Analysis of Careers 2011-12

Examining, Analyzing, and Suggesting Modifications to the 2011-2012 Careers Curriculum Oriane Tala Rose Santos Rivera Edwards University of Toronto Schools M4 Careers Summative

Abstract This report is in no way attempting to be subversive, tongue-in-cheek, or disrespectful of the effort put into the Careers course design by the administration and teachers. Simply put, this year-long-course style is still a fledgling project. This paper honestly and respectfully submits suggestions for the administrations approval.

Introduction I started my year with Careers kicking and screaming. I was the yuppie who spearheaded the movement to give us an extra course. I wanted to take Music. My parents wanted me to take Music. The Music Teachers wanted me to take Music. Yet, I could not, since that would entail dropping one of my courses (all of which I also adored). I took the situation directly to Mr. Marsh and Ms. Evans, who quite flatly stomped out my flame, and clearly said that it was impossible to allow an extra course now. They maintained that last years class had not used their spares properly, and therefore did not perform to the best of their ability. To remedy this, they were going to extend the Careers course to a full year, and include Contextual Work Periods, where work would be monitored thus making students more productive and successful, and leaving them more time after school for extra-curricular events. I decided that since I hadnt been in M4 yet, I didnt know exactly what to expect, and that I should trust the judgement of the administration. I watched the year go by, and I decided that some thing really needed to change about the structure and content of the Careers course. I knew I was not alone in these sentiments, but I found it difficult to discern between those who said they disliked Careers (and really did) from those who disliked Careers because everyone else seemed to. I therefore decided to conduct an anonymous survey, analyze the results, make a recommendation, and then submit it to the administration and Careers department. Given the dissent perceived in social settings, I hypothesize that the student body will agree with me, and support dramatic reform.

Analysis of Careers 2011-12

Materials I used 50 M4 Careers students and 2 S6 students (who had taken Careers as a halfcourse). These students were not bribed, prompted, or encouraged in any way to give negative feedback. With the exception of some responses (clearly sarcastic answers), this survey reflected the honest opinions of over half of the M4 population. It is to be noted that many students were wont to shy away from the project, as they believed that it would merit lower marks. Method The participants were polled with the following survey: I am constructing a documentary about the UTS Careers course. I kindly ask for your participation and assistance. Thanks so much! Please complete as many of the questions as you have time for. If you would like to help further, or send more comments, please email tala0610@gmail.com <3, Oriane 1. What did you find useful about Careers? -Insert essay response box2. What did you find superficial or useless about Careers? -Insert essay response box3. Do you think the Careers course should be abolished outright, or should it be modified? Choose only one answer. It should be modified, but should last the whole year. It should be modified, and be cropped down to half a year. It should be disposed of like tuesday's trash. It should stay the same. I really don't care.

4. If you said it should be changed, how so? -Insert essay response box-

Analysis of Careers 2011-12

5. Were the contextual work periods helpful? Choose only one answer. Yes, they made me focus better. Yes, I got to take a break. No, I was bored. No, I would have preferred a spare for relaxation. No, I would have preferred a spare for work.

Results

Table 1: Results of Abolition vs. Modification of Careers Question. This table shows a clear disposition against Careers. In fact, 80.8%, a clear majority, feels that there are problems with Careers and that the course must be changed in some degree.

Learning Skills/ MI Useful Useless 5 0

Journal

Reflections

0 12

University & Business Preparation 34 6

Success

Person -ality 12 24

/ Your WorkLife Balanc e 5 3

Everything 2 22

Nothing

Having Free Time 4 0

11 2

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Table 2: Numerical Results of Useful vs. Useless Essay Response Questions.This table shows the results of the essay responses quantitatively. Quick addition reveals that these lists go over a total of 52, because many participants listed multiple areas as being useful and useless. When asked what exactly should be changed, students gave responses that reflected the above data. Not things like knowing ourselves more. We have our whole lives ahead of us for that. The idea of having resource periods to be spent working on other courses is valid, but we barely had a chance to utilize them. They should make up half of our career course. Absolutely no personality assessments of other useless pop psychology

Responses varied all over the map. From sincere positives: A lot of people need to self-reflect more and learn about themselves [Now have] an enriched sense of strengths and weaknesses A good start To fierce negatives: I dont need to be justified in my character The compulsive need to categorize each person into a category made me very unhappy Superficial And finally to an eloquent observation. [The problem here is that ] student and curriculum simply could not connect on a fundamental level

Table 3: On the Helpfulness of Contextual Work Periods. Results seem to be in favour of unmonitored work, however one third indicated that they had been assisted by

Analysis of Careers 2011-12

the Contextual Work Periods, making it more difficult to assess. Discussion While some of the comments were quite varied in their praise or condemnation, there are certainly clear trends exhibited by the data. My hypothesis has been supported, since over 80% of the students agree that Careers must be changed in some way shape or form. Just exactly how it should be changed is a different matter. Overall, there are two main propositions that the majority of survey responses agreed upon. Firstly, the course should not contain personality tests. The students, on the Useful/Useless questions, commented the most on two aspects of the course: how much they enjoyed the resume building and business skills segment, and how much they detested the personality segment. Removing the personality segment was also very popular in the Reformation essay response question. This is a reasonable request, since the tests are not infallible, nor entirely scientific. They are also irrelevant and stressful for teenagers and are not specifically required in the Minisrys guidelines. The students have reason to be incensed about the Enneagram and Myers-Briggs tests. While they have been historically praised, there is little to no scientific backing in either test. The Enneagram, for instance, can be accredited to the work of two men- Oscar Ichazo, who was a Bolivian mystic, and Claudio Naranjo (Enneagram Institute). Naranjo was a psychiatrist in the 1960s who was noted for usage of hallucinogenic drugs in psychotherapy (Ehrenreich, 2006). These men evidently are not the first people I would turn to for advice on choosing my Careers future. Nor would I turn to them for assistance in understanding human nature or how society functions. Their whole system is the result of personal observation, and they have no scientific backing for their theories (Ehrenreich, 2006). The Myers-Briggs test has been hailed as being more reliable and accurate than the Enneagram, and has indeed received much mainstream praise. Nevertheless, there has been definite criticism as well. One study published that only 47% of test takers received the same result on a second try, and up to 76% of test takers got the a different result two weeks later (Paul, 2004). These tests, already dubious when used with adults, become even more so when used on teenagers. It is well known that hormones are continuously raging in my demographic, placing us on eternal emotional roller-coasters. Our moods are continuously changing throughout the day, and this inevitably impacted our test results. Furthermore, teenagers are continuously changing attitudes, opinions, and even world views over the course of the year. Personally, I can assure you that I am a dramatically different person now when compared to who I was at the start of the year. Teenagers are still changing too much for these tests to have any real indication of who we are as people. As one test-taker put it, we have our whole lives ahead of us for [learning who we are].

Analysis of Careers 2011-12

When I approached Ms. Vavitsas about this, she mentioned that these personality tests were required by the Ministrys guidelines, when in fact, they are not. The Ministrys exact guidelines are as such: Personal Management.This strand incorporates components of both personal and inter- personal knowledge and skills to facilitate the organization of expectations into one strand in some of the courses.The expectations in this strand focus on developing students abilities to describe and assess their personal strengths and interests and to draw on their knowledge of themselves when exploring and deciding on work and life goals. Students develop an awareness of their needs and learn the skills required to ensure that they get the resources and support they need.They develop skills, habits, and characteristics that will help them to interact positively and effectively with others in school and in the community.They develop resiliency, learn to be effective members of a team, and learn to manage the resources required to complete tasks and achieve their goals (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2006). The ministry does not mandate the usage of personality tests at all. It encourages us to describe and assess our personal strengths and interests, the study of which can include (but not necessarily require) personality testing. These could be replaced, perhaps, by short journal entries describing hobbies and extra-curriculars one enjoys, or fields of study one that are of particular interests. It would also be interesting if some of this time could be spent taking brief looks at studies and subjects that are either uncommon or not taught at UTS (like psychology, for example). The second main modification is a change of scheduling to the old structure, whilst maintaining the Contextual Work periods. Changing the course back to a Monday + Wednesday-A-Day style would have several implications. It would require each unit to be more condensed, because while students found some aspects of Careers useful, many agreed that the course was too long and drawn out. Almost 50% of participants agree that the course ought to be shorter. This structure seemed to be working for the S6 grade that took it- I cant imagine how it could be stretched to a full year, mused one of the S6 participants. Since one third of participants noted their appreciation for the Contextual Work periods, they cannot be abolished. They can definitely be a useful transition into the world of having spares. These could be implemented every Thursday (and not some Wednesdays). Other Concerns Whilst conducting this survey, I noticed a serious flaw in UTS students that worried me greatly. As I approached various students to assist me in the compilation of this report, I was often greeted with the answer no, thanks, I dont want to fail Careers. I find this to be a huge problem. This report, while it may be frank and blunt at times, has good intentions. It is trying to give suggestions to assist the administration from the

Analysis of Careers 2011-12

students perspective. Even with this in mind, students preferred to receive a good mark, and let problems that they themselves complained about- stay in the course, unfixed. I think there is a definite problem afoot when a student body would rather have a slightly higher grade than express their discontent with a situation that they have the power to change. Of course, this whole Careers affair is storm in a teacup when compared to other problems faced at other schools, however I still think that the administration should consider what this type of behaviour could translate to in other situations later on in life. Conclusion The Careers course was undeniably helpful and useful to a certain degree, although it had superfluous and unnecessary aspects. After careful consideration of the data acquired, I respectfully posit that the Careers course omit its section on personality testing, and I also recommend scheduling modifications so that the actual Careers course amounts to one full day and one Wednesday, and have the Contextual Work Periods account for the last full day of the week. I thank all participants in my survey very much for taking time out of their intensely busy schedules to help a poor soul like me. References Ehrenreich, B. (2006). Bait and switch: the (futile) pursuit of the American dream. New York: Owl Books. Ontario Ministry of Education. (2006.) Guidance and Career Education. The Ontario Curriculum Grades 9 & 10. Paul, A. M. (2004). The cult of personality: how personality tests are leading us to miseducate our children, mismanage our companies, and misunderstand ourselves. New York: Free Press.