We can all probably understand how people might continue to exist, and even function, without really ‘living’.
Teenagers aged 15 and 16 –Year 10 students – are selecting subjects for their final two years of secondary schooling. For some, it’s a worthy exercise. For others, subject selection doesn’t feel like subject choice. When their only option is to continue education in a school institution, subject selection can seem like a pointless and life-sapping lack of choice.
Why is there an assumption that students of that age know themselves so well?
Why is knowing who, and what, they plan to be considered an expression of a healthy ego?
Teens often find themselves in a state of confusion. It’s a state of being that is very real, and not easily shared with anyone – let alone with a stranger. ‘Becoming’ is the purpose of their life journey. ‘Being’ is who they are today.
And yet they are asked to share with strangers.
In Victorian schools, the 2014 National Teaching Workforce Dataset – Data Analysis Report indicated that just 1.6 percent of secondary school teachers were qualified in the area of career education. Many teachers, however work as ‘career counsellors’ to assist students in subject selection. Often, they meet students for the very first time at the subject selection interview. A large proportion of these teachers have neither studied nor taught the subjects they are recommending. And many more have never worked in another ‘profession’ outside teaching.
On a broader scale, worldwide organisations are taking a stand for the elimination of child labour. Might it be worthwhile taking a stand for the elimination of compulsory school attendance?
During the early 1960s a famous American businessman – Mr. H. J. Heinz – gave a dear friend some very sound advice.
‘Take 5 sheets of foolscap paper. Record on each line one idea of what you like and what interests you, until you fill the page. When complete, put the page away in a drawer. Same time the following week, repeat the process and do so again for another 2 weeks. Each time, do not look at the previous week’s list. On week 5, have your parents complete the sheet, listing what they believe your likes and interests are. Review the 5 lists and cross out any idea that does not appear on every list. You will be left with just a few interests and ideas’.
When they have those interests in hand, and when they act with the support of parents, then – and only then – should it be possible for strangers to contribute to the choices affecting the lives of teenage children.
For some teenagers, existence is all they can feel. Their relinquishment of self-worth and self-control isn’t deliberate; in their eyes the sense of these things has been taken from them.
Confusion for teens is very real. ‘Becoming’ is about their life’s journey. ‘Being’ is about who they are today.
For some, remaining in school can be likened to a meaningless, lifeless existence.
Copyright © 2019 Cheryl Lacey All rights reserved.
Parent, educationist, author, speaker.
Agitating advocate for change in Australian education. By raising the bar we can challenge and overcome any global challenges facing Australia and Australians.
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