Study Guide in ProfEd 110 FM-AA-CIA-15 Rev.

0 03-June-2020
(Course Code & Title) Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across the Curriculum Module 1 _____________ (Unit/Chapter Title)

Module No.03

MODULE TITLE

Social Literacy

MODULE OVERVIEW

This is the third Module on ProfEd 110, this course introduces the concepts of new literacies in the 21 st
century as an evolving social phenomenon and shared cultural practices across learning areas. The 21 st
century literacies shall include (a) globalization and multi-cultural literacy, (b) social literacy, (c) media
literacy, (d) financial literacy, (e) cyber/ digital literacy, (f) eco-literacy, (g) arts and creativity literacy, and
(h) critical literacy. Field based- interdisciplinary explorations and other teaching strategies shall be used in
this course (CHED Memorandum Order No. 74 Series of 2017).

Module ProfEd110-03 is on the Social Literacy. This concerns itself with the development of social skills
knowledge and positive human values that enables human beings to act positively and responsibly in range
of complex social settings. It is the knowledge of how to behave and treat other people in a way that is
morally upright, just, and equitable, with a view of promoting positive and productive relations that are free
from unfair prejudice, hate, and discrimination.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

At the end of this Module, you should be able to

2.1 develop understanding of the working definition of social literacy;
2.2 explain the roles of parents and teachers in teaching social skills to children; and
2.3 discuss and examine issues in social literacy

LEARNING CONTENTS

General Instructions:
1. Please read the Module diligently.
2. If you have questions and suggestions, please write them specifically and send it to the Instructor’s
email: analyndiola@psu.edu.ph
3. Do not post any part of this Module on social media.
4. Please check references for more information.
If there are additional information and updated data, please write the reference (Author, Date of
Publication and Web Link, if available.)

Social Literacy is a students’ successful performance and understanding of social skills, organizational
skills, and communication skills. It is the students’ ability to connect effectively with those around them.
Social literacy spans across interacting with peers, family, coworkers, teachers, and even people we may not
have met face to face.

Social literacy is so crucial in a persons’ success. The ability to communicate and voice opinions and
thoughts, as well as listening to opinions and thoughts of others, is essential in learning. Firmly grasping
social cues and norms is extremely beneficial. In literally every single setting of our lives: school, home,
work, clubs and activities, interacting with people (whether face to face or behind technology), social
literacy is used. Many roles are played every day and socially needed to understand how to play those roles
appropriately. For example: I would speak differently with my friends than I would my mother, or I would

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chat on facebook differently than I would while emailing a professor. Without an understanding of this
communication, one cannot function with success in society.

Social literacy means the presence of social skills, knowledge and positive human values that support ability
in human beings to act positively and responsibly in range of complex social settings and their ability to
successfully and deliberately mediate his/her world as family member, worker, citizen and lifelong learner.

Importance of Teaching Social Skills to Children

As children get older, they become part of a larger social world. Many parents are concerned about their
child’s relationships. This includes relationships with other children and adults in school as well as outside
of school. How can parents help their children to develop good social relationships?

Each child has his/her own temperament. Some children enjoy higher levels of social activity while other
children prefer less. While this may be a preference children are born with, much of what experts call
‘social competence’ or the ability to get along with others is skill-based or learned. This means that it can be
practiced and improved upon, especially if the child’s parent is a patient coach.

Children don’t need to be the most popular in their class, but they do need good social skills. Being sociable
helps us with resilience (the ability to withstand hard times). Children who are constantly rejected by peers
are lonely and have lower self-esteem. When they are older, these children are more likely to drop out of
school and use drugs and alcohol. Parents can help their children learn social skills so that they are not
constantly rejected or begin to bully and reject others.

Social skills include our emotions, intellect, ethics, and behaviors. Emotionally we learn to manage strong
feelings such as anger and show empathy for others. Our intellect is used to solve relationship conflicts and
make decisions. Ethically we develop the ability to sincerely care for others and engage in socially-
responsible actions. Behaviorally we learn specific communication skills such as turn-taking and how to
start a conversation.

Parents can act as coaches for their children to develop these social skills. Children learn a lot from how
parents treat them and when they observe how parents interact with others. Parents, like other coaches, will
need to be creative and specific in teaching social skills. Beyond saying “You need to be better at X,” good
coaches teach concrete skills and then support the use of these skills across a variety of situations. The goal
should be not just to teach children to “be nice” but also to help them to advocate for themselves as well as
care for others.

Most children experience occasional rejection, and most children are sometimes socially clumsy,
insensitive, or even unkind. Signs that a child may need some social coaching include:

• Lacks at least one or two close mutual friends

• Has trouble losing or winning gracefully
• Doesn’t show empathy when others are hurt or rejected
• Acts bossy or insists on own way a lot
• Can’t seem to start or maintain a conversation
• Uses a louder voice than most children
• Seems constantly ignored or victimized by other children or constantly teases or annoys other
children

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents use a 4-part strategy when helping their
children develop social skills: Practice, Praise, Point out, and Prompt. These four steps can be used when
parents notice that a child needs to work on a particular social skill. Before using them, however, the parent
should point out the problem area sensitively and privately (not in front of others) to the child.

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Practice: A parent can help a child substitute a specific appropriate response for a specific inappropriate
one. This might mean brainstorming with the child about different alternative responses and then practicing
one or more with the child. Practicing can involve mapping out actual words to say or behaviors to use,
role-playing, and using the newly learned skills in real situations.

Praise: Often children are not eager to work on new skills so parents must reward their children with praise
when the new skills are practiced as a way of helping the skills become habits. This might be a specific
verbal statement (“You did an awesome job of X instead of Y when you got angry at the store”), a
nonverbal sign such as a thumbs up, or even a treat (10 minutes extra fun time before bedtime).

Point Out: Parents can use opportunities to point out when others are using the desired skills. It might be a
specific behavior of the parent, another adult, a child, or even a character in a book or on TV. The idea is to
give children examples and role models of people engaging in the appropriate social skill.

Prompt: Without nagging, parents can gently remind their child to use a new skill when the opportunity
arises. This might be verbal (“Now might be a good time to count to ten in your head”) or nonverbal (a
nonverbal cue such as zipping the lips when a child is about to interrupt).

Any good coach knows that patience is important because learning new skills takes time and practice. And
everyone differs in how long it takes to learn something new. Coaches often have to be creative in their
teaching strategies because children have different ways of learning.

The important thing to remember is that the ability to have good social relationships is not simply about
personality or in-born traits. People who get along with others have learned skills to do so, and they practice
these regularly. Just like a good coach can make the difference for a budding soccer player, parents can help
their children become socially skilled.

The Teacher's Role in Developing Social Skills

Playing with friends is a daily ritual for most children. But kids with learning disabilities are often isolated
and rejected. Their problems making and keeping friends are compounded by their poor social skills. The
challenges confronting learning disabled children in their lives both in and out of the classroom are
examined in this video program designed for both teachers and parents.

The effective educator must be ever mindful of the simple fact that children go to school for a living. School
is their job, their livelihood, their identity. Therefore, the critical role that school plays in the child's social
development and self-concept must be recognized. Even if a child is enjoying academic success in the
classroom, his attitude about school will be determined by the degree of social success that he experiences.

There is much that the teacher can do to foster and promote social development in the student. Children tend
to fall into four basic social categories in the school setting:

• REJECTED - Students who are consistently subjected to ridicule, bullying and harassment by
classmates.
• ISOLATED - Students who, although not openly rejected, are ignored by classmates and are
uninvolved in the social aspects of school.
• CONTROVERSIAL - Students who have established a circle of friends based upon common
interests or proximity but seldom move beyond that circle.
• POPULAR - Students who have successfully established positive relationships within a variety of
groups.

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Many students with learning disabilities find themselves in the rejected or isolated subgroups. Their
reputations as "low status" individuals plague them throughout their school careers. It is important for the
teacher to assist the students' classmates in changing their view of this child.

Punishment is an extremely ineffective method of modifying bullying or rejecting behavior. If you punish
Billy for rejecting Joey, you only increase Billy's resentment of his classmate. However, you can increase a
child's level of acceptance in several ways.

First, the teacher must become a "talent scout." Attempt to determine specific interests, hobbies or strengths
of the rejected child. This can be accomplished via discussions, interviews or surveys. Once you have
identified the child's strengths, celebrate it in a very public manner. For example, if the student has a
particular interest in citizen band radios, seek out a read-aloud adventure story in which a short-wave radio
plays an important role in the plot. Encourage the child to bring his CB into class and conduct a
demonstration of its use. By playing the expert role, a rejected or isolated child can greatly increase his
status.

Assign the isolated child to a leadership position in the classroom wherein his classmates become dependent
upon him. This can also serve to increase his status and acceptance among his peers. Be mindful of the fact
that this may be an unfamiliar role for him and he may require some guidance from you in order to ensure
his success.

Most important, the teacher must clearly demonstrate acceptance of and affection for the isolated or rejected
child. This conveys the constant message that the child is worthy of attention. The teacher should use her
status as a leader to increase the status of the child.

The teacher can assist the child by making him aware of the traits that are widely-accepted and admired by
his peers. Among these traits are:

• Smiles/laughs
• Greets others
• Extends invitations
• Converses
• Shares
• Gives compliments

It is important that the teacher recognize the crucial role that the child's parents and siblings can play in the
development of social competence. Ask his parents to visit school for a conference to discuss the child's
social status and needs. School and home must work in concert to ensure that target skills are reinforced and
monitored. Social goals should be listed and prioritized. It is important to focus upon a small group of skills
such as sharing and taking turns, rather than attempting to deal simultaneously with the entire inventory of
social skills.

Working with preschoolers

Early childhood educators are in a particularly good position to foster the acceptance of the socially
incompetent child. By demonstrating acceptance of the child despite his behavioral or language weaknesses,
the teacher generally finds that this attitude is mirrored by the child's classmates. The teacher's goals should
focus on promoting age-appropriate language/communication skills for the child. This instruction should be
provided in a positive, supportive and accepting manner.

Working with elementary school children

Assign the troubled child to work in pairs with a high-status child who will be accepting and supportive.
Cooperative education activities can be particularly effective in this effort to include the rejected child in the

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classroom. These activities enable the child to use his academic strengths while simultaneously developing
his social skills.

The teacher must constantly search for opportunities to promote and encourage appropriate social
interactions for the socially inept child (e.g. "Andrew, would you please go over to Sally's desk and tell her
that I would like her to bring me her math folder?") Have students work in pairs to complete experiments,
bulletin boards and peer tutoring.

The student with social skill deficits invariably experiences rejection in any activity that requires students to
select classmates for teams or groups. This selection process generally finds the rejected child in the painful
position of being the "last one picked." Avoid these humiliating and destructive situations by pre-selecting
the teams or drawing names from a hat. An option is to intervene at the point when six or eight students
remain unselected. Arbitrarily assign half of the students to one team and the remaining students to another.
This prevents any one student from being in the damaging position of being "last picked".

Board games and card games can be used effectively to monitor and foster social development in the
classroom. Such activities require students to utilize a variety of social skills (voice modulation, taking
turns, sportsmanship, dealing with competition, etc.). These enjoyable activities can also be used to promote
academic skills. Because games are often motivating for students, these activities can be used as positive
reinforcement. This setting also provides an opportunity to conduct effective social autopsies. However,
these activities should be limited to a few times each week.

Working with secondary school students

Teachers at the high school level must be particularly aware of the student who is being ignored or rejected
by peers. During adolescence, it is critically important that the student be accepted by his classmates. The
rejection suffered by adolescents with social skill deficits often places the student at risk for emotional
problems. It may be unrealistic to expect an overworked algebra teacher to conduct social skill activities but
the professional should, at a minimum, be willing and able to refer the child to appropriate resources in the
school administration or guidance department.

The socially incompetent child often experiences isolation and rejection in his neighborhood, on the school
bus and in group social activities. The teacher can provide this student with a classroom setting wherein he
can feel comfortable, accepted and welcome. In the words of Robert DeBruyn, "Coming to school every day
can become a hopeless task for some children unless they succeed at what they do. We teachers are sentries
against that hopelessness".

Taking on Social Literacy in the Classroom

We go out for dinner, and the waiter doesn’t greet us. We go to the grocery store, and the bagger doesn’t ask
us if we want paper or plastic. We go to the drive-through, and the attendant doesn’t make eye contact when
handing us our change.

What were once referred to as “manners” are now called “soft skills” and, if you didn’t know this already,
many young people don’t have them.

We’re quick to blame society for these missing skills. Obviously, these individuals were never taught these
basic, yet vital, behaviors. Its somebody else’s fault and someone else’s problem.

But it’s not someone else’s fault, and it’s not someone else’s problem.

As teachers, we have been entrusted with the education of our students, but the term “education” has taken
on a new meaning. Today, education means the whole child, not just the academics.

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Bill Daggett, author of “Five Trends That Are Transforming Education,” writes, “We know that there is
more to life than the core subjects of math, science, English language arts, and social studies. Personal and
interpersonal skills—such as responsibility, self-management, integrity, honesty, collaboration, and
leadership—are critical for success in college, career, and life. Strong schools build these skills into their
curricula and create educational cultures and relationships that value more than just academics.”

As Mr. Daggett suggests, it is imperative for all teachers to embed the soft skills into their daily lesson
planning. Creating lesson plans where the skills are rooted in pre-reading, during reading and after reading
strategies is no longer just a good idea. Rather, helping students navigate confidently in the world has
become essential.

Implementing “leadership” in a typical literacy lesson may seem like a daunting task, but by scaffolding the
concept and using cross-curricular literacy strategies, students, who usually tend to compartmentalize their
learning, will be able to transfer the concept of leadership and the reading strategies to other disciplines.

Begin with the end in mind: What is it that you want students to learn about leadership? What is it about
leadership that is so vital, so critical, that you are going to create, develop, and implement an entire lesson
plan around this single notion? We want our young people to lead by example and inspire others to have the
courage to defend their convictions. So let’s end the lesson asking students to write a reflection based on
one of these ideas: Explain what it means to lead by example and ask students to offer an illustration in their
own life, or ask students to explain what it means to inspire others and to highlight a situation where they
have offered hope, or ask students to show how one can illustrate the courage to defend their convictions in
their school or in their neighborhood. Make leadership the goal, but use reading strategies to make it
happen.

Scaffolding this conceptual lesson into prereading, during reading, and after reading strategies helps
students stay focused and engaged. Leadership brings all sorts of discussion and personal reflections to the
table; let’s get students motivated about the idea!

Prereading strategies

Begin with Janet Allen’s Wordstorming to Anticipate Content reading strategy. Allen’s alphabet grid
validates what students already know about leadership. Using an interactive whiteboard, ask students to give
you one word that defines a leader. As they offer their examples, write the words under the correct letter. By
activating their prior knowledge of leadership, you will soon realize what your students think about
leadership and what they understand leadership to be. In this way, you can determine where you need to
start—either with a basic definition of leadership using rather pedestrian examples or more abstract analysis
and synthesis.

During reading strategies

Now that you have an idea as to your students’ understanding regarding leadership, you can develop your
next step. How about giving your students a reading choice? As examples, they could read a brief article
about Will Allen of Growing Power and his desire to bring healthy food to those less fortunate, or they
might read about Fr. Greg Boyle’s work with gangs on Homeboy Industries, or students might read about
Diane Latiker and her work with homeless youth on Kids Off the Block. When you give students the
opportunity to choose their reading (digital or print), engagement and motivation will follow. As students
read, ask them to annotate, thereby initiating questions and comments from their reading.

After reading strategies

Once the reading is complete, encourage students to share what they have read. Embolden students to use
their questions from their annotation as starting points for discussion. Now go back to the beginning. Give

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students class time to demonstrate their thoughts in a reflective paper—showcasing what they’ve learned
about leadership and asking them for evidence based on the articles they’ve read. In that way, students have
had the opportunity to relate this conceptual topic to their own lives and, more important, they have used
research-based best practice strategies to learn about a theoretical subject.

So what is it about leadership that is so vital, so critical, that you are have created, developed, and
implemented an entire lesson plan around this one concept? Students began with their own thoughts on
leadership, thereby validating what they already knew and giving them a chance to listen and learn from
their classmates. Next, they chose to read about other leaders by interacting with the text, asking questions
and making personal connections. Finally, with time and support, students were able to take all of the
information gathered and craft their own ideas and philosophies about leadership.

Next time, let’s not blame society for these transgressions; rather, let’s focus on our own classroom and
offer opportunities to assist our students in developing manners to be lauded and respected.

Developing Social Skills in the Classroom

As a teacher, you may have to deal with conflicts, emotional outbursts and perhaps a variety of
inappropriate classroom behaviors by students on a regular basis. The typical classroom day provides
many incidental teaching moments upon which you can capitalize. For example, students who are blind
may have difficulty in initiating conversation if they are unaware of who is nearby. As a result, a student
may choose to remain socially passive rather than risk embarrassment (Bishop, 1996). These highly
important “teachable” moments can be used to help students learn how to interact with one another in
collaborative and productive ways, such as by encouraging peers to inform the student with a vision
impairment that they are in the area. This is important because the student might not be aware of their
presence. Another example might entail providing suggestions to the student on topics they could talk
about with their peers. The greater benefits of social skills instruction is that you can improve both the
academic and social functioning of individual students and improve the interpersonal climate of the
classroom for all students (Siperstein & Rickards, 2004).

Your role as a teacher in helping students acquire social skills is a critically important one. So in
conjunction with the visiting specialist vision teacher and related professionals (i.e., Orientation and
Mobility Specialist; Speech and Language Pathologist; School Psychologist), the classroom teacher can
have an important and central role in providing social skills support. In collaboration with other
professionals, you can carry out assessments of the student’s social skills and provide strategies to promote
skills in interacting with others. You can encourage students to be assertive in expressing their needs and
preferences to ensure the development of positive self esteem, self confidence and sense of identity. The
everyday experiences children have in relationships with their parents are fundamental to children
developing social skills (Cohn, Patterson, & Christopoulous, 1991; Parke & Ladd, 1992). Teachers and
parents can work in collaboration to encourage and nurture the development of social skills in
children. This collaborative approach can stimulate the growth of effective social skills by providing the
student with a range of learning experiences inside and outside the classroom.

A. Developing a Social Skills Profile

First, it is important work out what skills need to be taught to the student. Teaching social skills can be
compared to teaching academics. The first step involves knowing where to start. The parents, siblings,
teachers, peers and the child can provide information about social skills that need to be addressed. Direct
observation, checklists, social skills scales, functional behavior assessment, identifying solutions to problem
scenarios and reports are useful tools.

Below is a social skills profile that you can use to assess the student’s abilities. Before teaching the social
skill it is important that you discuss with the student’s parents the social skill needs and give the parents the
opportunity to contribute ideas and suggestions. This discussion is extremely important since as teachers,
we need to be sensitive to the cultural and religious beliefs of the family (Wolffe, Sacks & Thomas, 2000).

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Please note this is not a comprehensive list of all the skills that might be found in each of the categories, nor
all of the skills that you need to focus on for your student. The following information has been compiled
from a number of sources, including Bishop, 1996; Bloom & Bhargava, 2004 b; Freeman & Dake, 1997;
Sacks & Wolffe, 2000; Wolffe, Sacks & Thomas, 2000; Wolffe, Thomas & Sacks, 2000).

Social Skills Profile

Social Skill Behaviours to consider

Non-verbal Gestures: Does the student use gestures to emphasise or convey your message such as
communication waving; head nodding/shaking to indicate “yes” or “no”; pointing; shoulder shrugging;
shaking hands; hugging/kissing appropriately; and covering the mouth when yawning?

Eye contact – Does the student orient his/her body towards the person? Look towards
the face of the person when speaking?

Facial expression – Does the student’s facial expression match the message (i.e. an
excited look when talking about a competition they have just won)?

Posture – Does the student’s posture communicate interest or disinterest to the other
person?

Proximity: How close is the student to the person when speaking?

Listening – Does the student give the speaker full attention? Does the student interrupt
the speaker? Does the student make comments about what the speaker is saying (i.e.,
asking questions, repeating words)?

Grooming and hygiene – Does the student wear appropriate clothes? Is the student
properly groomed? Does the student’s appearance suit the situation?

Voice – Is the voice audible? Is it too soft or too loud?

(Sacks & Wolffe, 2000; Wolffe, Sacks & Thomas, 2000)

Emotions Identifying emotions in others - Is the student able to perceive and identify emotions by
reading the person’s body language and/or or tone of voice? Able to label emotions that
others are experiencing such as by sensing when another person is angry by the tone of
voice?

Identifying own emotions – Is the student able to describe personal feelings? Label
feelings? Discuss emotions (i.e., saying I feel angry”)?

Understanding the triggers – Is the student able to identify things that can trigger
emotions in oneself and in others (i.e., I feel angry when someone takes my things
without asking or someone suddenly touches me)?

Expressing emotions appropriately – Is the student able to express emotions in

appropriate ways? Identify and understand another person's perceptions, ideas and
feelings, and convey that understanding through an appropriate response? (For
example, initially when the student became angry, he would hit the person causing the
anger. However, after he received specific instruction on how to effectively deal with
his emotion, he would then (1) Stop; (2) Take a deep breath; (3) Relax; and (4) Deal
with the issue when calmer.)

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Dealing with situations – Is the student able to make decisions about situations in
effective ways? (For example, when uncertain about how to deal with a situation, the
student needs to stay relaxed and find his teacher or a friend to help him think of an
effective solution.)
Bloom and Bhargava (2004b)

Conversational Topic Management – Is the student able to initiate topics? Maintain, elaborate, and
skills extend topics appropriately? End the topic appropriately? Change topics
appropriately?

Content – Is the content appropriate and relevant to the situation? Does the student
converse with others to get to know more about them or only talk about him/herself? Is
there an understanding of social boundaries, or does the student frequently discuss
inappropriate things?

Turn-taking skills – Is the student able to take turns as a listener? Speaker?

Clarification Requests – Does the student ask for explanations of information when it is
unclear?
Freeman and Dake (1997)

Social etiquette Social Courtesies - Does the student use social courtesies appropriately (i.e., Please,
Thank you, and Excuse me)?

Situation specific – Does the student use appropriate language according to time?
Place? Person? Are behaviours appropriate to a specific situation (i.e., a restaurant)?
Does the student know which behaviors are private, such as scratching, twitching,
rocking and swaying?
(Bishop, 1996)

Playing Playground – Does the student know where and which games to play outside the
school? How to use playground equipment? Does the student play with others or
alone?

Games – Does the student know how and when to play the game? Necessary
equipment? Game rules? Where and with whom to play the game? How to share?
(Bloom & Bhargava, 2004a)

Friendship skills Does the student know how to approach peers? How to make friends? Keep friends?
Be a good friend? Change friends?
(Sacks & Wolffe, 2000)

Relationships Types - Does the student understand different types of relationships (i.e., family,
friendships, or employer/employee)? Display appropriate levels of affection according
to the relationship with the other person?

Dating – Does the student know how to choose a date? Where to go? What to talk
about? Appropriate public dating behaviours?

Sexuality – What are socially acceptable appropriate and inappropriate public sexual
behaviours? Has the student been provided with information in an understandable
manner about sex, sexual relationships, reproduction and birth control, menstruation,
managing periods, sexually-transmitted diseases, and sexual abuse?
(Bishop, 1996; Wolffe, Thomas & Sacks, 2000)

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Telephone Skills Is the student familiar with the different parts of a telephone? How to make a phone
call? How to answer the telephone and take messages? Whom to contact in case of an
emergency? How to carry on a phone conversation with friends?

Leisure time Within school - Does the student know available leisure activities for free time? Where
games and equipment are located or stored? How to use the items appropriately and
independently? Does the student need to have organized activities for leisure time?

Outside of school - Does the student have hobbies or creative interests at home? Know
where to get information about potential leisure activities (i.e. local library,
associations for vision impairment, local colleges)? Know what details to ask for when
contacting recreational centers (i.e. guide rails in bowling alleys, audio descriptions for
sporting and cultural events)?

Independent travel Is the student able to tell his/her destination to the bus or taxi driver? Able to ask the
driver to indicate when they arrive at the destination?

Does the student know how to ask for assistance? Directions?

Know how to pay for the bus or taxi?

Is the student able to access the environment independently? Able to ask friends or
acquaintances to use ‘sighted guide’ technique correctly and appropriately?

Talking about the Is the student able to inform others about the vision impairment? Its impact?
vision impairment Modifications others may need to make for assistance?

Is the student comfortable in answering questions from peers such as What can you
see? or What’s it like to not be able to see?

Does the student tell the teacher when he/she is disturbed by classroom learning
distractions such as a glare on the blackboard or an inability to read overhead
transparencies?

Conflict Resolution Can the student identify situations that can cause a conflict? Does the student know
Skills with whom to discuss conflicts? Can the student provide the relevant information about
the conflict-causing situation (i.e. Who? What? Where? When? How? Why?)? Think of
solutions and identify the best one? Have the skills to resolve the conflict? Know how
to prevent the situation from arising again?
(Bloom & Bhargava, 2004 b)

Cafeteria Skills Within school – Does the student know or can he/she ask for assistance with:
• Locating the cafeteria? Locating the line? Asking what is available? Making an
order? Paying for food? Balancing a tray while walking with a cane?
• Finding a table to sit? Locating food on the plate? Using condiments? Drinking
from cup or glass?
• Using appropriate eating etiquette?

Outside of school - Does the student know or can s/he ask for assistance with:
• Reading what’s on the menu? Making an order? Paying for their food? Balancing a
tray (if at a food court) while walking with a cane?
• Finding a table to sit? Locating food on their plate? Using condiments? Drinking

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from cup/glass? Serve self from serving bowl or platter?

• Use appropriate eating etiquette?
(Kelley & Smith, 2000)

B. Teaching Social Skills

Once you have identified the social skills that will benefit the student, you can employ the steps identified in
this instructional sequence as a guide to facilitate learning:

Step 1: Provide a rationale – Help the student understand “what” the skill is and “why” it is useful.
You might invite an adult who is legally blind or has low vision to act as a role model by discussing and
demonstrating effective social skills and answering student questions (Sacks & Silberman, 2000).

Step 2: Provide modeling – Give verbal descriptions of the people involved in the situation, their
actions and reactions. Encourage the student to consider social cues. For example, a wealth of
information can be gained about how someone is feeling by listening to the variations in voice volume,
pitch and rhythm. Through having such a dialogue, the student is not only listening and/or viewing the
content, but also responding to questions, sharing observations, expressing ideas and
opinions. Encouraging reflection is the key ingredient for transforming an experience into a genuine
learning experience, as such dialogue will promote deeper understanding (Markus, Howard & King,
1993).

Step 3: Provide guided practice – Provide the student with opportunities to practice or rehearse
skills in arranged situations that simulate the actual situation. Provide the student with multiple
opportunities to practice the skill in small, structured groups with same-age peers in a comfortable, fun,
and supportive environment. Initially you may have the student with vision impairment practising these
skills with an adult and then proceed to practising with peers. Through role playing and videoing
practice scenarios you can provide positive and constructive feedback to shape the student’s
behaviour. Sacks and Silberman (2000) point out that you can also encourage “sighted peers to help the
student with the vision impairment engage in social experiences throughout the day” (p 637).

Step 4: Teach self-regulation – Self-regulation is the ability to evaluate one’s own behaviour and
emotions in terms of their appropriateness so as to regulate them accordingly. Self-regulation includes
skills such as monitoring, evaluating, managing, and reinforcing oneself. Self-monitoring involves
conducting an assessment of one’s own behaviour as appropriate or inappropriate (Conroy & Sellers,
2001). Children with vision impairments often have difficulty interpreting body language and
monitoring their own behaviour in social situations (Erwin, 1993). Initially you may need to prompt
them to heighten awareness of their own behaviour. It is important to encourage the student to self-
evaluate skill performance and think of strategies for doing things differently. This process helps the
student with the promotion of skill maintenance and growth through self-monitoring. Strategies such as
audio taping, video taping, role-playing social situations and using individualised stories can promote
thinking, self-evaluation and planning by the student (Bloom & Bhargava, 2004; Sacks & Silberman,
2000).

Step 5: Promote generalisation – Generalisation is a form of a critical yardstick by which the

effectiveness of the skills and strategies can be informally gauged in terms of how well students can
adapt the skills taught into their everyday life settings. Generalisation programming should be
considered from the start and become a part of the social skills instruction program. It will be important
to provide opportunities for the student to use newly acquired social skills in a variety of settings, and
with different people. Assistance from parents is also invaluable to ensure generalisation, as they can
set up and/or observe home- and community-based events in which the student is expected to use these
skills.

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Kelelis, Sacks and Wolffe (2000) have suggested that “…there are no easy ‘how to’ lessons that teach social
skills. Yet there are moments each day when parents and teachers can respond to situations in ways that
help children with visual impairments learn social skills” (p. 20).

Tips for Parents to Teach Social Skills in Children

Social and emotional skills are critical to our children’s success. Research shows that these skills can be
learned and taught, and they can have an important impact on students’ ability to thrive in school and in life.
While schools are beginning to recognize the importance of strong social and emotional skills, parents and
other caregivers play an important role in setting a foundation to help their children develop these skills.
Share the following tips with your students’ families to help them incorporate social and emotional learning
at home.

1. What are Social Skills and Why are They Important?

When we talk about the social skills needed for your child’s success in school and life, it’s not about
popularity or getting your child to be socially outgoing. Developing strong social and emotional skills is
really about teaching your child how to have meaningful relationships with others, how to develop a sense
of empathy, and how to be able to adapt to stressful situations.

Here is a list of some of the most important social skills that your child will need to be able to thrive in
school and life:

• Be responsible for their behavior

• Follow rules
• Get along with others
• Accept differences in others
• Have patience
• Stay calm when interacting with others
• Listen to others
• Take turns
• Do nice things for others
• Ask for help

2. Model

The best way to teach appropriate behaviors is by setting a good example for your child. What we do is just
as (or more!) important as what we say. For example, if your first reaction to your child’s misbehavior is to
lose your temper and shout, then your child will learn to shout and throw a tantrum when faced with a
stressful situation. Instead, try to stay calm and explain to your child why you want a certain behavior. Of
course, children are experts at pushing your buttons, and all parents will likely lose their temper at times.
This is natural, but if this is always your first reaction, then it will likely become your child’s first reaction
as well.

3. Practice

An important step to teaching your child social and emotional skills is to practice these skills on a regular
basis. There are many ways to practice these skills, and it can be as simple as doing something nice for a
friend or sibling, for example (i.e. “Let’s surprise your brother and make his favorite meal for dinner”).
Reading stories is another great way to teach social and emotional skills.

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4. Reinforce

It is important to take time to review and reflect on your child’s use of social skills each day. Having a
simple conversation can help reinforce the lessons learned that day. Also, be sure to celebrate your child’s
successes – if you make a big deal out of their positive behavior, your child will likely want to repeat the
behavior.

6 Vital Social Skills to Teach to Pre-School Children

There is a tendency to assume that toddlers learn social skills by playing with one another in social settings.
This is, however, only part of the process. In fact, the journey begins a long time before a child gets to
interact with peers.

The first social skills children learn are acquired by watching the adults around them and the role modeling
of what they see. That’s why parenting is about so much more than seeing to the physical needs of a child.
Prior to a child stepping into a classroom, they should have been taught several social skills.

Once children get into a classroom setting, they need to sharpen their social skills through their interactions
with their teacher and their classmates. Preschool teachers need to teach social skills through play and fun.
They can use stories, songs, puppets, and games to teach kids to interact with others. This prepares them to
be productive members of society later in life.

These are some of the important social skills parents should focus on, and preschool teachers will reinforce.

1. Expressing emotions

It’s vital that as soon as possible children learn to put a name to what they are feeling. It helps them to
verbally express their feelings instead of turning to other methods. For example, a child should learn to
verbalize that he is angry or frustrated without resorting to throwing things around or hitting other children.
The Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL) suggests that you teach
your child to distinguish emotions like happy, sad, and angry. More complex expressions of emotion will
come later.

Children must learn how to process the emotions they are feeling appropriately. Once they can put a name
to the emotion, they can be taught how to cope with what they’re feeling. These are skills that are much-
needed in adulthood.

2. Communication

At different stages, children need to be able to communicate at appropriate levels. For example, between 2-3
years old, a child must make eye contact with the person speaking to them. Patricia Henderson Shimm
writes on www.babycenter.com that toddlers often avoid contact as a means of control. They need to learn
early on that eye contact is polite and indicates that they are listening. They should be able to greet others
and know how to take turns talking.

The complexities advance as they get older. By age 5-6 years old, a child should know how to say please,
thank you, and sorry. This takes a lot of children a long time before it’s automatic. Positive role modeling is
critical at this stage.

The communication skills your child acquires are essential for their integration into society. As early as
possible, children need to learn the difference between polite and rude communication. They also need to
distinguish between communicating with an adult and a child.

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3. Listening

Listening skills are vital as without them, children cannot learn. Teaching your child listening skills is
important. They are born with some listening skills, but they need to be enhanced.

One of the easiest ways to teach listening skills is to play ‘broken telephone’ or variants thereof. Whisper a
word or phrase into your child’s ear and let them repeat it back. It will take a while, but you’ll get to a stage
where you can get your child to listen to and repeat 3-4 sentences. JoJo Tabares, a speech communications
specialist includes this strategy in her guidelines on how to stimulate listening and speaking skills.

Allowing children to engage in discussions with groups of their peers is also a way of stimulating listening
skills and teaching them the value of taking turns. It’s as simple as putting them in a circle and asking them
to talk about their weekend.

Some children will speak with ease, while others will feel shy. The extroverts need to learn to give the
introverts a turn. And the introverts need to learn to come out of their shells enough to participate.

4. Group work

The earlier children learn to function in a group, the better they will behave in group settings when they’re
older. When you’re working with very small children, the types of activities to do will focus on play.

Putting children into groups to play with toys such as blocks teaches them how to interact with others. At
first, it may seem that they are playing alongside each other and not with each other. But they are absorbing
the things going on around them all the time and processing them, according to kidshealth.org. Role
modeling the correct behavior is essential, as it allows children to learn what is appropriate. Some children
struggle with this more than others but will learn with loving, patient guidance.

Parents of an only child have an additional responsibility in this regard. They must seek out opportunities to
involve their child in socializing groups so that their children get exposure to children of their own age.

In a classroom setting, children should complete group work tasks. They will learn that each group member
has a job and that all the jobs need to be done to complete the task.

5. Caring

Children need to learn compassion for others from an early age. It prepares them for relationships they will
have when they’re older. They need to look at someone who has fallen with sympathy and try to help them.
Children need to know that laughing when someone is in pain or feeling sad is unacceptable. This is also the
time that they need to learn to treat animals with a caring approach.

Conflict management is an important part of this social skill. When children learn how to deal with conflict
constructively, they will be able to do so when they are adults. Teach children that conflict is normal,
provided it is dealt with appropriately. Some good tips for teaching children conflict management provide a
great framework from which to work. Children should have some basic conflict resolution skills and know
when to get an adult involved to help.

When children are taught conflict management skills, they should learn how to ‘fight fair.’ That means not
resorting to insults and violence to resolve a conflict.

6. Non-verbal skills

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Non-verbal skills are the ability to read the facial expression and body language of those around us. It also
incorporates interpreting the gestures they see, the tones of voice they hear, and the posture they observe.
People often say a lot more non-verbally than they do verbally.

Teach children to interpret non-verbal cues through fun activities. Put on an appropriate TV show or movie.
Turn the sound off. Let the children observe the characters. Pause the playback and ask the children if they
can tell you how a certain character is feeling. The Everything Parent’s Guide to Special Education Author,
Amanda Morin, finds that this helps children learn to read social cues.

Ask them how they can tell what the character is feeling. Point out the facial expression, the gestures, and
the body language the character is showing. You can also let children stand in front of the class and role
play how they feel with a facial expression. Then the other children can guess what the child is feeling.
They can talk about what makes them feel the same way.

Conclusion

Children are unique. In the same way, they have unique ways of learning social skills. Teachers should
strive to distinguish the differing needs of their learners. A varied approach may be required to reach some
of them. But what they all need from a teacher is reassurance that the classroom is a safe space where they
are loved and valued.

If a child feels they can trust a teacher, they will confide in them if there is something wrong at home. They
need to learn that respect is a two-way street. They show respect to their teacher and peers, and then they’ll
receive respect in return. Teachers should learn their names and their distinct personality traits as soon as
possible so that they know how to reach their learners.

LEARNING POINTS

- Social literacy concerns itself with the development of social skills, knowledge, and positive human
values that enable human beings to act positively and responsibly in range of complex social
settings.
- Social skills range from the ability to initiate, maintain and end a conversation to reading social
signals to more complex skills such as solving problems and resolving conflict.
- The modern age calls for young professionals to develop situational awareness and social
intelligence in both technological and traditional communication to succeed in their academic and
career endeavour.
- Peers and schools play a formative role on the social skill development of children.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Read the questions and instructions carefully. Write your answers in the space provided.
1. Are you more of a listener or a talker? Which social skill/s do you think you need to develop? In
what ways can you develop it/them?
2. If you were a parent at this time, what would you teach your children on social literacy? How would
you teach them?
3. If you were an employer, what would you look for in aspirants or applicants to your company?
4. How do teachers educate children of social literacy nowadays? What specific content and learning
experiences are there in the curriculum that develop social literacy?

REFERENCES

Alata and Ignacio (2019) Building and Enhancing New Literacies Across the Curriculum. Rex Bookstore,
Inc. (RBSI) Manila, Philippines

https://360430028271334326.weebly.com/

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https://www.literacyworldwide.org/blog/literacy-now/2016/01/26/taking-on-social-literacy-in-the-classroom

http://www.ldonline.org/lavoie/The_Teacher%27s_Role_in_Developing_Social_Skills/16075

https://sites.trinity.edu/sensoryimpariment/developing-social-skills-
classroom#:~:text=Teachers%20and%20parents%20can%20work,inside%20and%20outside%20the%20cla
ssroom.

https://www.thegaudium.com/role-parents-teachers-childs-life/

http://parenting247.org/article.cfm?ContentID=1241&AgeGroup=3

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