Careers in a Brave new world
With this being careers week I thought it would be beneficial to put out a short blog about what the world of careers education means to me.
If you ever have watched the YouTube video ‘Shift happens’ you’ll have read some amazing statements such as;
‘todays learners may have between 10-14 jobs by the time they are 38.’
‘We are preparing our future generation for jobs that may not even exist, using technologies that may not have been invented, for problems that we don’t even know are problems yet’.
In this ever increasing globalised and competitive world, there is paradoxically a greater wealth of opportunities, but the problem is we cannot be sure where they will all actually emerge from.
This means that our learners must be prepared for anything.
They must be agile, intuitive, and alert. To prepare them in school is not just understanding numbers and words but a plethora of skills which will enable them to be dynamic and shift from one opportunity or job, to the next, with limited barriers to entry.
There will always be specific technical skills associated with certain professions. According to Gladwell in his book Outliers, 10,000 hours is the time required to become an expert in a particular discipline or field.
However, been able to adapt to new forms of learning and understanding how to apply it, comes from so called ‘soft skills’, which really shouldn’t be taken with a pinch of salt.
Self-belief in the young is critical. However, this should be supported with some reality checks.
I wanted to be a professional footballer when I was younger. Although I played at a decent level and was a decent player (I thought) this was ultimately an overambitious dream. Reality was I was never talented enough, (regardless of how hard I worked), to make the grade.
Was it wrong to have this dream? … No!
Would it have been right to tell me just how difficult it would be to make the elite end of the game?… Yes!
That’s not for educators to say don’t dream or believe, but make clear the following reality;
‘if you don’t make it to your chosen destination, it is a big world out there where YOU CAN make a success of something you wish to put your mind to!’
This means building of skills like resilience, are so essential. Being able to react positively to any setbacks in life can be the difference between success or failure for the future outlook and prospects of our young people.
*We should all be aware that careers education isn’t about trying to pigeon hole certain young people into particular categories or routes, but enabling them to have an influx of different experiences, contextualise their learning through practical initiatives, allowing them to love and hate doing things. All this builds a foundation around the skills development they learn, in the ongoing process of forging their career path ahead, in this brave new world.
Written by Phil Benson
@philytotheb