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CAREER CHOICES When should teens start thinking about their career?
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Choosing a career
ROSALIND DUANE rduane@nsnews.com
The word “career” has different meanings depending on how it’s used.
Traditionally it referred to a long-term history or special body or work in a specific field, such as science or sports. These days, when referring to careers, especially for young people, it’s often used in a more colloquial way. “Usually when we talk about it with teens it means what kind of work they are going to do in their life,” says Richard Young, a professor in the department of Educational and Counselling Psychology in the Faculty of Education at UBC. But a career can also refer to something that is important to someone, such as a parenting career, which is not necessarily a job for which one gets paid. Young also notes that there isn’t a hard rule that dictates when kids should start thinking about a career. It’s not so much when teens “should” think about a career it’s when they “do” think about it. “I don’t think it’s a question of should I think it’s a question of when they do, and there are lots of images in society that make them want to identify with different kinds of work,” he says.
For example, Young’s four-yearold grandson loves playing with dinosaurs and has said he will be a paleontologist when he grows up. “I think it’s great that he says that,” says Young, but adds there’s a good chance that won’t happen. “But he’s already identifying with some kind of occupation.” He’s already forming the image that he likes dinosaurs and that’s what paleontologists are interested in so that’s something he could do, explains Young. “All through our early childhood and early adolescence we have images like that.” It’s healthy and normal for kids and teens to aspire to certain professions even if it may seem unrealistic, such as a professional athlete or a famous actor, but it’s also healthy for those aspirations to change over time as we grow. “You don’t want to get a young person too fixed on any one thing,” says Young. For example, it’s fine for a young person to dream of playing hockey with the Canucks, but they have to know if they don’t do that their life isn’t going to be destroyed. “They also have to have other things going on in their lives,” says Young. He says it’s good for kids to be exposed to a variety of occupational options through
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media, school, friends, and taking note of occupations around them, such as what their parents or other adults in their community do. But the world of work is changing and it’s not realistic for a young person today to think they will pick a job and stay in it for the rest of their working life. “It’s not unexpected that a person would have not only four or five different employers in his or her lifetime but four or five different types of work,” says Young, adding that means young people have to be more flexible with their skills and their interests. It’s important to strike a
balance between general and specific skills to optimize options. “I am in favour of specific programs but I’m also in favour of general education,” says Young, adding both are important. Generally speaking, the workforce in Canada is not as well prepared technically as some other countries, he notes. “There is a need for us to focus on the specifics and give people actual skills.” But “we do need people that are generally well educated in our society as well. It’s about creating a balance,” he adds. Industries that appear to have
potential for growth include health care, security services, and entrepreneurship. And, of course, computer coding is still a great field to consider. “I think parents have to support their children, and support the exploration (of interests),” says Young. “Don’t support the early foreclosure, but support them in exploring the possibilities in their society and through their school and their social activities and clubs. Because that’s where they learn to be the person that can eventually make some decisions around jobs.”
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Collingwood students celebrate the Sciences with campus-wide Expo
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tudents hold their breath in anticipation, waiting to see if their egg will survive the one-storey fall. The Egg Drop Competition, part of the Collingwood Science Expo, challenges students to construct an apparatus to prevent their egg from cracking as it lands.
“Students use their knowledge of gravity, Newton’s three laws, impulse and air resistance to guide their designs,” explains science teacher Calindy Ramsden. “It’s a fun way for students to explore the interaction of different physics concepts in a tangible way.” The Egg Drop Competition is only one of many events that happen during the Collingwood Science Expo. It’s a week that provides all students across Grades 8 to 12 the opportunity to challenge themselves and apply their knowledge of scientific concepts. For Middle School, this means creating pinhole cameras and developing a useful innovation using bio-mimicry. For others, it means presenting inventive ideas at regional and national science fairs. And for Headmaster Rodger Wright, it means lying down on a bed of nails while the Head Boy and Head Girl stand on top of him.
In addition to education within the science curriculum, students across the grades have the opportunity to extend their learning beyond what is typically taught in schools. DNA fingerprinting, emission spectra, advanced thermodynamics, writing the code for fractal diagrams, and testing the effects of antibiotics are only a few of the exciting activities that allow Collingwood students to experience science in new ways. The learning continues during lunch hours, where everyone is encouraged to participate in extra activities. In addition to the Egg Drop Competition, students make elephant toothpaste, launch rockets, and have bridge building competitions. Shirley Frykberg, Head of Science, loves organizing this event each year. “The Collingwood Science Expo allows all students to have the opportunity to participate in the celebration of science,” she explains. Ms. Frykberg goes on to say that the emphasis on exploring science doesn’t start or end with the Expo, but continues throughout the year.
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70 Morven Drive, West Vancouver, BC 604.925.3331 collingwood.org
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rockton School (JK-grade 12) is the independent school you’ve been searching for, offering all that you might appreciate about an independent school, without the aspects that you might not. Embracing the benefits of a small school community, Brockton is an inclusive and authentic school that aims to find ‘genius everywhere’; it is a place where every student is respected, valued and special.
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uch of the mechanics of creating a school culture on the ground involve being very intentional about “norm setting,” i.e. the continuous laying out, in clear language, of the expectations and aims of the community. At Island Pacific School this happens on two levels. Firstly, there are the obvious behavioural expectations that need to be in place in order to have a clean, safe and respectful learning environment (pick up your garbage, don’t be a bully, be polite, etc.). Secondly, there are aspirational expectations (try your best, be a decent human being, don’t follow the crowd, broaden your mind, cultivate your curiosity, put care and diligence
into everything you do, don’t be afraid of failure, etc.). Another core element that needs to permeate the overall culture of a school is the intentional cultivation of student agency. As already alluded to, I do not mean by this, of course, a simple-minded consumerist pursuit of individual choice. I mean instead an earned capability and confidence to thoughtfully participate in one’s own development. There is an important distinction between acquiring knowledge and experience to “demonstrate competence” and using knowledge and experience to make sense of the world and oneself. Dr. Ted Spear, Head of School
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For 20 years, Island Pacific School on Bowen Island has focused exclusively on meeting the educational needs of adolescents in Grades 6-9. Small by design, we are a community of 66 students exploring distinctly different programming, and 12 staff providing engineered experiences that help set kids up for the rest of their lives. Book a tour and get to know us: 604 947 9311 A non-denominational, co-ed Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 school brocktonschool.com • 604-929-9201 3467 Duval Road, North Vancouver
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1325 East Keith Road, North Vancouver, BC 604.980.1205 northstarmontessori.ca
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Students work with clay, ceramics, metal, stained glass, and various other media. In Woodworking, they craft beautiful and functional objects using hand tools – carving knives, chisels, and rasps – while learning to respect and care for the tools as they shape, smooth, and polish wood to form spoons, bowls, and stools. We understand that working with
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t the Vancouver Waldorf School, academics and arts are balanced as core curriculum for students, preschool through grade 12. Included are Practical Arts, which provide meaningful work for the hands while developing positive habits of character – discipline, patience, and respect.
the hands develops neurological pathways that establish the foundation of cognitive learning. Projects are designed to align with developmental stages and complement academic studies. For instance, to support an upcoming service trip to Laos, the Class of 2016 is selling the cedar strip canoe constructed by the previous graduating class. The Practical Arts offer an opportunity to develop skills resulting in an enhanced range of capacities for meeting the world’s challenges. Our goal is to educate well-rounded, balanced individuals who have learned the three R’s, and have also developed a sensibility to stand the test of life.