JOB RELATED SOCIAL SKILLS

Job Related Social Skills is a comprehensive curriculum manual that provides you with step-by-step instructional procedures and activities for training social skills needed for all jobs. Each of the 20 units contains a sample instructional script, classroom activities, role play scenarios, overheads, student assessments, and student handouts. Monitoring forms and master class charts are also included in the 350-page manual. The program covers 18 social skills that are essential for finding, getting, and keeping a job. These skills were identified through a literature review and conferences with employment experts.

COMPONENTS

Instructional Guide
This provides background materials and detailed directions for organizing and leading groups during the instructional sessions. It also gives suggestions and recommendations for skill maintenance and generalization of skills into the workplace.

Self-Management Strategies
These increase students' responsibility for performing on-the-job behaviors. Students are systematically taught the strategies of self-instruction, self-questioning, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement.

Job-Related Social Skills Evaluation
This includes a section on assessment, surveys, and video evaluation. The assessment portion is designed to determine entry/exit levels of social skill performance for the 18 target skills. Teachers can then pinpoint and keep track of social behaviors that need to be taught or have been mastered. The surveys are rating scales used by parents, teachers, and students to both analyze student attitudes toward work and identify problem situations.

Job-Monitoring Procedures
These help the students transfer what is learned in the classroom to the work setting. Self-monitoring and corrective feedback are a major part of this component.

Scripted Lessons
These are the heart of the program. The first 18 lessons are designed for direct teaching of the target skills and modeling of the appropriate social responses needed on the job. The final two lessons are concerned with techniques to monitor job performance to ensure skills transfer to the job settings.

Each lesson contains the following formats

Master Class Chart
Lists anticipated student responses to be developed during the lessons, and then the responses are used in guided practice. These charts are employed by the teacher to elicit the most desired or appropriate social responses.

Simulation Activities
Includes both scripted and impromptu role-plays to engage students in active practice. They are designed to enhance skill acquisition by presenting situations that reflect typical job interactions. These practice sets allow students to try out problem-solving skills in a controlled environment in which they are given immediate feedback.

Student Cue Cards
Presents an acronym to identify the skill steps. Each acronym helps to facilitate memorization of a particular skill. For example, the acronym for Skill 1, Ordering Job Responsibilities, is ENIRT, which represents the five skill steps listed here: Eye contact, Nod or okay, I understand or ask a question, Restate, Thank you.