making encounters with employers ‘meaningful’ · london. education and employers. piaget, j.,...

Sensitivity: Internal

Making encounters with employers

‘meaningful’

Nicki Moore

Senior Lecturer in Career Development

International centre for Guidance Studies

University of Derby


Learning outcomes

By the end of the session you will be able to:

• Explain the background and evidence for the provision of encounters with employers

• Engage critically with the latest government guidance on the provision of employer encounters

• Develop approaches to develop and improve the provision of work-related interventions.


Background

• Work-related learning (WRL) first emerged as an educational intervention in 1963

• WRL became a statutory element of the English curriculum for Key Stage 4 learners in 2003.

• Defined as providing young people with opportunities to learn about, for and throughwork.

• In 2011 Wolf recommended that vocational learning be revised and this included work-experience


Where are we now?

The research underpinning the Gatsby Benchmarks found that encounters with employers, employees and work-places were features of ‘good’ career guidance around the world and this resulted in two separate Benchmarks:

1. Encounters with employers and employees

2. Experiences of workplaces


Where are we now?

In 2016, recommendations to government were

• That schools should ensure that all students at Key Stage 4 have the opportunity to take part in meaningfulwork experience.

• That mechanisms in place to ensure that work experience is being effectively delivered through Key Stage 5 study plans.’

(House of Commons, 2016, p. 27:79)


Where are we now?

• Statutory guidance to schools and colleges notes that schools ‘should’ delivery seven meaningful encounters with employers during the 11-18 phases of education

• No guidance is given to the term ‘meaningful’

.


• Mann et al (2016) quantified the number of experiences of employers and workplaces needed to have a positive effect.

• Employer engagement has negligible impact unless young people can recall at least four or more activities. This introduced the idea of ‘memorable’ encounters (which morphed into ‘meaningful’ encounters in the statutory guidance.

Why seven?


Activity

In your groups, please discuss the following questions:

1. What constitutes an ‘encounter’ with an employer?

2. What is the definition of ‘meaningful’ in relationship to an encounter with an employer?


Meaningful?


Understanding ‘meaningful’

Many theorists have written on the process of learning

• Piaget (1936) – theory of cognitive development

• Dewey (1938) and Kolb and Fry (1975) -Experiential learning

• Bandura (1975) – social learning theory

• Law ( 1996) Community interaction theory

• Beard (2008) – transformational learning


The key points are:

• From the age of 12 young people are able to construct meaning from their experiences and apply it to themselves

• Learning can be contextualised within the world and not just in classrooms

• This requires interactions with people not just opportunities to observe different contexts

• The process of learning requires an opportunity to reflect on the experience in order to create meaning

• Reflection can aid ‘deep learning’


Questions to consider……

1. How and when do we teach our young people to be reflective?

2. How do we construct the curriculum around encounters with employers to ensure that young people have an opportunity to reflect?

3. How do we monitor encounters to ensure that they provide young people with an opportunity for meaning-making?


References Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioural change. Psychological Review, Vol 84(2).

Beard, C. (2018). Learning experience designs (LEDs) in an age of complexity: time to replace the lightbulb?. London: Taylor and Francis group.

Department for Education (2017a). Careers strategy: Making the most of everyone’s skills and talents. London: DFE.

Department for Education (2017 b). Careers guidance and access for education and training providers: Statutory guidance for governing bodies, school leaders and school staff. London. DFE.

Department for Education (2016). Post-16 work experience as a part of 16 to 19 study programmes. Departmental advice for post-16 education and training providers.. London: DFE.

House of Commons (2016). Careers education, information, advice and guidance. First Joint Report of the Business, Innovation and Skills and Education Committees of Session 2016–17.. London: House of Commons.

Kolb. D. & Fry, R. (1975). Toward an applied theory of experiential learning. London: John Wiley.

Law, B. (1981). Community interaction: a mid-range focus for theories of career development in young adults’. Cambridge: Hobsons Publishing.

Mann, A., Kashefpakdel, E., Rehill, J. and Huddleston, P. (2016). Contemporary Transitions: Young people reflect on life after secondary school and college. London. Education and Employers.

Piaget, J., (1936). Origins of intelligence in the child. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

The Gatsby Charitable Foundation (2014). Good Career Guidance. London: The Gatsby Charitable Foundation..

Wolf, A., (2011). Review of Vocational Education – The Wolf Report.. London: DFE

making encounters with employers ‘meaningful’ · london. education and employers. piaget, j.,...

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