Life and Career Skills in the 21st Century of Junior High School Students Grade 9 in Samut Prakan Province

Abstract

     The purposes of this research were to study: (1) life and career skills in the 21st century of junior high school students Grade 9 in Samut Prakan Province, and (2) the guideline to develop life and career skills inthe 21st centuryof juniorhighschool students Grade 9 in Samut Prakan Province. A questionnaire was administered to 248 teachers and 368 students of junior high school students Grade 9 who were chosen by using the Krehcie & Morgan table and stratified random sampling. The interviewees included 6 vice directors of academic high school and teachers of junior high school students Grade 9. The statistics used in the research were percentage, mean, and standard deviation while content analyzing was employed for the interviews. The results indicated that (1) life and career skills in the 21st century of junior high school students Grade 9 assessed by both the teachers and junior high school students Grade 9 were corresponded. It was in a very good level in the overall. When considering each aspect assessed by the teachers, it was found that the social and cross-cultural skill learning had the highest level, followed by the productivity and accountability whereas the initiative and self-direction were the lowest. In terms of each aspect assessed by the students, it was found that social and cross-cultural skills learning had the highest level followed by productivity and accountability and the lowest one was initiative and self-direction; (2) the guideline to develop life and career skills in the 21st century of junior high school students Grade 9 in Samut Prakan Province included  promoting students withtheir interest inknowingthemselves, developinginitiativeand self-guidance continuously, promoting students in social skills, promoting students to know how to increase quality production to society, developing students in every aspect involving knowledge, skill, and emotion so that students would have a good attitude to oneself; know how tosolve problems, promoteresponsibility ethics, and acceptothers’opinions as the basic of leaders.