Connexions Staffordshire

Ten little ideas for careers lessons 

...or whatever they are called in your school!
Christine Thomas

This article appeared in the April 2008 issue of Careers Education and Guidance.
The Association for Careers Education and Guidance (ACEG) is the professional subject association for careers education and guidance. By providing services to its members, it aims to promote excellence and innovation in careers education and information, advice and guidance (IAG) for all young people. You can find out more at www.aceg.org.uk

In the spirit of the top ten culture in which we live here are ten suggestions to try. These are all things I have tried myself either when running training courses or with young people in the classroom. If you have similar tips to share please contact me and we will collect them to publish In a future Journal. In no particular order:  

1. We all like to get students into pairs for discussion activities and I use a set of matching cards called things that go together. There are 15 paired cards with pictures on, 30 in total. Give them out randomly and ask students to find the person with a card connected to theirs, e.g. a chef and a mixing bowl. If you would like a electronic copy Just e-mail me.  
2. Use the top ten technique with students, e.g. ask them what they think are the top ten fastest growing (i.e. increasing numbers working in them) occupations for 2009 (answers and link to website below), or the highest paid occupations, most popular occupations, most stressful occupations and so on.
   Top 10 fastest growing jobs 2009  http://msn.careerbuilder.co.uk/Article/MSN-212-Job-Search- Top-lO-Jobs-of-2009/
   1.    Engineer
   2.    Environmental consultant
   3.    Cosmetologist
   4.    Public relations specialist
   5.    Human resource professional
   6.    Advertising executive
   7.    Teacher/teaching assistant
   8.    Accountant
   9.    Counsellor
   10.    Data communications analyst
   
3. Buy a big pack of disposable paper table cloths from a wholesaler and put them on tables for students to use for drawing spider diagrams, mind mapping, Careers Education and Guidance April 2009 brainstorming etc. Much easier to carry around than flip chart paper but remember to recycle them'
4. Use speed dating as a technique to get students to debate an Issue in pairs. Arrange the class so that chairs are in pairs and half the class stays in the same place, while the other half 'visit' as many 'dates' as possible in a given time, such as 2 minutes. A bell or buzzer is useful. Once two students are together they can either debate some controversial statements, e.g, about equal opportunities or they could 'sell' their best points to their partner.
5. When exploring the concept of work with young people I use an excercise called but is it proper work? Proper work Is a phase much used by my mother In Wales, where when I was growing up only teachers, doctors, nurses and chapel ministers did 'proper work'. The exercise uses cards or a worksheet to ask students to discuss whether the activities below are 'proper work' or not. I define 'work' as anything that requires effort! It leads to discussing paid and unpaid work, voluntary work and the concept that if you are earning a legal living it probably Is 'proper work'.
   •    A 16 year old In a band who does paid gigs twice a week
   •    A professional gambler who earns enough money to support a family
   •    A 73-year-old woman who works In a local museum as a volunteer
   •    An art student who sells the occasional painting
   •    A part time reflexologist who works for nothing in a hospice
   •    A dad who stays at home to look after two young children
   •    A local county councillor
   •    A retired politician who gives after dinner speeches
   •    A 25-year-old who claims every possible state benefit but runs a soup kitchen
   •    A rich woman who does not need to earn money, but raises lots of money for charities
   •    A woman who makes £20,000 a year by moving stocks and shares around via the internet
   •    A 17-year-old athlete who is sponsored by a famous company
   
6. Keep a set of laminated photos about jobs up your sleeve to use at the end of a lesson. Choose images from the internet (or contact me and you can have mine) and on the back put some questions, e.g. 'What skills might you need for this job?' or 'What might be great about this job?'. I used to keep these in a box at the front of the class and if there was time at the end of a lesson students could come and pick one to discuss in pairs. Key stage 3 pupils in particular used to love doing this.
7. Play ‘Taboo’. Either course/subject titles or job titles are put on cards with a list of words that cannot be used. In pairs or groups students have to describe the word on the card without using the “banned" words. I have a set of these for jobs that you can have, but this would be a good one to do for courses too.
8. Ask students to name some occupations and they will come up with the same old things - hairdresser, teacher, nurse etc. It's good to expand their awareness of the vast number of different occupations there are. I call this unusual jobs and I give students a list of these and they have to try to guess what the person does and then use the internet to find out more, especially the progression routes. They don't have to be obscure as long as they are less common Jobs. Use www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u for inspiration, or here are some examples to include:
   •    Phlebotomist
   •    Arboriculturist
   •    Paraplanner
   •    Patent attorney
   •    Fabricator
   •    TV runner
   •    Route manager
   •    Immunologist
   •    Underpinner
   •    Roustabout
   
   Similarly when students are using their local area prospectus, give them some courses and qualifications to find. Put some titles of courses/qualifications onto laminated cards and include Diplomas and some less common courses, e.g. GSCE Urdu, A Level Philosophy, BTEC in Countryside Management.
9. Career path diagrams are a great way of discussing loads of themes to do with the modern world of work. If you have any visitors into school (even if they are there to talk about something completely unrelated to careers education) ask them if they will share their career path with students. Alternatively get one or more students to interview adults and draw their career paths. In some schools I have asked students to produce career path diagrams for people they know and show them to their peers using PowerPoint.
10. And lastly always keep a pack of stick- its in your pocket or handbag. These have to be one of the most versatile tools you can have! Now and again instead of using an evaluation form you can ask students to evaluate by writing three things they have learnt and three suggestions for improvement on stick-its which they can then stick to the wall. If you have any posters with jobs on ask students to choose a job, put their name and a reason why they would or wouldn’t choose to do it on a stick-it and then put the stick-it on the poster. They can also use them for brainstorming and then ranking, e.g. the skills employers look for. They can put pros and cons of different options onto them, and then put them on a pros and cons poster on the wall…the list is endless!
    

Christine Thomas is a freelance consultant and trainer specialising in careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG), work-related learning (WRL) and PSHE Education. She offers some practical ideas to try In 'careers' lessons or during special activity days.
To contact Christine Thomas please email info@cxstaffs.co.uk and we will forward your email to her.