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How One High School is Preparing Students for a Career in Science
By Richard Nantel | January 31, 2008
If the program at my daughter’s school is representative, high school education in 2008 is light years ahead of what it was back when I was a teenager. Nearing the end of grade eight, she needs to decide which of two science streams she’ll be entering next year. What’s most exciting is that one of these streams contains an innovative program called “Personal Orientation Project” (POP).
POP is a self-directed, semester-long project designed to allow students to reflect and investigate their skills and interests and explore in depth the types of careers available to them in the world of science.
The first phase of POP is called “Knowing Yourself.” In this phase, the student:
- Creates an inventory of interests
- Compiles a list of past experiences
- Identifies his or her preferred learning styles
- Assesses his or her personality
- Evaluates his or her current skills and abilities
The second phase is designed to help the student learn “Employability Skills.” In this phase, the student explores what makes a good employee. Students focus on:
- Managing information
- Working with others
- Demonstrating positive attitudes and behaviors
- Learning continuously
- Working safely
- Being adaptable
- Communicating clearly
The third phase is called “Career Exploration.” In this phase, the student explores actual careers in science. The student’s tasks include:
- Conducting Internet research on different careers
- Visiting worksites
- Doing telephone interviews with scientists
- Shadowing scientists in their day-to-day activities
The final phase of POP is called “Reflection, Growth, and Sharing.” This is an assimilation phase where the student examines all the components of his or her research and considers whether a career in science is the right choice. This phase also helps the student develop a plan on how to achieve such a career.
I’m amazed.
To put this in perspective, through the POP program, 14 year-olds can hang out with astronauts, physicians, and geneticists, among others, and get first-hand experience of what it’s like to work in their fields.
How many of us are working in careers we fell into and never selected? How many of us are unhappy in our jobs, feeling we’re better suited for something else? How many of us could have benefited from the type of program being made available to these grade eight students? We should all have gone through POP.
Now the big dilemma: If I suggest to my daughter that she enroll in the POP program, the independent teenager in her may choose the opposite. So, perhaps I should try to talk her out of enrolling.
Parenting: it’s all about strategy.
Topics: Academic, High school, Science |
