It is no coincidence that successful people are passionate about what they do; ask any entrepreneur about passion and they would confirm that there must be a high level of interestin what you are doing. Sadly, many teenagers never find a direction for their energy, indeed, some people go through their entire lives without finding a passion if you would like to help your students in this regard, here are a few tips and suggestions.
1- Integrate career into content –
When setting assignments, introduce the future and ask questions like, ‘What do you see yourself doing for a job?’ Students should be thinking about their future, especially career and while a 13-year-old might not have any idea what they want to do for a living, start by focusing on interests. When a student does show an interest in a career, help them to find out more about the field, what subjects they need to study and take an in-depth look at the industry. Enrolling your child in the international primary school in Bangkok means they receive career counselling from Year 7.
2- Try new things –
Encourage students to experiment and try different things; playing a musical instrument, having a go at drama, trying a new sport, and if it is enjoyable, pursue it further. Children who are adventurous and prepared to try new things are far more likely to bump into a passion; in some ways, having an open mind is conducive to discovering an activity (or job) that you like.
3- Using the Internet –
Google can quickly take you to places where you will find out more about accountancy, or chemical engineering; ask each student as a weekend assignment to choose a profession and find out 5 things about that career that they did not know. On Monday, ask each student to present their findings to the class; depending on the level of interest generated, you could take this one step further. If students are thinking about moving into nursing, here is a good article.
4- Developing sports –
If you notice a student who excels in a particular sport, you should encourage them to improve; talk to the parents and make them aware of their offspring’s talents, which should lead to full support. It is never a given that a young player will go on to make a living as a pro athlete, however, this will develop positive traits. If a student made it to national level, this would be considered a success.
5- Project-based learning –
When students form small groups and choose a project topic, you will quickly learn where their interests lie. Older students can choose a profession and put together a project that investigates the said profession, which will help the young learners to make informed choices regarding career.
As a form teacher, it is your responsibility to help your students think about how they are going to make a living; career counselling is a part of international school education.
