following ways: “description of skills, modeling correct skills, rehearsing,
arranging authentic learning opportunities throughout the day, and delivering differential
consequences” (Fahmia & Luczyniski 2018). Not only were these skills adopted by the
preschoolers, but problem behaviors decreased for most children. Skills included: (Unit 1)
responding appropriately to name, complying with simple instructions and complying with
multi-step instructions, (Unit 2) Requesting assistance, requesting attention, framed requesting to
adults, framed requesting to peers, (Unit 3) Tolerating delays imposed by adults and tolerating
delays imposed by peers, (Unit 4) Saying “Thank you,” acknowledging or complimenting others,
offering or sharing and comforting others in distress. Sometimes tokens were used as rewards to
help children. More than 70 youngsters (3.2-5.4 years old) have participated in PLS programs
and almost all have shown, “an increase in skills and a decrease in problem behavior following
teaching.” After completing of this curriculum, these youngsters were better prepared for
kindergarten.
(Hanley) Preschool
Hanley, Fahmie & Heal (2014) found youngsters that attended Head Start preschool who
also participated in preschool life skills (PLS) program decrease problem behavior. Conducted at
two separate locations, the evaluators saw the same results. Before the study took place, these
researchers found that these the more time these youngsters spent with nonfamilial caretakers the
higher probability of problem behaviors- such as aggression, or not following the rules. The team
introduced a program to teach social skills. The skills had to follow two guidelines: skills had “to
be functionally equivalent to problem behavior in that they were evoked by the same situations
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and were maintained by the same reinforcers that often maintained problem behavior.” Also,
early elementary teachers needed to report which skills were important for success in schools.
Andersen, E. (2009, September 15). Passion for learning - Forty years later, Lincoln Montessori
School celebrates encouraging children to teach themselves academic, social and life skills.
Retrieved from
http://infoweb.newsbank.com.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/resources/doc/nb/news/12ABFA3D2C
229D50?p=AMNEWS
Bouck, E. (2010, November 25) Reports of life skills trainings for students with intellectual
disabilities in and out of school. Retrieved from http://rdcu.be/HiHX/
Burdick, A., (2016, April 19) Why High Schools Should Require Life Skills Courses. Retrieved
from theodysseyonline.com/why-schools-should-require-life-skills-courses
Fahmia, T., & Luczynski K. (2018, January 8) Preschool life skills: Recent advancements and
future directions. Retrieved from
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/doi/10.1002/jaba.434/abstract
Hanley, G., Fahmie, T., & Heal, N. (2014, May 11) Evaluations of the preschool life skills
program in Head Start classrooms: A systematic replication. Retrieved from
http://rdcu.be/HiHe/
Hansen, J., Hanewinkel, R., Maruska, K., & Isensee, B. (2011, August 26) The ‘Eigenstandig
werden’ prevention trial: a cluster of randomized controlled study on school-based life skills
programme to prevent substance use onset. Retrieved from
http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/1/2/e000352
Lindsey, T. & Mabie, B. (2012, February 1). Life Skills Yield Stronger Academic Performance.
Retrieved from
http://journals.sagepub.com.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/doi/full/10.1177/003172171209300508
Mekeel, D. (2010, June 19). Just a typical school, but different: New Story teaching autistic
children academics, life skills. Retrieved from
http://go.galegroup.com.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&u=auraria_main&id=GAL
E|A229292368&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon&authCount=1#
Morgan, C., (2016, April 12) Why Don’t We Teach Life Skills in Schools? Retrieved from
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-carol-morgan/why-dont-we-teach-life-sk_b_9662958.html
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Wurdinger, S. & Rudolph, J. (2009, June 23). A different type of success: teaching important life
skills through project based learning. Retrieved from
http://journals.sagepub.com.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/doi/abs/10.1177/1365480209105576