observer Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Latest Gov brainwave: could help kids decide whether they really want to be a footballer or a pop singer - good or bad idea? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lt Kije Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Bad, At the age of 7 I was going to be the worlds greatest footballer or drive a steam engine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Kennedy Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 At that age it might be better to focus on Maths & English. In a changing world, careers that exist today might not some years down the line, and indeed years hence there will be new career opportunities unthought of today. Yet another headline grabbing gimmick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LymmParent Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Well, if it helps focus on strengths and weaknesses so kids get better support at school, why not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 So if a class of thirty pupils all decide on different careers, is someone really going to set out individual programs for each pupil to focus on. I doubt this idea will result in much other than a bit of short-term media coverage. When I was in my final years in junior school, I seem to remember thinking I?d like to be an astronaut but when it came time to leave school at 16, I hadn?t any real idea of what I would like to do and ended up in an engineering job. I?ve given up on being an astronaut, I now want to command a starship! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 My son knew exactly what job he wanted to do from a very young age, about 5 years old if I remember rightly. He suddenly changed his mind at around the age of 14. Whether it had anything to do with growing up and the realisation of having to spend another 5+ years of REALLY HARD studying after the age of 16 or his fear of needles...... we will never know However any help, encouragement and advice along the way to help kids towards a suitable career path that is right for them is a good one in my opinion. After all once you go down your chosen path you tend to be stuck with it for a long time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 A friend of mine, a marine engineer from Grimsby, told me that the whole direction of his education had been towards trawling (for those that don't know Grimsby used to be one of Britain's foremost ports in the fishing industry) and that's how he ended up in the job. So the idea isn't new, but in this instance I suspect it's just another announcement about nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted October 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 That was in the days of proper jobs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LymmParent Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 So if a class of thirty pupils all decide on different careers, is someone really going to set out individual programs for each pupil to focus on. Bill Under the current guidelines, every child should have an IEP - Individual Education Plan, and although lessons are not personally tailored and different for every child, the idea is that children who excel or struggle in any lesson get the extra support they need without disrupting the mainstream. All I meant was if talking to kids about careers helps them and staff to recognise that they are better at maths than clay modelling or vice versa, then it does no harm and might help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Sid Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 must admit that the only time any consideration was given to career choice when i was younger was when the odd "stranger" would ask and what do you want to be when you grow up. a question that i still get asked to this day in a way though i think i was destined to be some sort of mechanic or engineer. most of my toys ended up being taken to pieces just to see what made them do what they did. some of them even got put back together in working order, despite the odd missing spring. in fact anything that could be taken apart with the odd screwdriver (kitchen knife as i recall) would soon be lying in neat rows on the floor much to the consternation of my dad who usually had to put it back together again. in fact it was during one of these dissections that i learnt a very important lesson. even with the electricity off and the plug removed you ca get a fair old belt from a cathode ray tube Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted October 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 But isn't that what they call streaming LP? No bad thing IMO, but they used to do that way back with Grammar and Technical schools - so it seems the wheel has turned full circle again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LymmParent Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 But isn't that what they call streaming LP? No bad thing IMO, but they used to do that way back with Grammar and Technical schools - so it seems the wheel has turned full circle again. No, they don't separate the class, just note that Jemima will need a bit of help with maths to keep up, and Jeremy will be finished first and need something extra to do. It's the opposite of streaming, which was basically dividing kids and labelling them bright, average and thick - with all the attendant issues that brought for all three groups! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted October 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 Errm, nope - in my book, streaming is identifying the natural aptitude of a child be it accademic or technical - it would seem beneficial to society if this were channeled through education and training to appropriate areas of employment. If that's what they are NOT doing now, it possibly explains current wastage rates in education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LymmParent Posted October 28, 2009 Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Errm, nope - in my book, streaming is identifying the natural aptitude of a child be it accademic or technical - it would seem beneficial to society if this were channeled through education and training to appropriate areas of employment. If that's what they are NOT doing now, it possibly explains current wastage rates in education. Don't know what your book is - have you coloured all the pages in yet? - but in the grammar school system, streaming meant identifying aptitude and then grouping together those of like aptitude to facilitate teaching them. Very sensible from the teaching end, but not so great in any other respect - like building confidence, avoiding bullying, giving people a proper sense of their level of ability in the big picture... you know, little lifeskill things like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted October 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2009 Erm, and there's me thinking it would be in the interest of the State (that's all of us), to produce more Engineers, Doctors and Scientists etc - in order to compete in the global economy: but as you've said yourself LP, you've brought me back to the trivial reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 which was basically dividing kids and labelling them bright, average and thick - with all the attendant issues that brought for all three groups! Why hide the truth and give false impressions? Everyone is of a different ability, and has different prospects career wise. We are now in the position of dumbing down, and we reap what we sow. We are already slipping down the table as a nation, why speed it up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted October 31, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Everyone has an aptitude for certain areas of work, if the education system were vocationally orientated, we might channel kids into being the best they can be, in whatever they eventually do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted November 1, 2009 Report Share Posted November 1, 2009 Everyone has an aptitude for certain areas of work, if the education system were vocationally orientated, we might channel kids into being the best they can be, in whatever they eventually do. Very true. Aptitude. Not heard that for a long time. Doubt the decision makers have ever heard of it!!! Hence our predicament. Another apt saying: Jack of all trades, master of none. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted November 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2009 Problem is, we're finishing up with Jack's of no trades - in their obsession to get kids into Uni at all costs, by dumbing down exams and inventing mickey mouse courses; they forget to mention the other 50% leaving school with no qualifications, some barely able to read and write - a triumph of dogma over pragmatism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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