مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Life skills Approach in Formal Vocational Training Environments: A Case Study of Balikesir University

Abstract :

Life Skills Education (LSE) is “an active learning process” and a specific educational approach aiming at developing psychosocial competences of children and young people (also of some other potential target groups). This paper aims to find out how LSE is perceived and what reactions it generates among students in a higher educational environment, specifically among students receiving vocational training. In line with those questions, a semi-structured interview form was used to collect data from a purposeful sampling of 100 students involved in vocational training at Balıkesir University, Turkey. The core finding of this research is the endorsement of the insight that LSE tends to generate similar results, positive impacts and challenges to the findings of previous researches even when it is applied to young people in vocational training at the tertiary level. The paper additionally makes the point that LSE should be questioned from a sociological perspective. It is concluded that developing a sociology of LSE experiences (a subfield of the sociology of education) would enrich the LSE literature while it may also change its direction of inquiry.