Form 5 General Studies (GS) - LIFE SKILLS [PDF]

Are the abilities for adaptive and positive behaviors that enable individuals to deal effectively and efficiently with the demands and challenges of everyday life. Generally life skills are the strategies or techniques that a person must pass in order to perform his or her activities successfully.

What is life?

Life = existence + activities.

Skills – are learning abilities to carry out the activities efficiently and effectively.

Skills – education, training and experience.

The core skills of life skills are;

i. Decision making.

ii. Problem solving skills. Realize actual situation and realize the desired outcomes/ situation. Take action come out with strategies to take you to your desired destination.

iii. Critical thinking skills.

1. DECISION MAKING SKILLS – the ability to evaluate information and advice to make informed decisions, assess the advantage and disadvantages of different options, change decisions to adopt new situations and plan for the future.

2. CRITICAL THINKING – the ability to analyze social issues/ influences as well as cultural influences on attitudes, values, behaviors, injustice, stigma, explore and evaluation.

3. EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS – Ability for understanding how others are communicating.
4. INTERPERSONAL SKILLS – Ability to build the positive relationships with others.
5. EMPATHY – Ability of putting oneself in other person’s shoes, in order to understand them well.
6. COPING WITH EMOTIONS AND STRESS – Ability to deal with threats and challenges
7. SELF AWARENESS – Ability to identify personal strengths, weaknesses and vulnerabilities, clarify personal values and beliefs and recognize personal worth and personal happiness.

MORAL VALUES

Moral – ethical principle that distinguishes what is right and what is wrong.
Ethics – are the fundamental moral principles and rules that guide people in performing their activities. Every institution or profession has its professional code of conduct for behavioral guidance on its members.
Moral value means: Things held to be right or wrong desirable or undesirable. They are acquired through teaching and inheriting from parent and the society.
Value – All good practices in any society.

Character – involves good habits and civil virtues which hold a community together and allow us to live together in harmony.

Moral values are the universal accepted principles that govern the day to day living of life.

CLASSIFICATION OF MORAL VALUES

1.) PERSONAL MORAL VALUES

-Are the rules that guide a person. A child growing up in a family is introduced to various values held by the family members. Children get to learn things from their peers or elders in not appropriate behaviors.

2.) FAMILY MORAL VALUES

-Are the rules or values that are considered important by the member of the family. Most of the families will emphasize the basic values. On the other side most families have a set of values that are to the members of that family.

3.) SOCIETAL MORAL VALUES

-Are the values held by all members of the society or community, they are formulated based on religious doctrines or political ideology. These values are maintained through the use of law, norms and rule established by that large group.

MORAL FUNCTIONING

I.) Moral judgment involves on evaluation of actions with respect to norms and values established in a society.

→Moral Judgment competence; Ability to apply/ use moral orientations and principles in a consistent and differentiated manner in varying social institutions.

II.) Moral action; An action that does not involve the violation of another person’s rights

III.) Moral motivation; It involves a response/reward from our actions or behavior in our daily life.

IMPORTANCE OF MORAL VALUES

i.) Moral values help society to maintain peace and harmony.

ii.) They help people to abandon feelings of anger against themselves.

iii.) They help to promote fairness and justice in society.

iv.) They help people to understand their limitations and other people‘s limitations on different matters/phenomena.

v.) They help people to overcome any threat and challenge because people will not let fear hold them back and therefore they will be able to achieve their objectives successful.

vi.) They help members of the society to promote socio-economic development.

vii.) Moral values help people in a society to advance in their personality and professional life.

viii.) They help to promote unity, love and cooperation among members of the society.
ix) They help to reduce social crimes and evils in the society

ERODED MORAL VALUES/ MORAL VALUE EROSION
– The erosion of moral values is growing throughout the world. The world we live in is changing rapidly. Towns and cities are growing and the the lifestyles of the people who are living in them are changing too. The decay of moral values certainly does erode the strength of the society, because morals are the social strength

INDICATORS OF ERODED MORAL EROSION

i.) Fall of human dignity. Actions practices devaluing humanity(humans) respect.

ii.) The growth of individualism, Involves the practice or actions of considering one’s needs/priorities before community or others needs.

iii.) Increase of number of divorces.

iv.) Violation of professional code of conduct. Eg. Corruption

v.) Increase of dropouts in schools.
vi) Arrogance ; Feeling that one is more importance than other
vii) Excessive drinking over feeling
viii) Discrimination practice of treating some one or a particular group of people less fairly than other

CAUSES OF MORAL VALUES EROSION

i)Diffusion of ideas, beliefs and ideologies(cultural change)

-in a positive way diffusion of ideas help peoples to get new knowledge and increase people‘s thinking ability or ways of thinking but on the other side other people tend to imitate immoral practices or values such as homo sexuality,fighting, improper dressing, prostitution, drug abuse etc.

ii) Development of ICT (Technological change)

-in positive side development of ICT is very important for society’s development in its all spheres of life but on the other side many people especially the use tend to misuse the electronic devices by imitating immoral practices like drug trafficking, cyber crimes, sexual relation before marriage, improper dressing, sending to one another naked pictures, watching pornographic movies etc

iii) Development of Urbanization

-it leads to occurrence of immoral practices/ actions due to congestion of people with different social statues and values, unemployment problems, housing problems etc then others tend to engage in immoral practices prostitution, theft, killing etc so that to run their life.

iv) Market system

-Presence of capitalist economy characterized by free market economy and profit maximization, the producers ignore the moral values for the purpose of getting super profit for instance some produces employ children (child labor) contrary to the society’s norms and law.

v) Growth of democratization

-other people misuse the aspects of democracy like individual freedom, they ignore the ethical principles and rules in order to exercise their freedom, they ignore limitation on individual freedom, also people are killed when they engage in political demonstration etc.

vi) Individual over ambitious desire

-other people purposeful engage in immoral practices in order to become rich in a short period of time.

vii) Exposure to drugs

-other people enter in immoral practices because of the influence of drugs like cocaine, marijuana etc. The drug users are ready steel the property of other people so as to get money for buying drugs.

viii) Decline in religious upbringing

-other religions teach their fellows to perform suicide so that to reach to a good place in heaven when they die, hence people engage in terrorist attacks etc.

ix) Genetic influence

-others are engaging in immoral practices due to the influence of genetic, they biologically inherit the character of their elders or parents, characters like telling lies, prostitution etc

x) Socio-economic influence

–poverty also influences other people to engage in immoral practices such as prostitution, stealing et

ERODED MORAL VALUES/MORAL VALUES EROSION

-The erosion of moral values is growing throughout the world. The world we live in is changing rapidly. Towns and cities are growing and the lifestyles of the people who are living in them are changing too. The decay of moral values certainly does erode the strength of the society, because morals are the social strength.

EFFECTS / CONSEQUENCES OF MORAL VALUES EROSION

i) Increase of the number of crime cases
–In the society as people purposeful engage in immoral practices such as robbery, kidnapping, killing, drug & human trafficking, corruption etc.

ii) The strength of the society is being eroded.

-The society lacks peace, unity and justice. Many people come to ignore the available social norms and rules. Every thinks for his or her own family as a result unity and love and cooperation come to disappear.

iii) Violation of people‘s rights

-other people come to ignore limitations to individual freedom, they interfere the rights of others just to satisfy their own desire in immoral way. This makes other people not to have access to education or health services. For instance some parents in rural areas for their daughters to get marriage while they’re still young. They stop them to attend schools so that to live with men/ husbands.

iv) Increase of the income gap between the poor and the rich

-other people ignore the available ethical principles because of the desire accumulate a lot of wealth for their own; they do not consider the needs of others. The policies and laws are made in such a way that they favor the few And undermine majority as a result the few become more rich and majority become poor and poor. For instance, some leaders in government’s departments distribute national resources such funds unfairly in order to benefit their areas where they come from and make other areas undeveloped.

v) Unequal and unfair nglish-swahili/distribution” target=”_blank”>distribution of National resources

For instance, some leaders in government’s departments distribute national resources such funds unfairly in order to benefit their areas where they come from and make other areas undeveloped.

vi) Poor performance in primary and secondary schools in internal and national examination

-many researches show that there is a close relationship between performance and rate of discipline among students. According to many academic researches, the students who have good discipline they perform better academically than students with poor discipline.

vii) Increase of dropouts in schools

-many student are losing their opportunity or right to get education because of engaging in immoral practices or behavior such as sex before time, drug abuse, forced marriage etc

viii) Increase of truancy in schools

-other students/ pupils become truants because of engaging in immoral practices such as attending night clubs, doing business, prostitution etc

ix) Disappearance of justice & fairness in social, legal, political and economic institutions

-immoral practices such corruption in legal institutions make poor people to lose their rights simply because they don’t have money to corrupt officials in courts.

IMPACT OF CULTURAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE ON MORAL VALUES

1. CULTURAL CHANGE
Cultural refers to the ideas, beliefs and customs that are shared and accepted by people in a given society. It is time relevant, changing with circumstances.
The change of the ideas and beliefs shared by people in a particular society signifies that always not static but dynamic

FACTOR FOR CULTURAL CHANGE
Cultural Change I the process of social adaption of new circumstances brought by external or internal forces like introducing new technology, new religion., new language and increasing social- economic development of productive forces within societies.

Factor influencing cultural change include the following
(i) Migration / Immigration
: Migration is the movement of people from one place to another such as from rural to urban and from one country to another. A person may be affected by the ways of life the area of destination. This is because he/she must imitate certain system of his or her residents so as to cope with them. For example people from rural areas tend to be absorbed by town cultural because in town traditional cultural is normally abandoned.

ii) Communication;
People communicate with others from different parts of the world. Through communication, people imitate new cultural from different groups. This process makes cultural to change because of learning new ways of life

iii) Social, political , cultural and economic; Liberalization means removing something that brings restrictions political, economically and socially. Free market economy leads to influx of goods which may adversely affect cultural of indigenous people.

iv) Influence of socialization agents: Socialization agents include peer groups , schools, religion and mass media. These are instruments through which a person can learn and get different information about a society. Mass media such as magazine , newspaper radio, and television make us to learn new system of life which are not present in the society. For example wearing styles, shaving styles, application of decoration and cosmetics for beauty.

Advantage of cultural change
i) It helps man to master his environment better due to acquisition of new life skills.
ii) New technology improves the welfare of the people economically, politically, socially, etc.
iii) It helps man acquire new skills , behavior, and knowledge. Hence , mastery of his social, political and economic life.
iv) Through education , society is exposed to external cultural contrast and challenge.

Disadvantage of cultural change
i) The education and knowledge acquired from outside may conflict with tribal cultural and traditions. Hence, create passivity from the concerned tribes.
ii) Strategic customs like female short dress, tight clothes. etc. have been a sources of problems. For example , temptation to men towards offences like rape.

Technology change and Moral values.
The question is whether is conflict between the technological change values and the moral values of society. Has it done more good than him? If this is taken into account the following are effects of technological change on moral values.
i) Increase of social vices: The uses of internet , television, videos, and pornographic picture has led to increase of bad behavior such as murder, violence, robbery, prostitution, drug abuse and racial segregation.

ii) Environmental destruction: The invention of nuclear bomb has negative impact on societal values of taking care of environment since the nuclear wastes are radioactive.

iii) The invention of test tube bases technology: Test tube babies are produced bay taking an egg from a woman and placing it in a container with sperms from a man. If the egg is fertilized the resulting embryo is placed in the woman’s womb to develop normally , this reduces the dignity of humankind since it alters the natural for fertilization reproductive organs which requires sexual intercourse for fertilization to take place contrary to this it means family ties are not important

iv) Unemployment problem; The use of computer has eliminated many from employment. Lack of employment leads to acts like robbery, prostitution, etc, in the society.

IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTING THE CULTURE OF CARE AND MAINTENANCE

i) Environment conservation
ii) Costs of maintenance are always low
iii) Life span of the various facilities will be prolonged

POSSIBLE EFFECT RESULTING FROM THE FAILURE OF POLITICAL AND GOVERNMENT LEADERS TO ADHERE TO LEADERSHIP ETHICS
Leadership ethics refers to identified values at work place such as stewardship, discipline, pursuit of excellence in service, loyalty to government, diligence, integrity, accountability to the public, respect for the law, proper, use of official information, impartiality, punctuality and trust
Thus, a leader working while complying with law is an ethical leader

These effect resulting from failure of political and government leaders to adhere to leadership ethics include the following:
i) Corruption and abuse of public office will be high
ii) Nepotism and red-tape will be rampant
iii) People lose confidence and trust to their government and leaders
iv) Nation fails to derive political goods, protection, social security, the executive will not be able to serve the people and the parliament will not be able to do its versing role
v) Hostility
vi) Immorality
vii) Incivility Rude behavior
viii) Discrimination . Practice of treating dome body or a particular group of people less fairly than others
ix) Aggression; Feelings of anger and hatred that may result in threatening or violent behavior
x) Arrogance : Feeling that one is more important than other people
xi) The use of foul language

STRATEGIC FOR MAINTAINING AND PROMOTING MORAL VALUES

Most of the violent/ ant- social incidences that happen in our societies can be prevented or reduces in the following
i) Law enforcement and punishment for law breakers
ii) Adherence to religious teachings.
iii) Civic education to people to have a good values system

iv) To disnglish-swahili/courage” target=”_blank”>courage importation and uses of drugs
v) Tackling the continuing social scourges like poverty+, hunger ,unemployment
vi) Individuals to develop a critical thinking mind

CULTURAL OF CARE AND MAINTENANCE
Meaning

It is a system of planning maintenance which involves inspection, followed by maintenance and modification necessary to be made to so that property can be used for a long period. Maintenance involves repairing property timely before it gets damaged completely.

THE PROCEDURE FOR PREVENTIVE CARE AND MAINTENANCE
Preventive care should be considered under the following
i) Cleanliness of the surroundings
ii) The frequency of cheek- up and inspection on property
iii) Maintenance that minimizes the costs of up-keeping of buildings, furniture and fixture
iv) Regular maintenance that creates a conductive environment to user.
v) Institutions or public places should have a timetable to ensure preventive care.
vi) Regular care and maintenance of existing buildings and facilities so as to ensure and prolong the life of buildings and equipment.

EFFECT OF FAILURE TO TIMELY CARE AND MAINTENANCE

i) Increase in costs of repair. Man – made objects like buildings, roads, railways and property like books and domestic items need to be repaired immediately when damages occurs. Otherwise they will cost much if they are neglecting.
ii) Environmental degradation; This is caused by deforestation, soil erosion, water erosion and air pollution. Land degradation caused by man should be avoided in order to conserve our environment .
iii) Rampant destruction of private and public properties

Form 5 General Studies (GS) – LIFE SKILLS

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