Are basic reading, writing and math the same as workplace Essential Skills?   From my most recent blog, you know that my starting premise is that Essential Skills are not Basic Skills.

 I can’t believe there’s still a debate about whether or not basic literacy skills are the same as Essential Skills.  The focus is just so different.

 There’s nothing wrong with the skills learned in an institutional classroom –they just don’t necessarily translate to Essential Skills.

 Essential Skills is a workplace model developed to meet specific needs.  For almost two decades, employers have been increasingly frustrated - and increasingly vocal - that a Grade 12 Education does not equate to performance in the workplace.  Workplace Essential Skills aren’t about “foundation” skills.  They are about understanding what skills are required to be performed at a defined level of complexity for a specific job function.

 It is fundamentally different from the basic R’s. Taking this thinking forward a notch: as the complexity levels of Essential Skills increase, the divergence between the basic education approach and the Essential Skills model becomes increasingly clear.

 Many traditional educators beg to differ. “We teach reading in school” they argue.  And they do teach reading skills....  but do they teach reading to apply reading for the specific purpose of learning, inferring and transferring that information to specific job tasks using specific workplace materials. I might note that workplace materials are quite dissimilar in format, writing style, and page numbering (to name a few aspects) from typical prose text.

 For fun, let’s take the example of a welder.   The Essential Skills Occupational Profile for welder clearly identifies Document Use as one of the two most important Essential Skills.  The complexity of the skills required go from Level 1: using checklists to learn and follow proper work procedures and safety guidelines, to Level 3: reviewing  notes on blueprints and/or welding procedures specifications to review messages from the engineering department about materials and procedures.  

 That’s not the basic decoding taught to Junior High students – and it’s different than reading to understand information. It’s about getting the correct information and applying the correct information to the task at hand.

 It’s about transfer – the transfer of basic reading skills to a functional context requiring the use of continuous learning skills in a novel situation.  If the generic education institutions were generating transfer experts, the debate might be different and we might not need Essential Skills.

 Be very clear that Grade 12 certification is good. University education is good. But they don’t necessarily result in knowledge and skills directly translating to workplace performance.

 Basic skills are basic – Essential Skills are based on the job functions.  It’s when you ask “Reading... for what purpose?” Or “Calculation... for what purpose?” Now you’ve entered Essential Skills definitions and Essential Skills training.

 I argue that the difference is important... that it’s not helpful to equate Essential Skills with basic skills.... and it’s not helpful because employers tell us that those “foundation” skills courses are still churning out people with limited use in the workplace.   

 Employers are still saying they can’t find people to hire, to train on new processes and new responsibilities and jobs to move up in their organization. And to some degree they’re saying this presents itself irrespective of education level.  

 Bridging that gap is what Essential Skills are all about.