Social skills are the skills we use in every environment that includes two or more people. They include such things as manners and reading and reacting appropriately in 'social environments'. Being able to read social cues is probably the most important skill we need as almost every environment we are in is a social environment. Many children with social disability in that they are unable to read the 'social cues' of the many environments of which they are part family, school, recreational activities, etc. If they are lacking in these skills, they are often labeled as being social misfits, loners or having behavior problems. This disability can cause far more challenges for them than the academic difficulties they may have because academic problems can be dealt with by remediation, calculators, computers, taped materials, etc. Also, this lack of social awareness creates problems that quickly destroy their self-worth as they are seen as being different or 'weird' by their peers, and therefore, have few or no friends or the wrong kind of friend.
Reason why an effective social problem solving requires reading one’s own and others’ feelings, and being able to accurately label and express those feelings. Such skills are aspects of social and emotional learning. Well-developed social skills can help youth with disabilities develop strong and positive peer relationships, succeed in school, and begin to successfully explore adult roles such as employee, coworker/colleague, and community member. Social skills also support the positive development of healthy adult relationships with family members, project supervisors and peers. Adolescents, who have strong social skills, particularly in the areas of conflict resolution, emotional intimacy, and the use of pro-social behaviors, are more likely to be accepted by peers, develop friendships, maintain stronger relationships with parents and peers, be viewed as effective problem solvers, cultivate greater interest in school, and perform better academically. Adequate social skills need to be acquired while students are still enrolled in school and further supported and refined in post-secondary, community, and work settings.
Social skills can manifest themselves in abilities of different levels starting with elementary communication (for example, eyesight contact), social perception abilities (such as understanding and interpreting social signals), specific behaviors, ways of interactions (for example, active listening, mutual communication, ignorance, etc.), which are applied by the individual when performing a social task; and finishing with communication skills i.e. effectively interact with others, adequately react, avoiding interpersonal conflicts, adapt to both simple, and complex situations
SOCIAL SKILLS
Social skills are socially acceptable patterns of behaviors that allow students to gain social reinforcement and acceptance and avoid aversive social situations. A socially skilled person is capable of managing his or her social environment by understanding and responding to social situations effectively. It is believe that the purpose of training in social skills should not be restricted to teaching a specific social skill in one context but should be to promote overall social functioning that includes a wide repertoire of social skills that produce socially acceptable responses in various social situations.
Social skills are specific, identifiable, discrete, learned behaviors that result in positive social consequences in social situations. A person, who has acquired social skills and learnt to solve problems, can undergo changes more easily, and adapt to the circumstances; due to insufficient social skills an individual becomes dependent on the surrounding people. Undoubtedly, social skills determine the quality of person’s social functionality and the quality of social situations’ management, as well as make a great influence on the quality of personal and social life. Education and possession of these skills enable individuals to effectively communicate, meet the needs, relate with others and be able to interact with people in various situations.
WHY STUDENTS FALL OUT WITH THEIR SUPERVISOR
There are many reasons why students fall out with their supervisors and some of these reasons are:
DELAY IN SUBMITTING YOUR RESEARCH PROJECT FOR VETTING
One of the reasons why students fall out with their supervisors is delay in submitting their undergraduate project topics and research materials for vetting. Some supervisors get angry with their supervisees when they don’t, meet up with the deadline for submission of their research work. Why most supervisors ask to see the project work of their students even before defense or before further research is to ascertain that they are on the right track like how far they’ve gone in the research work, are they following the approved university or departmental format of project writing, is the methodology used in consonant with the research hypothesis, if the aim of the study concise with the literature reviews and so on and so forth. So when these supervisors are ready and have made out time to go through your research work at an agreed date and time and you don’t show up or come up with a flimsy excuse, it get them angry and they begin to see you as an un serious students and might conclude you don’t know what you are waiting and as such may leave you to your fate which may end in regret and frustration.
POOR IMPLEMENTATION OF INSTRUCTIONS
Another reason why students fall out with their supervisor is as a result of poor implementation of instructions. Nobody likes to give an instruction and not see it been carried out. One of the roles of your supervisor is to guide you and tell you what to do to make your research work easy and an excellent one. But it pains your supervisor when he/she gives you an instruction and you don’t implement it/them. It is a show of disrespect and lack of seriousness on your part. Also when your supervisor gives you instruction and you don’t do it the way he/she asked you to do, its poor implementation and could deter and severe your relationship with your supervisor.
SOCIAL SKILLS AND STUDENTS RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR SUPERVISOR
Social skills can be defined as the set of skills people use to interact and communicate with one another. They are based on the social norms of our society and they tell us what attitudes and behaviors are considered to be normal, acceptable and expected in a particular social situation. However, when these skills are lacking in you as a students, you may have social problem with your project supervisor and that will not be so good for your undergraduate project. Social skills is very important and must be acquired by all regardless of status or position this is because e a person who has acquired social skills and learnt to solve problems, can undergo changes more easily, and adapt to the circumstances. As a student, social skills will help you in communicating better with your project supervisor and also know how to behave around him/her to avoid having problems with your supervisor.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, social skills are very important to all and sundry. It is a skill that helps us interact and communicate better with one and another as well as regulates our behaviors and attitudes towards others. With the acquisition of these skills comes a better co-existence with our social and immediate environment. Students need to have these skills because they will need it more during their project writing in terms of their relationship with their supervisors.