LOUISE MURPHY - ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE, ADELAIDE
Future in Focus
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
• The big picture
• Career Education & Career Development in Australia
• What this means for our Catholic schools
• Tailoring Career Education learning experiences
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
CAREER EDUCATION IS…
the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes through a planned program of learning experiences in education and training settings which will assist students to make informed decisions about their study and/or work options and enable effective participation in working life.
“What is vocational learning”, Preparing Secondary Students for Work (2017). http://www.pssfw.myskills.gov.au/What-is-vocational-learning/
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
CAREER EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS IS IMPORTANT…
• Basis of lifelong career development• Enables more successful transition beyond school• Counters stereotypical views of careers propagated through media,
which are often inaccurate and/ or outdated• Encourages the development of skills fundamental to negotiating
changing world of work • Improves employment outcomes• Social equity for disadvantaged students – Catholic Social Teaching
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
CAREER-RELATED LEARNING
CAREER COUNSELLING
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
CAREER EDUCATION & OUR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS
Social responsibility - CST
Equity
Wellbeing of students
Marketing – differentiation from other schools
Future Ready: A student focused National Career Education Strategy
• Launched February 2019• School career education• Need for high quality career
education and career counselling available to all school students
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
Future in Focus
Enhancing the Employability Skills and STEM Awareness of Year 8 students
at St Aloysius College
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
SCHOOL CONTEXT
• Inner City girls’ school• 1300 students from R to 12• Majority of students begin university study the year after they complete Year 12
(95% +)• History of graduates studying non-traditional STEM university degrees• Diverse student population – geographically, socioeconomic background,
ethnicity, intellectual disability or learning needs, indigenous students, humanitarian refugee visa, international students, EAL, trauma background
• Students have high aspirations irrespective of their background • Most Year 12 students study Maths – largest enrolment is in General Maths
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PLAN
SAC Strategic Plan:2.4 Grow student leadership knowledge, communication and opportunities3.1 Engage and challenge students with contemporary and innovative learning
Also in line with CESA Strategic Plan:o The commitment to assist each student achieve their full potential in all its intellectual, spiritual, physical
and social dimensions is evident in Catholic schools’ development of new and innovative ways to build their capacity to improve the learning and wellbeing of students. (pg.18, Strategy for Leading Catholic Education to New Levels of Excellence)
o Intentional curriculum that fosters self-aware, collaborative and socially adept learners (CESA Living Learning Leading Framework)
o Knowledge of employability skills provides greater opportunities for successful transition from school
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
Why Career Education in Middle School?
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
ENGAGING CAREERS PEDAGOGY IN THE MIDDLE YEARS
Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (2004) • The middle years are an important period of learning• time when students are at the greatest risk of disengagement from learning• Student motivation and engagement in these years is critical• senior years of schooling should provide all students with the high quality
education necessary to complete their secondary school education and make the transition to further education, training or employment.
• Schools need to provide information, advice and options to students so that they can make informed choices about their future.
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
International research indicates that75 per cent of the fastest growingoccupations now require STEM skillsand knowledge.
Office of the Chief Scientist 2014, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics: Australia’s Future.
Australian Government, Canberra.
WHY STEM CAREER AWARENESS?
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
Context for STEM Career learning for girls
According to the Australian Government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda:
• only one in four IT graduates are female• fewer than one in 10 engineering graduates are women• (Chemical Engineering approx. 50% graduates are female)
Women occupy fewer than one in five senior researcher positions in Australian universities and research institutes
Women make up one quarter of the STEM workforce overall .
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
CLOSING THE STEM GAP: Why STEM classes and careers still lack girls and what we can do about it
• Girls find it difficult to picture themselves in STEM roles• Girls don’t initially see the potential for careers in STEM to be creative
or have a positive impact on the world• Girls who participate in STEM clubs and activities outside of school are
more likely to say they will pursue STEM subjects • We can foster a “growth mindset” among students
Dr. Shalini Kesar & Microsoft, 2009
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
• transferrable skills – students expected to possess these• Viewed as skills of the future• Help to navigate career change• Change to ANU admissions from 2020 – require evidence of
employability skills development in addition to academic record• Encourage middle school students to engage more actively &
frequently in co-curricular activities, groups, volunteer work offeredat school
The New Work Smarts: Thriving in the New Work Order.
Foundation for Young Australians.
WHY EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS?
Foundation for Young Australians www.fya.org.au
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
WHY LEARN ABOUT GRIT?
• Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term goals.• Grit is related to two other characteristics: self-control and
conscientiousness. • Is the greatest predictor of achievement
TALENT x EFFORT = SKILL
SKILL x EFFORT = ACHIEVEMENT
Angela Duckworth, 2016University of Pennylsvania
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
Grit relates to our students’ ability to thrive
Grit scale is an opportunity for self-reflection
If we want our students to have a shot at a productive and satisfying life, we should make it our concern to provide them with the two things all young people deserve: challenges to exceed what they were able to do yesterday and the support that makes that growth possible.
Angela Duckworth
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
“No matter how talented you are, your talent is going to fail you if you’re not skilled—if you don’t study, if you don’t work really hard and dedicate yourself to being better every single day.”
Will Smith
This is where grit is relevant to whatever you choose to do. Even if you’re the most “talented” person in the world, if you give up on something in the first month or the first year, you're never going to be great at it.
Future in Focus
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN FiF LESSONS?
• Explicit teaching• Active engagement • Positive role models in STEM• Career exploration• Encouraging engagement in STEM Club• Hands on learning• Fun, interactive activities – Grit scale, Characters Strengths• Opportunities for interactions with others• Encouragement from those important in lives of students
Character Strengths
Grit
Introduction
Employability Skills
GritSTEM
Speed
Dating
Careers
Grit
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
PRE-TEST, POST-TEST & SURVEY
• Knowledge of STEM acronym• Knowledge of STEM Careers• Measure of Career Self-Efficacy• Open-ended questions & Focus Group to elicit qualitative data
CDSE-Short Form (Mind Garden Instrument) – Career Development Self Efficacy Measure
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
OLD SCHOLAR PRESENTATIONS
Powerful modelling• Recent graduates (3 – 15 years since graduation)• Selected to represent alumni at different stages of their career journey
• 3rd Year university student through to head of a university science research department
• Old Scholars were briefed about the Future in Focus program & asked to speak about their study, job and what they did to develop their employability skills
• Helen graduated in 2012
My Career in STEM (AKA how I ended up at a mine site)
Helen – Graduate Metallurgist
Graduate Metallurgists
Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical)
Radiation
Bachelor of Science (Physics)
Mining Engineer
Bachelor of Engineering (Mining)
Electrical Engineer
Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical)
Geologist
Bachelor of Science (Geology)
Introducing my
fellow Graduates…
Year 8
Year 10
Graduating high
school
University
Chemical
Engineer
• Subject
selections
• PLP – Work
Experience
Volunteer Work
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
FUTURE IN FOCUS RESEARCH FINDINGS
Does explicit teaching of employability skills and STEM Careers increase Career Self-Efficacy?
• Based on our data, no! The treatment group showed a decrease in scores on the CDSE-Short Form post-test.
i.e. lower career self-efficacy scores for post-test group
• There was no significant change for the pre & post scores for the control group.
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
Why?
• Students want to appease, want to appear capable, knowledgeable; Year 8 Coordinator “these students are people pleasers”.
• Perhaps their learning has highlighted just how much they do not know eg. JIIGCAL Career Compass
• Something else?
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
Does explicit teaching of STEM Careers improve knowledge of the STEM Careers that currently exist?
• based on our student responses in survey, yes.• Increase in the number of students able to correctly identify what
the STEM acronym stands for• Increase in the number of students able to correctly name 3
different, highly specific STEM careers• Qualitative data
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
STUDENT REFLECTIONS
"What I really liked about the future in focus program, was that you got to see the wide range of STEM opportunities. When you think about STEM, everyone just assumes that you need to be good at maths and science. But there is really more to it. In STEM you have many options. You could be an astronomer or you could be a health and safety engineer. There is a vast range of jobs. This is a good thing at our age because, you don’t really know what you want as a job yet, but at least with STEM you have many choices."
Kassidee
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
“Having the SAC old scholars talk about their STEM careers to the Year 8’s was a really great experience. I loved listening to the wide range of STEM careers they are working in and all the new and innovative ideas they are contributing to. Hearing their success in STEM careers beyond SAC was really inspiring. These girls were once students just like us and now have amazing jobs in the STEM field. It is really inspiring to think that one day we could be them. I do debating, JAM and Tournament of the Minds at school. It was really nice to know that the activities I enjoy doing develop my employability skills such as communication, teamwork and problem solving. I believe Future in Focus is a really important program because it make employability aware to students from quite a young age. It opens us up to STEM and the skills employers look for. I think it is important in preparing us for work experience in Year 10 and even further to when we are looking for full time jobs in the future.”
Lynelle
ST ALOYSIUS COLLEGE
Re-imagining career development for Catholic school students
What is the purpose of the career development & career education programs in your school?
What qualities, skills and knowledge do your students need to thrive in their lives beyond school?