Generic green skills in teaching and learning: meaning and implementation

Abstract

The burgeoning of green economies has sparked the development of green skills, primarily to fulfil the demanding requirement of green-collar employees. Human resources equipped with specific generic green skills will become a catalyst to penetrate the green job market. On the principle that skills can be shaped through education and training, a qualitative study was conducted using in-depth interviews with senior academics from the School of Education, of a local university in southern Peninsular Malaysia. The interview data were transcribed and analysed using NVivo. The findings showed that generic green skills are additional skills which complement existing generic skills and focus on conserving and maintaining the quality of the environment. Pertaining to that, embedding generic green skills in teaching and learning activities can be carried out through the ingenuous use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) which involves digital skill, internet technology and electricity saving consumption. Furthermore, additional studies of generic green skills are required to contribute to sustainable development.