ISBN
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978-602-97249-0-5
International Seminar on Vocational Education and Training
70
Table 2 Analysis of soft skills gap between the needs of the workforce in industry and the vocational learning outcomes
Work System in Garment Industry Gap
Learning Process at Vocational High School
Production process is continuous line flow so that each operation is dependent
to each other Cooperation
Communication Leadership
Practical learning is individual with one-way communication
from the teachers to the students Using fundamental principle of lean
manufacturing concept that is Kaizen succinct, neat, clean,
treated, diligent and secure Discipline
Responsibility Careful
Honest Mental endurance
The K3 concept is theoretical and not applied yet consistently
in the practical learning Industrial and trade competition will
always refers to six determinant factors: price, quality, desain taste,
delivery time, marketing and services.
Competitiveness Tough
Adaptive Enthusiastic
Mental endurance Work result measurement is
based on value factors 0 - 100
Measurement of work quality on two basis: good accepted and poor
rejected. The acceptance of product quality
influences selling price, if failed will be lost.
Fighting spirit Competitiveess
Mental endurance Work result quality for academic
achievement
Production process uses specification sheet
Reponsive Careful Thorough
Fighting spirit Practical learning not using work
sheet. Teacher explains assignments
orally, and students work them out by guessing
Source: data of research findings
Remark: +
: impact of production system on the need level of work characters
-
: impact of practical learning output on the graduate work characters
C. Integration of Soft Skills in the Practical Learning
Soft skills are personal attributes that enhance an individuals interactions, job performance and career prospects. Unlike hard skills, which tend to be specific to a
certain type of task or activity, soft skills are broadly applicable Parsons, 2009. Soft Skills are defined as “personal and interpersonal behaviors that develop and maximize
human performance e.g. coaching, team building, decision making, and initiative. Soft skills do not include technical skills, such as financial, computer or assembly skills”
Berthal, 2003. Burns, Baker, and Klinger tth interprets that Soft Skills- refer to the cluster of personality traits, social graces, and facility with language, personal habits,
friendliness, and optimism that mark people to varying degrees. Other sources describe that Soft skills complement hard skills, which are the technical requirements of a job
http:en.wikipedia.orgwiki . Then, soft skills are part of personal skills more related
to someone’s gentleness or sensitivity toward hisher surrounding environment. Since +
+ +
+ -
+
+ +
+ +
+ +
- +
- +
- +
- +
ISBN
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978-602-97249-0-5
International Seminar on Vocational Education and Training
71
soft skills are more directives to the psychological proficiency, its effects are then more invisible but remain perceptible. Soft skills are one’s ability to have relation with others
including with his self. Attributes of soft skills encompass the attached value, motivation, behavior, habit, character and attitude.
Everyone has their own attributes of soft skills in varied levels, largely influenced by their ways of thinking, words expression, behaving and attitude. But these
attributes may change through continuously adapting oneself to the new things. This process will bring about a permanent habit after consecutively practicing it for at least
90 days Aribowo, 2005. Soft skills play important role in every aspects of life, both in someone’s individual life, in society and in work place. In personal life, they may
enable someone to improve hisher self. They teach someone to do positive things for himher own self and prevent the negative things from being harmful to an individual.
Providing the learners with the soft skills does not necessarily mean developing new subjects, but adding values and meaning to the subjects. The very nature of
education is man humanizing. A human being will interact with others in hisher environment in a harmonious manner. Therefore, learning process must lead to learning
to know knowing more, learning to do doing best, learning to be being better, and learning
to live
together living
in harmony
http:www .unesco.orgenesdstrategy
. From various kinds of learning models, some are very useful in improving the soft skills of the learners. Such models, among others, are
Cooperative Learning, Experiential Learning, and Contextual Teaching and Learning.
Cooperative learning directs the learning process to the improvement of such competencies as cooperative collaboration, teamwork, sharing, managing, organizing,
problem solving, and decision-making. Experiential Learning is an educational model that utilizes experiences as media and source of learning. In this model the learners are
directed to experience and to actively search for comprehensive understanding of the experience and then to discover the meaning and value of the experience. The
experience may come from the real situation and event or from a simulation of the real condition. From this, the learners acquire knowledge, understanding, skills and
motivation to take action.
Contextual learning is an educational process with the purpose to assist the learners to understand the meaning existing in the subject matters they learn by relating
ISBN
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978-602-97249-0-5
International Seminar on Vocational Education and Training
72
them to the personal, social, and cultural contexts of their daily life in a real and authentic way. The components in the CTL include, firstly, constructivism that directs
the learners to autonomously structure and develop the meaning of new based on certain knowledge, and then relating the meaning to the real context of life. Secondly,
questioning that is conditioning the learners to think in a critical way and open the dialog between students, teachers and students, students and resourceful person and
environment. Third, inquiring, this is a cycle process in developing knowledgeconcept initiated in conducting observation, asking questions, investigation, data collection and
analysis, concluding, and then developing theory or concept. The fourth component is learning community, functioning as communicative tools to share experiences and ideas
and then testing and processing them. Fifth, modeling, this is finding out and developing a model applicable in the societal context. Sixth, reflection, which is reviewing or
tracking an event, activity and experience to identify the weaknesses and limitations and then getting them improved and perfect. Seventh, authentic assessment, which real
evaluation of all aspects knowledge, skills, behavior and personality by taking the learning process and result into account.
Therefore, it is needed to revise the learning model of the Vocational High School to provide the learners with the soft skills useful for the work requirements.
Traditional:
TEACHERS ACTIONS EFFECTS ON LEARNERS
1. Presentation of a pattern Look, listen, memorize
2. Elicitation of a pattern Repeat with whole class
3. Controlled practice slight pattern variations Repeat and vary in pairs
4. Free practice more expanded variations Repeat with more variation in groups
5. Written reinforcement Repeat in writing
Revised:
LEARNERS ACTIONS EFFECTS ON TEACHER
1. Look, discuss and guess the point Display pattern, stimulate discussion
2. Receive confirmation or correction Give solution on board or to groups
3. Repeat, vary, discuss Guide practice, encourage discussion
4. Invent questionsexercises for other groups Monitor group work
5. Exchange questions; discuss and write answers Encourage exchange, monitor writing 6. Discuss as a class with teacher
Guide discussion, summarize findings
Figure 3: Teacher-centered vs. student-centered lesson plan
Source : Goeran Nieragden, Cologne: 2000
ISBN
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978-602-97249-0-5
International Seminar on Vocational Education and Training
73
D. Discussion
