SCHOOL PROMOTION OF SOFT SKILLS AND TEACHERS' CLASSROOM PRACTICES: EVIDENCE FROM GENERAL AND SPECIAL EDUCATION

Resumé

Soft skills are widely recognised as essential competencies for effective teaching and learning in contemporary education. While schools are expected to promote these competencies systematically, teachers play a central role in integrating them into everyday classroom practice. Nevertheless, research examining both school promotion of soft skills and teachers' classroom practices remains limited. This study aimed to explore general and special education teachers' views on school promotion of soft skills and to examine the frequency with which they incorporate the seven core soft skills into their classroom practice. The present article reports findings from the quantitative phase of a broader sequential explanatory mixed-methods study. The analyses focused on researcher-developed questionnaire items addressing school promotion of soft skills and teachers' classroom practices. The findings indicate that teachers did not perceive soft skills as being systematically promoted within contemporary schools. In contrast, they reported frequent use of all seven examined soft skills in their classroom practice, with empathy, collaboration, creativity, and effective communication emerging as the most frequently implemented competencies. Overall, the findings indicate a divergence between teachers' views on school promotion of soft skills and their reported classroom practices. The study underscores the importance of strengthening the systematic promotion of soft skills within school settings and highlights the need for educational policies and professional development initiatives that support their effective integration into teaching and learning.