Presenting a Model for Developing Life Skills in Schools Based on Self-Efficacy, Problem Solving, Ethical Decision-Making, and Social Resilience
Keywords:
Life skills, self-efficacy, problem solving, ethical decision-making, social resilience, school, qualitative research.Abstract
This study aimed to present a model for developing life skills in schools based on self-efficacy, problem solving, ethical decision-making, and social resilience from the perspectives of students, teachers, school counselors, and principals in Tehran. This study was conducted using a qualitative approach and thematic analysis. The research population included secondary school students, teachers, counselors, and principals from schools in Tehran. Participants were selected through purposive sampling with maximum variation. Data were collected exclusively through semi-structured interviews, and sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. Overall, 24 participants, including 14 students, 5 teachers, 3 school counselors, and 2 principals, took part in the study. After obtaining informed consent, interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using NVivo software. Data analysis included open coding, organizing initial codes, identifying subthemes, and developing main categories. The findings indicated that life skills development in schools is grounded in four main categories: self-efficacious agency, real-life problem-solving literacy, maturity in ethical decision-making, and school-based social resilience. Participants emphasized that life skills become internalized when schools move beyond theoretical instruction and provide opportunities for experience, dialogue, practice, feedback, and responsible participation. The role of teachers, emotional classroom climate, family participation, and school culture were also identified as key contextual conditions. The proposed model suggests that life skills development in schools is a multidimensional, interactive, and context-dependent process shaped by students’ beliefs in their capabilities, their ability to analyze and solve problems, their ethical judgment, and their access to supportive social relationships. Therefore, schools should organize life skills not as a marginal program but as an integral part of educational culture, hidden curriculum, and daily pedagogical practice.
Downloads
References
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W. H. Freeman.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning. (2020). CASEL’s SEL framework: What are the core competence areas and where are they promoted? CASEL.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
D’Zurilla, T. J., & Nezu, A. M. (2010). Problem-solving therapy. In K. S. Dobson (Ed.), Handbook of cognitive-behavioral therapies (3rd ed., pp. 197–225). Guilford Press.
Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students’ social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01564.x
Elias, M. J., Zins, J. E., Weissberg, R. P., Frey, K. S., Greenberg, M. T., Haynes, N. M., Kessler, R., Schwab-Stone, M. E., & Shriver, T. P. (1997). Promoting social and emotional learning: Guidelines for educators. ASCD.
Guest, G., Bunce, A., & Johnson, L. (2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18(1), 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903
Jones, T. M. (1991). Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model. Academy of Management Review, 16(2), 366–395. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.1991.4278958
Lickona, T. (1991). Educating for character: How our schools can teach respect and responsibility. Bantam Books.
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E. G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. SAGE Publications.
Masten, A. S. (2001). Ordinary magic: Resilience processes in development. American Psychologist, 56(3), 227–238. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.3.227
Rest, J. R. (1986). Moral development: Advances in research and theory. Praeger.
Taylor, R. D., Oberle, E., Durlak, J. A., & Weissberg, R. P. (2017). Promoting positive youth development through school-based social and emotional learning interventions: A meta-analysis of follow-up effects. Child Development, 88(4), 1156–1171. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12864
UNICEF. (2012). Global evaluation of life skills education programmes. UNICEF Evaluation Office.
Ungar, M. (2011). The social ecology of resilience: Addressing contextual and cultural ambiguity of a nascent construct. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 81(1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01067.x
World Health Organization. (1997). Life skills education for children and adolescents in schools: Introduction and guidelines to facilitate the development and implementation of life skills programmes (2nd rev.). World Health Organization.
World Health Organization. (2020). Life skills education school handbook: Prevention of noncommunicable diseases. World Health Organization.
Zins, J. E., Weissberg, R. P., Wang, M. C., & Walberg, H. J. (Eds.). (2004). Building academic success on social and emotional learning: What does the research say? Teachers College Press.
