New platform content: ‘Social Action’ Island learning module

Persona Life Skills e-learning now includes a new Island learning module, 'Social Action', in which students learn social-emotional life skills to help them start to become an active citizen, by doing social good.

5-Jun-21

By Dr Leila Khouja Walker, Chief Product Officer

In the Persona Life Skills social-emotional e-learning platform, 'Social Action' is a new Island learning module, where students learn how to start becoming an active citizen by doing social good. Going beyond thinking outside the box to come up with ideas around social action, importantly they also receive guidance and frameworks to help them execute on those ideas. 

Students are taken on a journey through different types of social action work and are prompted to think about creating their own social action plan, and how to do that. Students are encouraged to work with a group to put their plan into action for the benefit of others.

Questions and activities in this Island help students develop three social-emotional life skills, through a personality insights lens:

• Creative thinking – Being able to see things in different ways to find solutions to problems
• Goal-setting – Setting myself achievable goals
• Effective teamwork – Playing an effective role within a group, in order to achieve a common goal

In the 'Get Your Bearings' warm-up, students are asked to reflect upon the types of social action work they are most passionate about and why that might be. They explore different activities that can be used to deliver six types of social action they find out about on the Island: 1. Educate; 2. Serve; 3. Advocate; 4. Unite; 5. Engage; 6. Speak Out.

In the 'Explore' knowledge acquisition section, students use their knowledge of personality styles to better understand some of the life skills required to carry out social action successfully. The use of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound) goals is encouraged as students create their social action plan. They examine the role they, and others in their group, take on in the work, and how successful teamwork relates to everyone's unique mix of personality styles.

As students reach the 'Viewpoint' plenary at the end of the Island, they are asked to reflect on how SMART their goals are and where they could in fact be made SMARTer. They also look at the role each team player prefers to take, and consider how they themselves can be sure to play an effective role.

Social Action is part of the Discovery Islands curriculum – the Persona Life Skills life challenge learning modules, available with a subscription. 

Persona Education offers free access to its Persona Life Skills e-learning platform for secondary schools and colleges interested in developing their students’ social-emotional life skills, to boost wellbeing and employability. To request a live demo of the platform please get in touch – we would love to talk to you!

About the author: Dr Leila Khouja Walker has been working in the education sector for 25 years. An ex-teacher and pastoral deputy head, she is now a respected edtech and pedagogy thought leader, leading development of the personality insights life skills e-learning app Persona Life Skills, at the Bristol based edtech company Persona Education Ltd. www.persona-life.com