The worlds of work and careers have changed beyond recognition over the last generation, and that rate of change seems likely to accelerate. Children entering school today will have careers in jobs that don’t exist currently, and even current school leavers will enter a rapidly changing job market, and their career patterns are likely to be far removed from those of their parents or teachers. So how can headteachers maintain and develop their own skills, and those of their teaching staff, to ensure that the next generation of school leavers is equipped for a new world of work?
The challenge is considerable. As a Community Governor at a primary school in Camden, with specific responsibility for employer engagement, we have worked hard in recent years to enhance the knowledge of our teaching staff, our senior leaders and our pupils.
Although significant changes will occur as our pupil’s progress through their secondary education, the global nature of our curriculum and the focus on major projects within our locality, such as the King’s Cross redevelopment, the cohort of over 50 volunteers from local businesses who attend our school on a weekly basis, the introduction of a Careers Fair, together with our focus on both educational attainment and the development of our pupils softer skills will hopefully position our staff to unable our pupils to more easily respond to the challenges that they may face in the future.
The education landscape is changing very quickly. One example of this is the introduction of diplomas and the range of choices students have at KS4 and 5.
The challenge for headteachers and other member of staff within Schools, Colleges and Universities is their skills are in teaching and delivering results. The disconnect comes as teachers particularly those who are fresh out of University or those who have spent all of their careers within the confines of the classroom have no experience of what businesses want or are indeed asking for. This is no way a criticism but more an observation that more resources need to be invested to support senior staff in the skills that are required by industry, so that when our students enter employment they are more prepared in the sense they have the communication skills, they can present effectively, work independently and write compelling business proposal etc etc
However the key challenge for the leaders in education is getting the balance right between good grades and making students more employable.
As established professionals who have reached the pinnacle of their careers, head teachers may feel they have all the skills they need to provide a first class education to their students. But the ways in which those students will work when they leave school will bear little resemblance to the ways in which we currently work. Careers in the future will be focused on issues such as collaboration (often remotely), creativity, flexibility, innovation, technology and personalisation. Head teachers need to ensure that students enter the world of work with these skills, so there is an argument to say that head teachers themselves should embrace new ways of working. Many schools are now becoming hubs for collaboration and creativity, and head teachers should drive this approach forward, to ensure that students will make a smooth transition from the classroom to the workplace..