Basic life skills in sixth grade elementary students: a phenomenological study

Abstract

Background: The sixth grade is the gateway to adolescence. Entering adolescence, a person needs to have basic life skills in three areas: cognitive, emotional and behavioral. The study on the status of teaching these abilities in students has been neglected. Aims: The aim of this study was to discover the lived experiences of sixth grade elementary students and their teachers about the status of teaching basic life skills. Method: This research has been done with a qualitative approach and phenomenological method. The required data were collected using semi-structured in-depth interviews. The statistical population of the study included all sixth grade elementary school teachers and students in Kerman province in the academic year 2019-2020 and the statistical sample consisted of 100 sixth grade elementary school students and teachers who were purposefully selected. The obtained data were analyzed by Colaizzi method. Results: Analysis of participants' experiences leads to the identification of 3 main themes of intellectual abilities with sub-themes of self-knowledge, creative thinking and critical thinking and emotional abilities with sub-themes of effective communication, empathy and management of emotions and behavioral abilities with sub-themes the Problem Solving, purposefully and decision making Conclusions: The results of the research based on lived experiences showed that the situation of teaching basic life skills to sixth grade elementary students is not favorable and needs to be reviewed and improved.

Keywords

• student
• sixth grade
• basic life skills
• lived experiences.