Ed Ball Launches a Career Advice Pilot Scheme for UK Primary Schools

Yes, You Read Correctly. Seven to Eleven Year Olds are to Receive Career Advice as Part of the Curriculum for Key Stage Two.

Do seven year olds really need career advice?  That question, in a Twitter post , alerted me to an article about Schools Secretary Ed Ball’s plan to launch a new pilot scheme for career-related learning in primary schools.  The scheme would make university life, the working world and access to a mentor available to young students, all designed to get them thinking about their future.  A year ago, I would probably have thought that this idea was a case of too much, too soon.  However, it really got me thinking about my children and all of today’s children, the pressures they will face when they emerge from school and how the cumulative effect of career-related learning over a period of ten years could benefit them.

I do think that childhood has been unfortunately shortened by constant exposure to adult concerns through the media.  I do want my children to play, dream, run around and stay somewhat innocent as long as they can.  I don’t mean they should be sheltered and coddled; I would rather they engage in sports, have club meetings in their tree house, ride their scooters or read a book for pleasure. There is plenty of time in the future to get serious about life. However, as I get closer to having to help my daughter choose a secondary school, I have come around to the “more is more” viewpoint.  

Today’s youngest generation is different than previous ones; they are growing up in the “I want it all” information age.  They expect and are given reasons for and involvement in parental decision-making.  The cliché, “knowledge is power” has never been truer.  Primary school children are influential consumers, not only of chocolate cereals and cheese strings, but also of fashion, social media, toys, music, entertainment and films. They have high aspirations, fair enough; but they need to have a corresponding understanding of what goes into getting the lifestyle they want. Academic success is one part of the equation; knowledge, hard work, opportunity and emotional support make up the rest.

Never fear.  Under the Schools Secretary’s plan, the children won’t be asked to choose a career at such an early age.  They will be given opportunities to learn about different careers. When quite young, children may claim to want to grow up to be a doctor, fireman, pop star, race-car driver, chef or presenter on Blue Peter.  What do they actually know about any of these, except perhaps for the uniform, vehicle or the fame that goes with the job?  While a 4-year old may know merely that people work on computers, a 7-year old will know how to use a search engine like Google.  A 9-year old who is shown that with a computer, you can generate music compositions, original art, historical research, business processes and sharing of scientific and medical breakthroughs will be able to make connections between what is possible and his own ideas. If this experiential scheme is rolled out to all the primary schools in the UK, children in Key Stage Two can find out about both traditional and less obvious career paths, through:

• school assemblies
• links between universities and primary schools
• links with employers and role models for visits to schools
• careers advice, and
• access to mentors.

A guided, up-close and personal view into university programs, vocations and careers will show them what it is like to actually do the work.  Think of it as a mobile classroom. They will get to see the exciting bits, the mundane, the dangerous and the glorious.  Their expanded awareness will probably not be calculable in the short term, but over time I believe the benefits will have a positive impact.

The other aim of the pilot program is to raise children’s aspirations and self-esteem. Given any number of possibilities, ready for the choosing, children have something to work toward and dream about.  Started young, they can set off on a journey of discovery, shedding ideas and experiences as they gain new ones, sort of like throwing mixed seeds into a flower bed and once they have grown, deciding what to keep, what to weed out and what to add next.  

As an American, I probably have a cultural predisposition toward believing that people should have every opportunity to try something new, unique and stimulating to do with their life, not just once, but perhaps once every decade or two.  There are pitfalls and setbacks out there that can quash a child’s self-belief, but this program can help them maintain their resilience and find their way around obstacles, by putting live examples in front of them for a Q & A. Ed Ball’s 7 to 11 scheme could encourage and support a child's ability to discover, stretch and break through barriers. The courage to reach for tantalizing possibilities may only arise if we tell children that they can do it and then teach them how.

I welcome educational experiences operating "outside the box."  I’m ever an optimist. End-of-year assemblies that deliver valuable information, inspiration and support directly to the children have got to be a better use of their time than spending the last week of summer term cleaning their classrooms and watching DVDs.  The impact could be far-reaching. That’s what I want for my children.