Mark Anderson from Gordon’s School used Inspiring the Future to compile a flyer to help students when making their GCSE options.
Using our online portal, Mark Anderson contacted a number of volunteers to help him to produce a flyer that students could use to see the importance of the subjects taught in school in the world of work. Asking questions like “How do you use history in your job?”, Mark received loads of replies from a range of different sectors and careers.
What made you decide to prepare the flyers?
In schools, we often hear students question the validity of certain subjects. Sometimes they can’t see how the subjects relate to everyday life or what they may want to do in the future. They often dismiss the views of individual teachers because they are not ‘in the real world’ and are simply being biased towards their subject.
This prompted me to approach professionals who are out in this real world to find out how the subjects they studied at school or college are relevant to them in their daily work. I felt that students would value the opinions of a range of professionals that they may aspire to be like. Understanding of relevance helps to motivate students and can help them to choose career paths that are right for them.
It’s all about bridging the gap between formal education and the real world. Young people’s understanding of the range of employment opportunities is limited; based on their knowledge of the jobs that their family and other adult friends have, plus the jobs they see through the media and in their local community. This is merely scratching the surface.
The more encounters young people have with employers, the greater their understanding of the wide range of opportunities that exist. The information leaflets are simply a way of helping young people to see how the subjects they do relate to these opportunities.
How did you gather the information you needed?
I used Inspiring the Future to contact a range of professionals, identifying those who state that they use a particular subject in their work. I simply explained the project and asked professionals to respond to my question with a 80-100 word reply.
Was Inspiring the Future useful?
Yes, as without Inspiring the Future I would never have had the means to contact such a wide range of professionals to ask for their contribution.