Teaching self-management in employment settings

Abstract

This paper describes a six-step model for teaching self-management skills in employment settings. The model combines self-instruction with teaching multiple examples of task responses. The six steps of the model are: (a) selecting examples of desired responses; (b) classifying examples by similarity; (c) dividing responses into teaching examples and generalization probes; (d) training teaching examples using self-instruction; (e) evaluating the effects of teaching; and (e) withdrawing teaching and evaluating the effects of teaching withdrawal. Using the model, we have taught supported employees and high school students to increase their independent performance across a variety of job tasks and work-related problem situations. We present a step-by-step application of the self-management model with examples derived from our research and illustrate its use with a case study to guide job coaches. Finally, we provide suggestions for research and practice.