Unit 3: 21st Century Literacies

Unit Overview
Our world is no longer limited by distance, space, and time. With the
access of technology advanced by the internet, we have come at a perspective of
seeing the world a small space indeed, and we started embracing differences,
advancements, and practices -some, we have adapted; others, we have considered.

It is with the same reason that the idea of developing literacies to a personal or
national advantage has become easier for us all, especially that resources are no
longer meager; they are just everywhere.

However, having any of the 21st century skills comes with a sense of
responsibility. While we have become limitless in our possibilities, we must also take
into consideration ethics and principles that may keep us, our morales and our cultural
identies, always at the safe side.

Unit Objectives

In this unit, you are expected to:

• discuss concepts on globalization and multicultural literacy

• explain the dimensions of multiculturalism
• examine the ethical considerations of using digital media
• demonstrate skills in the positive use of ICT
• apply the principles of savings, investment, and valuing in spending one’s
money
• explain the advantages and disadvantages of media and information

Lesson 10. Globalization , Cultural and Multicultural Literacy

Learning Objectives
At the end the lesson, you are expected to:

1. examine different perspectives on globalization;

2. explain key features and dimensions of multiculturalism; and,
3. reflect on situations related to globalization and multiculturalism.

Presentation of Content
When asked about what globalization is, perhaps you have your own
definition of what it is.
 According to Aquino (2009), the term globalization is otherwise known as
Web 2.0. Aquino has a simplified explanation of what globalization
is:

“The whole world is composed of various structures that keep on

changing; each change affects one another.”

On the other hand, Rao (2004) states that globalization is a door of new
possibilities for global exchange of information and communication.

We see globalization as the growth of the sizes of social systems and the
increase in the complexity of intersocietal links (Sheffield, et al. 2013).

It’s true; different people have different takes on globalization.

Today, you are going to have a larger picture on globalization, specifically in

school settings as we bring you to four different perspectives according to
Tamayao (2013).

1. Interactionist Perspective. If you have interactionist perspective in mind,

you respect the fact that like teachers, students also have updated knowledge
which might even be fresher than teachers’; thus, this perspective guides teachers
to be flexible enough in considering the ‘minds’ of the learners. This, too, is a
reminder that old ways in teaching might no longer apply today, and the teacher
has to be very welcoming and adaptive to novelties in teaching approaches.

2. Functional Perspective. A functionalist sees social integration at the core

of the global society. Globalization, from this perspective, glues peoples of their
respective cultures from different parts of the world. And schools have this role of
equipping students with the necesary skills and values to respond to this call.

3. Conflict Perspective. With this perspective, there is a line between the

rich and the poor, and it sees the latter at a disadvantaged position. Hence, this
perspective expects schools to be an equalizer, putting resources on equal
distribution and access among all kinds of students, whether rich or poor.

4. Critical Perspective. Men behind critical perspective argue on the global

significance of globalization as they recognize oppressive and inequitable
instances happening in the global market. Thus, they encourage schools to ready
students in dealing with social issues so that they will have a way of prevailing.
 Cultural and
Multicultural
Literacy

Cultural literacy is a term coined by

American educator and literary critic E. D. Hirsch,
referring to the ability to understand and participate
fluently in a given culture.

Hirsch (1983) developed the term "cultural

literacy" because accordingly, people can't learn
reading, writing, and other communication as skills
separate from the culturally assumed knowledge that shapes what people
communicate about. For example, the meaning of many words is culture-specific.
When you say ‘takki’ in Ilocano, that means poop or feces. Among the Itawes, that is
the foot.

Whereas, multicultural literacy, according to James Banks (2003), states that

multicultural literacy puts education at the front of transforming students, male or
female, excpetional, and socially, culturally, ethnically and racially diversed to
experience equal opportunities in learning.

Furthermore, multicultural literacy consists of the skills and ability to identify the
creators of knowledge and their interests (Banks, 1996), to uncover the assumptions
of knowledge, to view knowledge from diverse ethnic and cultural perspectives, and
to use knowledge to guide action that will create a humane and just world.

Five Dimensions of Multiculturalism

According to James Banks, there are different dimensions of multiculturalism:

Content
Integration

Knowledge Empowering
Construction School
Culture and
Social
Structure.

Equity Prejudice
Pedagogy Reduction
 Content Integration

In this dimension, texts and other materials can be sourced out from
other cultures, and can be integrated with other subject areas.

Knowledge Construction

In here, teachers help students to understand, investigate, and determine

the implicit cultural assumptions and frames of reference and perspectives of
the discipline they are teaching. In other words, teachers help students
understand.
It is imperative for teachers to do this especially when the nature of texts
or reading materials given to students is not really familiar to them, there
really are words or phrases needing explanations.
Equity Pedagogy

With equity pedagogy, teachers resolve gaps and do some modifications

in their strategies and styles (examples: cooperative groups, simulations,
role-playing, and discovery) to accommodate any type of learner, and to
allow whatever gender or racial identity achieve learning objectives.

Prejudice Reduction

This is a challenge among all teachers, whatever the subject matter they
are handling. This calls for bridging relations among students to do away
from inferior thoughts and feelings and to build an atmosphere where
acceptance is present. Once equity pedagogy is observed in class, that atleast
achieves prejudice reduction.

Empowering School
Culture and Social

This goes beyond teachers’ control. It also extends to the administrator’s

concern since what is asked in this dimension is not only a consideration on
individual classrooms, but the school environment at large. From the smallest
unit of the entitity, personnel, up to the leaders’ level, the climate should be
equitable and empowering.

You need the said literacies to effectively function, not only within your cultural
community, but also beyond your cultural borders. The school is with you in shaping
these literacies.
 Role of Education in Promoting Cultural and Multicultural
Practices

In order to address concerns related to issues on cultural and multicultural diversity in

education, the following, from Glossary of Education Reform, are a few
representative ways in which multicultural education may play out in schools:

● Learning content: Texts and learning materials may include multiple cultural
perspectives and references. For example, a lesson on colonialism that once
happened with Spain and the Philippines might address different cultural
perspectives, such as those of the African slaves and the European settlers.
● Student cultures: Teachers and other educators may learn about the cultural
backgrounds of students in a school, and then intentionally incorporate learning
experiences and content relevant to their personal cultural perspectives and
heritage. Once, this is placed as part of the syllabus, students may also be
encouraged to learn about the cultural backgrounds of other students in a class,
and students from different cultures may be given opportunities to discuss and
share their cultural experiences.
● Critical analysis: Educators may intentionally scrutinize learning materials to
identify potentially prejudicial or biased material. Both educators and students or
even other stakeholders can be gathered to analyze their own cultural
assumptions, and then discuss how learning materials, teaching practices, or
schools’ policies reflect cultural bias, and how they could be changed to
eliminate bias.
● Resource allocation: Multicultural education is generally predicated on the
principle of equity—i.e., that the allocation and distribution of educational
resources, programs, and learning experiences should be based on need and
fairness, rather than strict equality. For example, students who are not proficient
in the English language may learn in bilingual settings and read bilingual texts,
and they may receive comparatively more instructional support than their
English-speaking peers so that they do not fall behind academically or drop out
of school due to language limitations.
 Application:
A. Of the four perspectives on globalization, which, to you, is the most
important perspective you consider as a student? Which, on the other hand, is
your top perspective when you become a future professional teacher? Discuss
your answers in atleast 50 words.

As a student of education degree, I need to prepare myself for my future

profession specially the teaching approaches and methods I will be used for
students someday and it must be in line with what is appropriate and in
demand in the classroom setting. Through the interactionist perspective, it
helps to be flexible in the minds and interest of my students in learning and be
welcoming and adoptive to the novelties in teaching approaches in order to
facilitate better learning to my future students.

B. Reflect on the following and discuss your ideas below each situation. 15-
20 sentences are encouraged for each discussion.

The Negro spirituals were used by African Americans to send coded messages about
escaping from slavery to the North as well as to envision a life after death that was
considerably more satisfying than the one, they experienced on earth. Students can discuss
the latent messages in the song, “Get on Board Little Children.”

The situation stated above and the song, “Get on Board Little Children,” has one
strong message and lesson they want to convey to us human. The message it wants to deliver
is that in God’s kingdom, there is no rich nor poor. “Give me neither poverty nor riches –
Feed me with the food you prescribe for me; lest I be full and deny You, and say, “Who is
the Lord?” Or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God (Proverbs 30:8-9).”
God does not condemn people because they are rich, nor does He justify others because they
are poor. God created us equally and he loves us no matter our economic background as long
as we have strong faith in him. If we believe praise him, God will save us in our darkest
hours in life. This gives us a realization that God always hears our prayers. He truly loves us
because he will provide always light and way in order to overcome whatever problems and
challenges, we may face in life. So as sons and daughters of God, we must live our life to the
word of him. We must center our lives on him. We must put our actions in making our faith
string on him. And we must treasure the temple of God. Through Him, we can able to live
our life meaningfully. Through him, we can able to solve and overcome any problems and
challenges in our lives. And though him, we can able to witness his kingdom and able to live
a life after death that was considerably more satisfying than the one, we experienced on
earth.
 “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday will give everyone an image and experience
with the lynching of Blacks in the South that is more memorable than most
textbook accounts. Search the music in YouTube and reflect on the song.

The song “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday portrays a vivid scenario of the terrible
brutality many black people faced. The extreme imagery, deep emotional lyrics, and slow
sad tone create a powerful message that forces the listener to face the reality of racial
injustice. The song begins with "southern trees bear strange fruit. Blood on the leaves and
blood at the root". The use of the words “strange fruit” is employed as a metaphor comparing
the fruit and therefore the lynched bodies hanging from the tree. The contrast within the first
two lines sets the stage for the message of the song by contrasting the life and ripeness of
“fruit” to the gruesome deaths as illustrated by the word “blood”. The pleasing nature of the
one half of the contrasting pair is outweighed by the devastating nature of the opposite half.
The song uses metaphors and juxtapositions to completely illustrate the violence and racism
of South America therein time. The words “strange” and “bitter crop” imply that something
in the picture, as vividly portrayed by the lyrics, does not belong and begins to illustrate the
point that lynching was a disgrace to humanity which it didn't belong in society. The next
line reveals the topic and underlying meaning of the song. “Black bodies swinging within the
southern breeze”, begins to take a picture of the violence towards black people. If the
historical background of the song wasn't known and therefore the words “black bodies” were
far away from the lyrics, the song may have seemed to be a song merely against violence.
However, the precise regard to black people indicates the song is about racism and therefore
the violence against black people. The juxtaposition of the beautiful serene landscape and the
“scent of magnolia, sweet and fresh”, with “bulging eyes” and “burning flesh”, gives a
strong emotional feeling to the song and again contrasts life with death, positive with
negative, and peaceful with grim. The author appeals to the senses by describing the
gorgeous scenery with attractive, gentle words followed by the utilization of strong loaded
words, like “burning flesh” and “bulging eyes” which illustrates the shocking and terrifying
sight of the lynched bodies hanging within the trees and adds to the general impact of the
song. This song was a strong and effective tool to protest racism.
Feedback
Given the five dimensions of multiculturalism, write five classrooms practices,
specific to your specialization, that will fit each dimension. You may think of
practices you may want to employ in your future classes.

CONTENT INTEGRATION
 The teacher inserts isolated facts about ethnic and cultural group heroes and heroines into the
lesson.
 The teacher used the style of tattoos of Apo Wang- od to present the arts of Cordilleras.
 Students used as a basis the ethnic dance of Igorots in creating a creative dance.
 Students used as inspiration the waving style of Muslims in creating their paintings.
 Teachers encourage his/her students to be like Itawit in socializing and collaborating with
their groupmates.

KNOWLEDGE CONSTRUCTION
 Students relate the lesson to their personal experiences and traditions.
 Teachers translate the unfamiliar words/ phrases to the local dialect of the student to better
understand it.
 The teacher gives specific examples related to the cultural background of the student.
 Students applied the lesson to their cultural backgrounds.
 Teachers use a teaching method that is related to the cultural background of the student.
EQUITY PEDAGOGY
 The teacher uses a diverse teaching method that can accommodate the uniqueness of each
students learning approach.
 The teacher allows his/her students to use any learning approach they are comfortable with.
 Teachers conduct a variety of activities for students.
 Students share his/her thoughts and perspective on the topic of his/her group.
 Students present their work in a creative way they could.
PREJUDICE REDUCTION
 The teacher accepts every opinion of his/her students no matter if it is right or wrong.
 Teachers recognize the achievement of his/her students no matter how big or small it is.
 The teacher always asks the opinion and suggestions of the students about the lesson or
conducting an activity.
 The teacher works with his/her students in conquering their weaknesses in learning.
 The teacher considers the learning approaches of every student in classroom discussion.
EMPOWERING SCHOOL CULTURE AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE
 School administrators create a school that is conducive to learning.
 School administrators maintain comfort rooms, canteen, and other facilities clean and safe.
 School administrators conduct programs like sports that allow students to show their skills
and talents.
 School administrators create a study corner or facility that can accommodate various students
where they can study and feels like home.
 School administrators provide teachers with opportunities for collective planning and
instruction, and by creating democratic structures that give teachers, parents, and school staff
shared responsibility.
 Learning Objectives

At the end the lesson, you are expected to:

1. differentiate between social cognition and social skills;

2. contextualize emotional intelligence given its characteristics; and,
3. cite ways in which social and people skills can be integrated in virtual and face-to-
face learning.

Presentation of Content

Your ability to connect with the people around, wherever you are, whoever
you are, in person or virtual, is a manifestation of social literacy. This literacy is
crucial in a person’s success. Being able to negotiate and communicate your
thoughts as well as having the ability to learn characterize this literacy, and once
you have it, you basically have the power to learn while being engaged.

With the new normal set-up in education, we have become limited with our
social gatherings and social interactions, the usual way they used to be. Virtual
classrooms started to be the platform of education. Social literacy is still at work
in this set-up. There are ways in which we can incorporate social literacy online:

Blogging/ Vlogging. Students may write their contents based on a

required task or personal conviction, share them in their sites or other sites,
read others’ and be read by others such as classmates, peers and
acquainatances.
Video Conferencing. This made education embrace its limitless
possibilities. Connecting with different people on webinars, conferences,
lectures and discussions is an open door to social interaction.
Social networking sites. More than old people know, the young
generation is into several types of social networking sites. While facebook
may be the most familiar of them all, there are more sites that make knowing
and learning about ideas, places and people an easy thing to do among
learners.
 Whereas, in a face-to-face classroom, the following can be incorporated to
achieve social literacy:

Group projects: group projects give students opportunities to interact

face to face and experience social interactions. It is so crucial that students
learn to interact with people effectively and contribute their part. ,

Peer reviewing: Peer reviewing teaches students how to give

constructive advice and communicate their thoughts well. To be able to give
constructive criticism and view another persons ideas is an imprtant ability.

Field trips: taking students to a museum or to volunteer in an area in

need could help students open their eyes and learn about different societies.
On any field trip, even learning how to travel in groups, communicate with
people in charge, and work together as a group will be effective in teaching
students to be socially literate.

Social Cognition and Social Skills

There are different definitions of social cognition. The following are cited for you
to read and understand:

Social cognitions involve thoughts about others and thoughts about the self in
relationship to others (Norris, 2007).

Social cognition represents the scientific approach within social psychology

dedicated to studying how people process and respond to social information
(Hunt, 2012).

Social cognition refers to the unique processes that enable human beings to
interpret social information and behave appropriately in a social environment. As
in other domains of cognition, social information processing relies initially on
attending to and perceiving relevant cues (Shany-Ur & Rankin, 2014).

Social cognition means different things to different people. Most

generally, social cognition is defined as any cognitive process that involves other
people. These processes can be involved in social interactions at a group level or
on a one-to-one basis. When we use the term cognition we refer to unconscious
mechanisms in the mind (the brain) that bring about representations (a neural
implementation of experience) (Frith & Blakemore, 2006).
 Social skills are the skills we use everyday to interact and communicate with
others. They include verbal and non-verbal communication, such as speech,
gesture, facial expression and body language. A person has strong social skills if
they have the knowledge of how to behave in social situations and understand
both written and implied rules when communicating with others.

Building blocks necessary to develop social skills

Attention and concentration: Sustained effort, doing activities without

distraction and being able to hold that effort long enough to get the task done.

Receptive (understanding) language: Comprehension of language

Expressive (using) language: The use of language through speech, sign

or alternative forms of communication to communicate wants, needs,
thoughts and ideas.

Play skills: Voluntary engagement in self motivated activities that are

normally associated with pleasure and enjoyment where the activities may
be, but are not necessarily, goal oriented.

Pre-language skills: The ways in which we communicate without using

words and include things such as gestures, facial expressions, imitation, joint
attention and eye-contact.

Self regulation: The ability to obtain, maintain and change one’s

emotion, behaviour, attention and activity level appropriate for a task or
situation in a socially acceptable manner.

Executive functioning: Higher order reasoning and thinking skills.

Planning and sequencing: The sequential multi-step task or activity
performance to achieve a well-defined result.

Here are a few examples of qualities you can build

to increase your social skills:

1. Effective communication
The ability to communicate effectively with others is a core social skill. If you have
strong communication skills, you’ll be able to share your thoughts and ideas clearly
with others. Effective communicators make good leaders because they can easily
explain projects and goals in an easy-to- understand way.

2. Conflict resolution

Disagreements and dissatisfaction can arise in any situation. Conflict

resolution is the ability to get to the source of the problem and find a
workable solution. If you have good conflict resolution skills, you may be
well-suited for guidance counselling positions, where you can address
disagreements between employees.

3. Active listening

Active listening is the ability to pay close attention to a person who is

communicating with you. Active listeners are typically well-regarded by their
coworkers due to the attention and respect they offer others. You can increase
your listening skills by focusing on the speaker, avoiding distractions, and by
preparing questions, comments or ideas to respond.

4. Empathy

Empathy is the ability to understand and identify with the feelings of

another person. If you have empathy, others will be more likely to confide in
you. Being more empathetic takes a conscious effort to carefully consider
how others feel. If you strengthen your empathy and rapport with others,
you’ll be able to build stronger relationships, which can be beneficial in
many ways.

5. Relationship management

Relationship management is the ability to maintain relationships and

build key connections. For example, if you are a classroom officer, you might
be responsible for relationship management between and among your
classmates, and you also lead them towards a good relationship with your
teachers.

6. Respect
 A key aspect of respect is knowing when to initiate communication and
respond. In a team or group setting, allowing others to speak without
interruption is seen as a necessary communication skill tied to respectfulness.
Respectfully communicating also means using your time with someone else
wisely—staying on topic, asking clear questions and responding fully to any
questions you’ve been asked.

Emotional Intelligence

According to Mayer, Caruso & Salovey as cited by Compton (2005), emotional

intelligence refers to our ability to recognize the meanings of emotions and their
relationships to reason. Compton adds that emotional intelligence deals with our
ability to understand other people’s emotions and develop a deep sense of sensitivity
to emotional undercurrents that lie behind many social interactions.
The followingg characteristics of emotional intelligence were proposed by the
aforesaid.
The ability to recognize an emotion accounts for knowing an emotion when it
really happens. Awareness of the existence of an emotion is the first requirement
to acquire emotional intelligence.

The ability to handle interpetations means that people with high emotional
intelligence can create and maintain effective interpersonal relationships.

The ability to use emotions to motivate oneself has something to do with

motivation. It means having the sense of focus, control and monitoring of
personal emotions.

The ability to recognize emotions in others is concerned with people’s

capacity to be aware of and read other people’s emotions. This leads to becoming
sensitive and empathetic.

The ability to manage one’s emotions refers to regulation. It means

processing one’s emotions in order to effectively deal with problems effectively.

People Skills

People skills are patterns of behavior and behavioral interactions. Among people,
it is an umbrella term for skills under three related set of abilities: personal
effectiveness, interaction skills, and intercession skills. This is an area of exploration
about how a person behaves and how they are perceived irrespective of their thinking
and feeling.

Researchers define people skills as three sets of abilities such as mentioned

above. First, someone’s personal effectiveness. As a people skill, personal
effectiveness is all about how you come across to others. Are you able to pitch
yourself? Can you communicate clearly? Can you get what you need from others?
Someone with strong personal effectiveness typically also makes a memorable first
impression and has a confident presence with the people they meet.

Second, is your interaction ability. This is how well you predict and decode
behavior. In an interaction, can you empathize with someone? Are you highly
perceptive?

Finally, we have intercession skills. Someone with strong people skills is able to
intercede easily. This means they are able to lead, influence, and build bridges
between people. Are you a connector? A mediator? Oftentimes this can be calming
down difficult or toxic people.

In simpler terms, people skills refers to one’s ability to effectively communicate

with other people in a friendly manner on a personal or a professional level.

10 People Skills you need in order to succeed

https://www.scienceofpeople.com/people-skills/
By: Vanessa Van Edwards

1. Social assertiveness

Do you stand up for yourself in social situations? Do you feel confident

interacting with others? Are you assertive with your social needs? Social assertiveness
is essential for conserving social energy.

We only have so much social energy to spare. If you are socially assertive, you are
able to save and spend your social energy in the right ways. If you lack social
assertiveness, your energy is wasted on the wrong people, in awkward situations, or is
not aligned with your social goals. People with high social assertiveness have more
focused social energy and have more clarity in their interactions:
People with low social assertiveness:

• feel out of control in social situations

• are addicted to people pleasing
• have more toxic people in their lives

People with high social assertiveness are able to:

■ establish boundaries
■ stand up for their needs
■ tell people, “No!”

Action Step: Extroverts, ambiverts, and introverts all have different levels of social
energy. Figure out if you are an extrovert, introvert, or ambivert, so you can spend
your social energy efficiently.

2. Crafting a Memorable Presence

Are you memorable? Do you make a strong first impression? Do people

remember your name after meeting you? People with a great presence have an easy
time making lasting connections and are extremely good at rapport-building. Your
presence has a direct relationship to your ability to create lasting personal
relationships and build a network. If you have a strong presence, people gravitate
towards you, remember you better, and are more likely to work with you.
People with a weak presence:

• struggle to get clients or make friends

• frequently deal with people forgetting their name
• feel awkward in many social interactions

People with a memorable presence:

◆ leave a lasting first impression

◆ have a robust network
◆ quickly build rapport

Action Step: Learn how to be interesting. I think everyone has the potential to be
fascinating — we just don’t always know how.

3. Master Communication

Do you enjoy public speaking and presenting? Specifically, are you comfortable
communicating your ideas to large groups? Master communicators know how to
present themselves, and effectively get their message across.

Poor communicators tend to:

• think they are unworthy of attention

• avoid sharing their ideas
• cannot get buy-in on their opinions
• are under appreciated for their hard work

Master communicators excel at:

• public speaking
• presenting
• communicating big ideas to big groups

Action Step: I would love to show you how to master public speaking. Most people
think this is a skill you cannot learn—not true! Anyone can learn to be a master
communicator.

4. Sustain Lasting Confidence

Do you ever feel socially anxious? Everyone feels a little bit of nervousness in
some social situations, but the question is: Can you overcome your social anxiety?
People who can sustain lasting confidence are able to conquer their shyness and avoid
awkwardness. They might have internal strategies or mantras to get them through
their anxiety, or they have socialized enough to overcome any nervous tendencies.
People with high social anxiety:

• avoid social situations … even if they would be beneficial to career goals

• feel awkward and trapped
• get stuck in their own head during interactions and conversations

People who can sustain social confidence:

◆ are able to excel in most social situations

◆ feel awkward and are able to overcome it
◆ feel more excited than anxious when socializing

Action Step: Do you have social anxiety? Make sure you know the signs and
symptoms, and use our tips to conquer it.

5. Master Conversations

How do you get past small talk? In my book Captivate, I talk about the idea of
BIG talk. This is when you level up boring, predictable small talk into deep,
memorable conversation. I believe that most interactions happen in three levels:

The First Five Minutes: This is your first impression, when you decide if
someone is worth getting to know. It can happen professionally, romantically, or
socially. This level is the front door — can you get invited inside someone’s inner
circle?

The First Five Hours: Once you have made it past the first level, you get to
have a first meeting, first phone call, or first date. This is when you move past
first impressions into rapport building.

The First Five Days: This is the final level. You want people in this level
with whom you would be happy to do a weekend road trip. It’s the ultimate level
of trust and connection. This could be romantic — with a partner—but it could
also be with a long-term business partner or best friend.

Conversation is the key to moving up these three levels. People who struggle
with conversation:

• run out of things to say

• do not know how to open a conversation with someone
• have a lot of awkward silences

Master conversationalists:

◆ know how to engage in memorable conversation…and keep it going

◆ can easily get past small talk into BIG talk
◆ use conversation as a tool for everything from rapport building, to
socializing
 6. Be Highly Likeable

Would people describe you as likable? Is it easy for you to get people on your
teams or influence others to your point of view? Likability is an important facet of
trust. We often hear about being “authentic” or “genuine.” These are all aspects of
likability. In order to like someone we, want them to be congruent with their words
and actions. We like people who we feel are showing us their true selves. Psychologist
Carl Rogers described a concept called Self-Actualization, which speaks to how
closely people show their real self compared to their ideal self.

People who are not likable:

• have trouble getting people listen to their ideas

• feel they have lots of potential, but rarely act as their ideal self
• frequently feel left out, or like the odd-man out

Highly-likable people:

◆ are highly respected and often asked to join in on teams, social

engagements, and groups
◆ feel their ideal self and real self are closely aligned
◆ are asked their opinions by others

Action Step: Making friends as an adult is a skill. It used to be so easy when we were
younger! We had school, camp and sports to bring new people together. As adults, we
have to work at it.

7. Exceptional at Decoding Emotions

Would you consider yourself highly perceptive? People who are good at reading
people are exceptionally strong at knowing how others think and feel. Decoding
people, having a strong sense of intuition, and being very empathetic are the
emotional intelligence aspects of interpersonal intelligence. When we look at
interpersonal intelligence (or people skills), there are three main branches.

• Emotional Intelligence is how intuitive or empathetic you are.

• Social Intelligence is how you translate your emotions when around others,
as well as how responsive you are to their emotions.
• Intrapersonal Intelligence is how well you know yourself, your social needs,
and boundaries.

Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses in different aspects of interpersonal

intelligence. People who struggle with decoding:

■ struggle with empathy

■ have trouble reading and interpreting body language and facial expressions
■ often miss social cues

People with exceptional decoding abilities:

■ can speed-read people and their intentions

■ are very good at interpreting body language and facial expressions
■ are very intuitive

8. Pitch Your Ideas

When people ask, “What do you do?” do you know exactly how to pitch yourself
well? When you have to pitch yourself or your ideas, can you do so confidently?
Pitching is a very important people skills for professionals because it happens all the
time — not just at networking events with your elevator pitch, but also during every
meeting when you are asked your opinion, in emails when you introduce yourself, and
on conference calls. Now, I know it is never easy to brag about yourself, but you
should be able to generate excitement around your ideas. Here’s the big question:
 When you talk about yourself, can you get people excited to
work with you?

People who struggle with pitching themselves and their ideas:

• feel anxious when talking about themselves

• undersell or minimize their successes
• miss opportunities because they feel undeserving, or they are afraid to speak
up(they may even have impostor syndrome.)

People who are great at pitching themselves:

■ can get people to adopt their ideas

■ feel confident pitching themselves without bragging

9. Be Charismatic

What is charisma? Most people think that you have to be born charismatic. I
couldn’t disagree more. We talk about this more in the course, but here are the basics:

People who are not charismatic:

• are seen as cold or intimidating — people have trouble opening up,

trusting and getting to know them
• are seen as flaky or shallow — people do not depend on them easily
• are only warm or only competent — without both, you are not
considered charismatic

People who are highly charismatic:

◆ are seen as highly warm–they are approachable, trustworthy, and likable
◆ are seen as highly competent–they are seen as dependable, capable and
knowledgeable

10. Be an Influential Leader

You do not have to be leading a company or be the president of an organization to

be considered a leader. Leaders in both work life and social life are able to get buy-in,
rally teams and generate camaraderie. I do not believe the opposite of a leader is a
follower. In fact, sometimes it’s great to be a follower — when you are learning
something new or want to be taken on an adventure. It’s almost impossible to be a
leader if you struggle with the 3 A’s.
● Apathy: Do you love your life? Do you wake up to the day excited? Apathy is
when we have a lack of enthusiasm or interest in our lives or the things we do.
 Leaders fight apathy by choosing to be around people or do activities that truly
excite them.

● Ambivalence kills relationships. If you are ambivalent about the people in

your life or the activities in your life, you will never be able to be a leader. I
believe that ambivalence is the root cause of frenemies.

● Aimlessness: Leaders have direction. They have goals, plans, and strategic
paths. This guides their actions — making them more purposeful, AND it
helps others follow.

Leaders fight the 3 A’s:

Leaders harness and build on excitement. They save their energy for people
and tasks that matter to them.

Leaders know who is on their team and who isn’t. They pick people to have
in their lives.

Leaders make plans. Leaders are driven in their thought and action, and
encourage others to follow.

Application:
A. Below is a two-columned matrix for you to write the 10 people skills
you need to develop in order to succeed. On the 1st column, name each people
skill, and beside each, provide situations or practices wherein you can
incorporate the skill in your respective subject matters in the future.

People Skills Situations/ Practices

1. Social Assertiveness When you completely understand what your
student wants to say and explain but you
have to disagree because you’re not in favor
of it or it is not fitted on the question or
scenario.
2. Crafting A Memorable Presence Your teaching methods reflect your
personality and provide interesting learnings
to your students.
3. Master Communication When you are able to express and deliver
your desired learnings to a big population of
students effectively and create impressive
feedback for your students.
4. Sustain Lasting Confidence When you are excited and confident to
discuss your lesson and provide essential
opinions and thoughts about it to your
students.
5. Master Conversations When you are able to use your classroom
discussions in building a strong connection
and relationship between you and your
students and can create interactive and
collaborative learning for them.
6. Be Highly Likeable Respect and accept criticisms and opinions
of your students about your teaching
methods.
7. Exceptional at Decoding Emotions While you’re discussing and you notice that
your students are sleepy and not listening to
you anymore, you made your discussion
interesting and lively.
8. Pitch your Ideas Before presenting the lesson, you are able to
search for more ideas about it and able to
look for more reliable data and evidence to
make it more interesting and effective.
9. Be Charismatic When your students always share and open
their problems and difficulties they’re facing
in the lesson and you can able to help them
solve it.
10. Be an Influential Leader Encourage the students to work on their
weaknesses and think outside the box. The
teacher teaches the students not to be afraid
of taking risks.

B. As a student who belongs to the millennial age group, what other ways do you
believe are helpful in letting you develop social literacy? Cite atleast 5
activities you can suggest your major-subject teachers to consider in their
classrooms. Provide specific procedures in which your teachers can follow.

1. Non- Verbal Communication

 Gestures:  Does the student use gestures to emphasize or convey your message
such as waving; head nodding/shaking to indicate “yes” or “no
 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
 Posture – Does the student’s posture communicate interest or disinterest to the
other person?
2. Emotions
 Identifying emotions of others - Is the student able to perceive and identify
emotions by reading the person’s body language and/or or tone of voice?
 Identifying own emotions – Is the student able to describe personal
feelings? Label feelings? Discuss emotions example: saying “I feel angry”
 Understanding the triggers – Is the student able to identify things that can
trigger emotions in oneself and in others. Example, “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? 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.
3. Conversational Skills
 Topic Management – Is the student able to initiate topics? Maintain,
elaborate, and extend topics appropriately? End the topic appropriately?
Change topics appropriately?
 Content - 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?

4. Social Etiquette
 Social Courtesies - Does the student use social courtesies appropriately like
saying please, thank you, and excuse me?
 Situation specific – Does the student use appropriate language according to
time? Place? Person? Are behaviors appropriate to a specific situation?

5. Friendship Skills
 Does the student know how to approach peers? How to make friends? Keep
friends? Be a good friend? Change friends?