Year 9 - In Focus Careers

Posted on June 18, 2022June 18, 2022 by Bev Johnson — 1 Comment

Career Educators’ vital role in delivering stability to a bubble of disrupted middle school students

In January 2020 I was on holiday with my family at a BnB in Dunsborough. We were sitting on the deck overlooking the bush when we first heard about a virus in China that would go on to cause chaos in our lives.

My oldest grandkids were only 9 at the time and they were off in the bush building cubby houses. Their lives were about to be thrown into turmoil.

Middle School

There is now a bubble of middle school students who may not remember life before COVID. They will not know how middle school students used to engage with life beyond childhood.

We are still creating that “new normal”.

At the Career Teacher Master Class at Murdoch this year, Dr. Chad Morrison explained that:

we don’t yet know the impact of COVID on students
we do know that kids are going to school less and engaging differently
Low SES students were less ready to learn online (Sonnemann & Goss, 2020, p7)
There would be a greater impact of social shocks on households, particularly low SES households with insecure incomes.

My 11-year-old grandkids have now started high school in the most disrupted academic year ever experienced in WA. Teachers have been off work with COVID. Relief teachers have tried to cover the gaps. My grandkids have been off school, then got into trouble from relief teachers for not having completed work.

I suspect that any middle school students who had minor social and mental health issues two years ago, will not have had opportunities to engage in activities that would have helped them to work through their issues at their own pace.

Life is tougher for middle school students in 2022.

Solutions for Exhausted Teachers

Teachers are burnt out. They don’t have the energy to build a village that will support middle school students.

Promoting existing services is an easy step that can be taken.

School Chaplains

If you have a wonderful school chaplain, help them to engage with your students.

Community Services

I got in touch with the Department of Communities. They said that:

District Offices refer troubled students to the Department’s mentoring program.
EdConnect has around 2000 volunteers who work across schools. EdConnect was mentioned by a few people when I put out a request for information on Facebook and LinkedIn.

It takes a village to raise a child

As I am becoming more aware of the bubble of COVID affected middle school students I have written:

In this final post I have a Mentor and Support Services map. I will continue to build that as people let me know of additional services which students can tap into to create their own village.

These opportunities will help students to create their own village as they move into adulthood. Getting started is the toughest step.

I will continue to look for ideas that will help them to make the transition.

Please join the In Focus Careers community to engage with others who are working to support career development in schools in WA.

Subscribe to In Focus Careers monthly magazine for West Australian schools.

Posted on June 11, 2022 by Bev Johnson — Leave a comment

Any journey from childhood to adulthood is a long one. Would a mentor help?

If you tell a 14 year old to start working with a mentor, expect a negative reaction.

As they emerge from the chrysalis of childhood, 14 year old’s want to be responsible for what they do themselves. They want to work towards the future with their peers.

They do not want to engage with an authority figure of YOUR choice. Friendships are never more important than in the vital mid teenage years.

If you think kids would benefit from having a mentor, you need to:

match the kid to the right mentor program, then
help those kids to be clear and enthusiastic about wanting a mentor.

Sport Coaches

The idea of having a coach, rather than a mentor, might be more familiar to kids.

The coach and the team are all working towards a single purpose.

Students who play sport could tell you that their coach:

has superior knowledge in their field
suggests ways that they can improve
will offer words of encouragement
sets clear boundaries
can be trusted
helps them to set clear goals

What motivates the coach?

Kids know WHY the coach is there, it could be their love of the game, maybe their kids play in the team, maybe they played for the team at one stage.

Kids don’t know WHY a mentor is there.

They will be asking:

why would a total stranger would want to get to know me?
what is the payoff for this stranger?
what is the purpose of the relationship?
is it safe?

When they are clear about all these things, then they need to learn that the mentor:

will be working with them towards an agreed purpose
has superior knowledge in their field
suggests ways that they can improve
will offer words of encouragement
sets clear boundaries
can be trusted
helps them to set clear goals

How are mentors different?

If you want a one on one approach to help you to identify and achieve goals, a designated mentor could be your answer. A mentor will provide guidance and support, just to you.

Establishing trusted one on one relationships is more difficult with a mentor than with a coach as part of a team. You will need to work harder to establish a relationship with a mentor.

There are lots of mentor services in Perth. Many have a specific focus.

Here are some of them.

I will build on this map as people let me know about more mentoring services in WA.

You can choose different mentors for different purposes.

Finally

No-one seems to be focusing on the significant long term impacts of COVID that middle school students experienced just as they were leaving the comfort of childhood.

I hope that by providing an environment, rich in ideas and opportunities, middle school students will be able to progress through a scaffolded approach to adulthood. It will take conscious and deliberate effort to engage…. if they are to arrive as confused, disoriented and bewildered as the rest of us.

Addendum

In the Boredom Breakers blog which I wrote last week, I provide a range of opportunities that young people could choose to explore as they move along the long path from childhood to adulthood . All of those suggestions have a leader who will be a bit like a sport coach.

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Posted on June 7, 2022June 7, 2022 by Bev Johnson — 3 Comments

Year 9 Boredom Breakers

Year 9 is always a tough year

Just as Year 9s were starting to grow out of the things they loved doing as little kids, COVID hit. There is a fair chance Year 9s are bored but not aware of opportunities that are on the table.

We don’t know the impact of COVID Year 9s

Some may be bunkering down and need more encouragement to approach new ideas.
Some may be looking to take control and make choices about ideas to explore.

If they don’t know it, they can’t do it

Here is a range of opportunities that may spark an interest and which Year 9s can investigate.

Go to the Mind Map to find links to information about all of these ideas.

Ask Career Advisors and Student Services at School

If you want to know more about any of these opportunities, school based career advisors, student services officers and year coordinators will be able to help.

Some highlights that you may not know about

Duke of Edinburgh

Age: 14 – 24 There are 4 sections:

1. Adventurous Journey

2. Physical Recreation

3. Skills, Voluntary Service

4. Gold Residential Project

CoderDojo

Coding for Fun

Ages 7 – 17

Run by volunteers in libraries, unis and community centres. Young people and volunteers get together to learn to play with coding.

WAAPA Short Courses

Age 6 – 18

Acting, music and dance short courses are run on weekends and holidays. There are classes for young kids through to those who already have some experience.

Local Government Youth Programs

Every local government council has youth programs. Check out your local government to see what it has on offer.

RoboCup

Age: 12 – 19

Fun with Robots

Teams make and program robots and compete in different challenges.

Find all the career information you need for West Australian school students

Posted on January 24, 2022February 28, 2022 by Bev Johnson — Leave a comment

University Open Days Tips for Years 9 -12 students

In years 9 – 12? Go to uni open days

University open days are starting in March this year.

Curtin University 3 April 2022

ECU South West 27 March

ECU Joondalup 10 April

ECU Mt Lawley including WAAPA 1 May

Murdoch 19 March 2022

UWA 27 March

Going to a uni open day is like going to a show. There are food vans, exhibitions and demonstrations and interesting people to meet, who WANT to convince you that their course is fantastic.

Check out the Worksheets at the bottom of this post.

Year 9 Tips

Start learning about life at university in Year 9. Check out the food vans. Listen to the music. Go into buildings and see the latest tech tools, computer games and research. See what workshops are on. Find the library, the shops and the toilets.

Year 10 Tips

Explore and Experience Try stuff. There will be people inviting you to engage with practical experiences in their subject. It could be VR. It could be checking out the latest medical research, making a short movie using their studio. All faculties will have practical experiences for you to engage with. Do it now.

Year 11 Tips

Get an authentic experience. Engage with current students. Build on what you have learned in years 9 and 10 visits by asking questions of both students, academics and staff. Check out presentations and exhibitions to see what you will gain most from and register for them, or just make a schedule of where to be and at what time.

Year 12 Tips

This is it. You need to be able to build from your other Open Day experiences. You will know what faculties to visit, and you will have a range of questions to ask. By now you should have narrowed down your options and you will be able to ask specific questions about subjects, industry engagement opportunities, mentors, support programs etc. You will know which presentations and demonstrations you need to revisit.