Student Health and Wellbeing Curriculum Framework >

Personal and Interpersonal Skills

Personal and interpersonal skills development is a critical component in addressing student health and wellbeing issues.

Research illustrates that students (or people for that matter) who have effective personal and interpersonal skills are better able to apply these skills in everyday life to make informed decisions about their health behaviours. As such, a skills-based approach to student health and wellbeing education programs aims to provide health information in the context of developing attitudes, values and skills in students.

Personal and interpersonal skills to be developed as part of the Student Health and Wellbeing Curriculum include:

working cooperatively and collaboratively with others
building and maintaining self-esteem
setting realistic goals
coping with anxiety
resisting pressures
communicating effectively
making decisions
managing conflict
dealing assertively with social situations in which health behaviours usually take place.

Interpersonal skills are best taught in small groups, whereby the teacher is a facilitator and activities are student oriented, which provide increased opportunities for interaction and exchange of ideas between students. Small group processes also provide a structured environment whereby students can practise and improve their interpersonal skills.

Further Information related to Personal and Interpersonal Skills Development

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