Preparing For The Workplace!

Education in all its forms, has been evolving for centuries.

Until recent times, we were considered a nation of varied skills and influential leaders.

Skills were everywhere, from manufacturing to shipbuilding and agriculture.

 Most leaders of professions, businesses, and institutions worked their way up through the ranks, often from very humble  beginnings.

What this did was to give the individual a thorough knowledge of how the work place operated, and an opportunity to learn  from experienced colleagues, and depending on ambition, leadership qualities, and skill proficiency, could aspire to a senior role or go on to create new ways of doing things.

Attending university or  college was not the norm, as they were regarded as serious places of learning, directed at those who would follow an academic career such as medicine, law or teaching.

How things have changed.

Now a university or college education is the norm, and the areas in which one can undertake a degree course are extremely varied.

This has undoubtedly allowed students who previously could not have considered a college or degree education the chance to do so, but also allowed many entrants to perhaps drift into the system without a great deal of thought as to why they were there and in which direction they were going.

The result is that many more people are educated to degree level, but what does that mean?

Ask school leavers and under graduates to describe a university education, and most often the answer will be  that it is a wonderful social experience which improves one`s networking skills and broadens horizons.

Very little is said about the core and critical thinking of  the particular course work and how it will apply to the work environment on the outside world, with the result that new recruits in the market place often struggle to actually fit in and work, and have very little or no idea of the background of their employer.

It will be interesting to see how the further introduction of AI will affect course content.

Some courses have internships or virtual scenarios as work experience, but they often bear no resemblance to the day to day reality.

As the rush for college and university places accelerated from the 1960`s, so did the demise of the apprenticeship, and more hands on skills.

These were viewed as a somewhat uneducated  means of earning money, and became unfashionable, with the result that  a shortage developed for  practically skilled professionals.

The country now has a situation where it is possible for someone to acquire a degree or two and with very little knowledge or experience in a given work situation, can leapfrog into a middle or top management role, often overtaking others who have the relevant background and understanding of the work place. Sadly the result can be poor decision making and subsequent negative outcomes by having the wrong person in the wrong job.

If the person in post is not up to carrying out the role, it may overwhelm them, and mental health issues may result.

The answer would seem to lie somewhere in the middle.

Further education is good, as is all education, but for the right reasons.

A mix of both should surely include the pluses of entrance to the academic world, alongside pluses of practical achievement.

Many employers are seeing the benefit of this approach and are offering placements and apprenticeships where students can be employed but also study at the same time.

This allows the student to have paid employment, and learn in a meaningful  way whilst still studying to diploma or degree level. The employer may pay for the education and will have a well rounded employee at the end of it.

A similar model would not go amiss in the school system.

Children now come from a huge variety of backgrounds. 

They may not be given the opportunities at home to understand finance, health, food and nutrition, basic domestic repairs, relationships, taking care of babies and how to make their way in the world.

These subjects have been phased out or never included in school curricula, as considered non academic and the domain of parents.

However, these are life skills, and the nuts and bolts of society no matter where one comes from, and with many other demands on their lives, parents may not be able to dedicate the time to it.

Increasingly, many individuals are also being placed somewhere on the Autistic spectrum. It is a confusing world for them, and often practical subjects are the catalysts which guide them with their high intelligence and creativity to produce amazing results for the future of all of us.

We have been given a brain and hands to work with for a reason, so let`s use them and make the most of these wonderful gifts.