Education Update - Nick Johnstone

WHALEBONE WHARF

EDUCATION UPDATE

with NICK JOHNSTONE

FROM BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGE

WHY PARTNER WITH YOUR LOCAL SCHOOL?

The links between schools and the local business community are well documented from the school’s perspective. The concept of real-world relevance into the curriculum or sponsoring a school’s exciting co-curricular program remains important – no, I will rephrase that, it remains vital in the context of reduced school funding models and the increases in the cost of living. The article however is about focussing on the endless opportunities for businesses. Here are my top three:

Corporate Social Responsibility

This term concentrates on a business’s sense of responsibility toward their local community. Many businesses have achieved this with environmental strategies, for example, buy only locally made goods to support the circular economy and reduce transport kilometres. Other businesses have partnered with local schools to supply afternoon tea for students and staff to support homework clubs. Research, from Harvard Business School, concluded that businesses with greater corporate social responsibility outperformed their counterparts in the longer term. This research purported that this process also built pride in the employer, generating team spirit and greater workplace satisfaction.

World Prepared Workforce

All secondary school graduates should be pathway ready regardless of whether their destination is trade placements, university, TAFE, or directly into the workforce. The evolution of the modern workforce has created the need for primary and secondary schools to design rigorous curriculums that prepare students to enter the post-secondary options of their choice. These curriculum changes focus on the 6Cs: Critical thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Citizenship and Character development on top of the literacy, numeracy and digital literacy skills required. Businesses need a workforce that are responsive to this requirement but can also support their growth. Our own research shows that students tend to be highly receptive to career education from local people working in their fields. At Bishop Druitt College, this is achieved through Vocational Tuesday (optional opportunities for guest speakers to speak with students at lunch time every Tuesday), Internships, traditional work experience blocks, excursions to business sites, and careers expos. Career education research indicates that career education with industry experience that is relevant and real world should occur early and regularly.

Circular Community Growth

When students achieve their personal goals through their schooling journey, everyone benefits and business involvement helps to show relevance to students. The students are more motivated to get an education and more aware of how it correlates to success beyond the classroom. Research correlates a strong link between business involvement and career education with increased school engagement and reduced dropout rates. And when students see the relevance for pursuing a career in a specific industry, they are motivated not only to stay in school but to do their best. This helps create positive growth within the community in both the short and long term. Community connected businesses are vested in schools because of their need for a strong pool of local workers to choose from and consumers who can afford their products. There is a wealth of opportunities available for businesses to partner with their local schools. School and business partnerships create a win-win situation for schools, businesses and, more importantly, our next generation. School Business Register: https://www.bdc.nsw. edu.au/our-community/business-directory Note: The attached resource outlines the most effective 7 key principles of school and business partnerships. The example is for STEM education but the principles are transferable to all businesses.

Resource: https://www.dese.gov.au/australian-curriculum/ national-stem-education-resources-toolkit/i-want-knowabout-stem-education/how-can-schools-and-businessespartner-stem-education/school-business-partnerships-workbest-when-they-follow-seven-key-principles

With mental health now a prominent issue in elite sport, Southern Cross University’s Associate Professor Christian Swann is co-leading a program that directs the focus into the community. And it’s about to reach a global audience.

As professional athletes prove more willing to discuss the mental health challenges faced during and after their illustrious careers, an issue that once went unsaid is increasingly being heard.

In recent years, AFL’s Lance Franklin, tennis stars Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams, rugby league greats Greg Inglis and James Tedesco, cricketers Glen Maxwell and Will Pucovski, and Olympic legend Ian Thorpe, are among many to have come forward and told their stories.

Southern Cross University researcher, Associate Professor Christian Swann, applauds their courage before noting how it pays to remember that the nexus of sport and mental health is not solely the domain of the elite.

“Elite sport accounts for about two per cent of sports participation around the world,” says Christian. “We’re very conscious of the other 98 per cent, that majority of people who take part in sport mostly in community clubs. My priority is research and programs to improve mental health outcomes within this vast cohort, especially among adolescents.”

One initiative – Ahead of the Game – is about to hit the international sporting spotlight.

Co-led by Christian and the University of Wollongong’s Associate Professor Stewart Vella, Ahead of the Game is an official mental fitness program for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup which, thanks to the global pandemic, has been rescheduled to OctoberNovember 2022 in the UK.

Such a major international event enables Ahead of the Game – which is funded by men’s health charity Movember – to spread

Sporting teams go through a lot of ups and downs and teammates are more likely than classmates to be closer and to have each other’s backs. Teammates are also more used to talking about how things are going, including about how to get through those ups and downs together.

the message of mental health awareness and strategies to thousands of people involved in community level rugby league in the UK and beyond.

Even so, the World Cup is just one example of how Ahead of the Game is doing precisely as its name suggests.

“Mental health has become such a huge part of sport,” says Christian, who joined Southern Cross University in 2018 and is now an Associate Professor in Psychology based at Coffs Harbour. “With that comes an increasing awareness of mental health issues in community sport, and from an early age. Almost one in seven adolescents will be experiencing problems at any given time.”

Problems are wide-ranging and can stem from factors including upbringing, stigma, undeveloped or under-developed social and coping strategies. Impact is felt by individuals, families and communities – sometimes grievously.

“Mental health is a bit of a monster,” says Christian. “In particular, it is killing men and young males. Sixty men take their own lives every hour in the world. We must do something about that, and it turns out that sport is an ideal entry point. That is a key element of Ahead of the Game.”

Christian’s research supports that resolve: “Teenage boys told us that their sporting clubs were a very accessible setting in which to have conversations with their coaches, parents and teammates around mental health. It is an environment they feel comfortable in and as such is conducive to reaching more young people. There is a shared experience, a shared vision, among the kitbags and uniforms before and after training.

“Plus, they’re all in it together. Sporting teams go through a lot of ups and downs and teammates are more likely than classmates to be closer and to have each other’s backs. Teammates are also more used to talking about how things are going, including about how to get through those ups and downs together.”

With so many more professional athletes opening up about their mental health, Christian says young athletes are eager to learn how their role models manage the challenges, stresses and anxieties in sport.

The rise of COVID-19 has only added to them.

“The pandemic meant that young people have not been able to get out as much for sport and exercise in social and competition settings,” says Christian. “For many vulnerable young people, it exacerbated their vulnerability.”

Originally from Donegal in Ireland, Christian might have eyed his own sporting career as a professional golfer until curiosity led him to specialise in sport psychology and mental health.

After a decade at the University of Lincoln (UK) as an undergraduate student, PhD candidate and then lecturer in sport psychology, he came to Australia in 2015 to work on Ahead of the Game.

Seven years later, with the Rugby League World Cup not far away, there is no complacency for Christian or the Ahead of the Game team.

That will not change when the World Cup ends, as Ahead of the Game ramps up and adapts for other sports, countries and cultures. Among programs in Australia, Christian has been working with Movember to deliver Ahead of the Game in rugby league communities in Far North Queensland, as well as online to deliver models for regional, remote and rural

Australia.

More locally, he is aiming to deliver elements of the program in Coffs Harbour later in 2022.

“We know the social, family and government investment in sport. We also know that Ahead of the Game works. It’s evidence-based and it is reaching a lot of young people,” says Christian. “We’re on our way to reaching the other 98 per cent.

“I think that’s an important message to launch from the global stage and then direct into local communities and sporting clubs everywhere.”

Southern Cross University offers a Bachelor of Sport and Exercise Science and a combined Bachelor of Exercise Science and Psychological Science at the Coffs Harbour campus.

Sixty men take their own lives every hour in the world. We must do something about that, and it turns out that sport is an ideal entry point. That is a key element of Ahead of the Game.

CAREER

PLANNING

Many of us see accountants to plan our our finances, visit doctors and dentists for preventative checks, and even sign up to boot camps with trainers to keep our fitness in check!

But how many of us have a plan for one of the most important (and time consuming) aspects of our life – our career? We should all be asking why not? After all isn’t your career the underlying foundation of your wealth, your quality of life and your lifestyle? Isn’t it important enough to take time to plan for it, shape and mould it to deliver the value you want? Designing your career, like designing your life, is personal. It is based on your unique skills, interests and capabilities matched to the current market and the opportunities it presents.

Important questions to ask yourself:

• Are my unique skills, interests and capabilities matched to the current market and opportunities? (Am I employable?) • Am I drifting along in my career not taking stock of my skills and their relevance to the wider market? • How would I be placed if there were to be an ‘out of the blue’ redundancy or I suddenly found I wanted to move jobs?

How to design your career:

• Take stock each year of your career, your job, your ambitions, the relevance of your current skill set, and how you are going to sustain and enhance your employability the coming year. • Do an annual review of your career plan and progress or lack of it, blockages and new opportunities can help you to evaluate where you are and where to go next. • Get in touch with a recruiter or recruitment agency: They can help keep you in the loop within your career specifications and support you in finding ongoing employment. With a clear plan in hand, your new-found career confidence will help to put you in the driver seat and be selective about where you focus your efforts to ensure they deliver maximal career advantage to you and deliver the outcomes and return on investment you are looking for.

Call Chandler Macleod today for a career discussion 6691 9100