Critical Skills Archives

Critical Skills Tips for Cable Show Hosts

Here are some tips for cable show hosts. Think about a conclusion that your rabid followers will want to hear. Make sure that this conclusion reinforces their preconceived notions. Start your discussion by listing some “facts” that will lead your followers to your conclusion. It doesn’t make any difference if the “facts” you use are […]

by Charles C. Jett

Use Critical Skills in Politics! They WORK!!

How to be an effective political communicator in politics: • Twist (or ignore) the truth of any hypothesis or premise. • Use a pre-conceived conclusion as a premise to draw whatever other conclusion you want. (BTW – this is a completely invalid way to use logic – but it works.) • Discredit those with whom […]

by Charles C. Jett

Fear WORKS! – When You’re Trying to Persuade

Promoting “Fear” is the application of a critical skill – Communications – and it is an excellent way to influence both thought and behavior. So some politicians use it . . . . . Like LBJ and his ad with the mushroom cloud; like “W” and his weapons of mass destruction; and like Donald who […]

by Charles C. Jett

All About Skills – Field Studies

In this episode, Charlie Jett discusses Field Studies in depth. Field Studies were highlighted by the Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS) report, “Teaching the SCANS Competencies” as an effective means of teaching the Critical skills. Field Studies are conducted by a team of students and focus on issues identified by local area businesses […]

by Charles C. Jett

Authentic Assessment – It’s Hard to Do – but It’s the Way Assessment of Skills Should Be Done!

Authentic Assessment is hard to do – but it’s the way assessment of skills SHOULD be done! Authentic assessment refers to assessment tasks that resemble reading and writing in the real world and in school (Hiebert, Valencia & Afflerbach, 1994; Wiggins, 1993). Its aim is to assess many different kinds of literacy abilities in contexts […]