Education Central Future Focus Issue 1 2019

Issue 1 | March 2019

An NZME custom publication

Education Future Central Focus

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21st century skills: What’s the fuss about What do employers want?

Keeping pace: the importance of upskilling

Informs. Inspires. Educates. | educationcentral.co.nz/category/futurefocus

2 | March 2019

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Contents Editor’s note

“

The world today is not the world of my youth. No one is learned anymore: everyone must be learning.”

So said Chris Edwards, who will lead New Zealand’s first Green School, opening in Taranaki next year.

Indeed, many educators agree that a child’s time at school is better spent learning how to be a good communicator, problem solver and critical thinker than learning large amounts of subject knowledge.

The push for these ‘21st-century skills’, as they’re commonly known, is driven by the fast-changing world of work. Basically, teachers do not know what jobs their students will one day encounter when they are ready to join the workforce, so it is difficult to anticipate what knowledge they will need. Skills, on the other hand, will be useful, no matter what – or so the thinking goes. Meanwhile others believe staunchly in the value of a firm foundation of knowledge.

In this issue we pick apart the skills vs knowledge debate and take stock of what employers think, to see if New Zealand’s education ideologies are on the right track.

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Opening a world of opportunities through Information Technology.

The skills vs knowledge debate: what do teachers think?

21st-century skills: what are they and what’s the fuss about?

The new world of work: are students prepared?

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New skills for the future “vital”

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Gaming the system: NCEA and the Record of Achievement

Jude Barback, Editor

The next issue of EducationCentral FutureFocus will be published on 23 May 2019.

12:

What do employers really want?

13:

Crane operator finds her place and continues family legacy

The levels are wrong

11:

Changing lanes: why one career for life is no longer the norm

From Scrubbing Cages to Coding Languages: One Woman’s ICT Career Transformation

Editor

Commercial Manager

Jude Barback P 07 542 3013 E judith.barback@nzme.co.nz

Fiona Reid E fiona.reid@nzme.co.nz

Education Media Specialist

Production Manager

Jill Parker P 04 915 9798 E jill.parker@nzme.co.nz

Aaron Morey E aaron.morey@nzme.co.nz

14:

Keeping pace with industry: the importance of upskilling

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March 2019 | 3

Opening a world of opportunities through Information Technology.

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he world is changing at an unprecedented pace but one thing isn’t going away is the need for qualified IT professionals who are ready to put their stamp on the industry. The urgent need for IT graduates has seen the NZ Digital Skills forum sound a warning bell indicating that the industry is growing much faster than the rate of new talent, supplied by graduating students and new immigrants.

Computer Power Plus (CPP) is one provider who is tackling the task of filling the growing list of employment opportunities with graduates who have the skills and knowledge to jump straight in.

Furthermore, Computer Power Plus and Whitecliffe College have joined forces to continue to expand and improve their IT programme offerings to become one of New Zealand’s leading providers of IT and professional skills training.

Andrei Averianov, a recent graduate of CPP who is now working at Datacom as a Graduate Network Engineer, says of the experience he had at CPP: “Valuable experience provided from amazing real world opportunities through to helpful meetings with professionals.” regional Manager Kelly Cairns adds that “the real world opportunities are a crucial element to a student’s journey which is why CPP students are given opportunities to hear from industry experts as well as having practical, hands-on experiences.”

With campuses in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch CPP supports students throughout the country to complete qualifications in areas such as Web Development, Technical Support, Networking, Systems Administration and Software Development.

One such graduate is Dafir Jacob, who after studying at CPP gained employment as a Project Manager before working his way up to being the

Managing Director at Divers Group, which is an end-to-end IT logistics company. Dafir says, “I had a great experience with CPP, they provided great support during my study. CPP is well connected in the IT Industry and that puts them in a good position to provide students with practical experience.”

Are you ready to enter a world of opportunities?

Computer Power Plus and Whitecliffe College consistently strive to see our students and graduates excel in the ICT industry by applying the latest learning techniques and industry relevant courses.

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For more information on CPP visit www.computerpowerplus.ac.nz or call 0508 48 48 84.

For more information on Whitecliffe College visit www.whitecliffe.ac.nz or call 09 309 5970.

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info@cpp.ac.nz | 0508 48 48 84 | Auckland • Wellington • Christchurch

4 | March 2019

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21st-century skills:

what are they and what’s the fuss about?

“It’s really about filtering through what we need to know now, and where the general trajectory is of what we need to know for the future.”

Massive leaps in technology throughout the past two decades have made huge differences to the ways in which we communicate. By Rachel Helyer Donaldson.

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hat was once seen as a far-off future is already here, while artificial intelligence (AI), automation and globalisation are expected to bring even more significant changes to how we work.

Many New Zealand schools are already moving to educate their students for this fastmoving world by teaching ‘21st-century (21C) skills’ such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, problem solving and even empathy.

Many educators believe these aptitudes are essential for learning and employment, both now and in the future.

When specialist education facility The Mind Lab started in 2013, it aimed to give children the chance to experience different ways of learning, from coding and robotics to stop-frame animation and 3D printing.

Educating teachers now the focus Just six years later, says The Mind Lab founder Frances Valintine, the majority of New Zealand primary schools are now teaching in a way that is “highly collaborative, project-based, inquiryled and digital where appropriate… instead of a very one-size-fits-all [approach]”.

As a result, The Mind Lab’s main focus is now on educating teachers. Since launching its

Digital and Collaborative Learning postgraduate programme four years ago, it has taught more than 4,500 teachers – or one in every 15 teachers – in more than 30 centres across the country.

“The world has moved fully from analogue to digital,” Valintine says. “Literally everything has changed. It’s not about knowing digital skills as a priority – it’s actually the tools of today.”

When it comes to 21C skills, Valintine says adaptability is crucial.

“The ability to understand and be able to flex in the way we think.”

Critics argue that it is not possible to think if you don’t know anything to begin with.

Yet information now comes and goes, says Valintine; while some facts will hold for decades, other information quickly becomes dated.

“It’s really about filtering through what we need to know now, and where the general trajectory is of what we need to know for the future.”

Another argument is that digital learning is lightweight and simply involves looking things up on Google.

Not so, says Valintine. “I actually think the other way – students can validate the source, use comparative data and test theories.”

In that way learning becomes rich, personalised and in-depth.

“I would challenge anyone to say a typical 12-year-old today knows less than one of my generation.

“They have a vast abundance of knowledge at their fingertips and understanding, and they ask questions that I wouldn’t have comprehended, in any way, at that age.”

Foundation skills such as reading, writing and basic arithmetic remain “the building blocks of all knowledge”.

Yet even this could change in the future.

Keyboards becoming redundant Valintine predicts keyboards could become redundant within the next five years, thanks to advances in voice technology, such as Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa.

This will have a huge impact and inevitably throws up more questions about educating for the future.

The ability to communicate orally will become a priority, she says.

“Are people comfortable with their children spending very little time perfecting their handwriting, versus wanting to understand the narrative of storytelling?”

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March 2019 | 5

New skills for the future "vital" Technology is important at King’s College – but so is preparing students for an uncertain future.

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echnology is not a magic wand that will solve all the problems of secondary education, according to Simon Lamb, headmaster of King’s College in South Auckland.

Instead, students need to be prepared for an uncertain world where change is a constant.

Lamb, who took over the helm of King’s in 2016, says all secondary schools are responding to dramatic changes in the workforce, modes of study and the way we live.

“Technology is interrupting the way employment will appear for our students,” he says. “There’s no question of the impact it is having on student learning, but we also hope it can extend learning opportunities.”

Lamb says the use of ICT is a vital part of learning at King’s – showing students what the possibilities are, using the advantages of technology, but also teaching them how to manage the disadvantages: “Technology is not in itself a panacea for education and will not solve all the problems.”

As well as the technical knowledge gained through ICT, ‘soft skills’ such as collaboration, innovative thinking and adaptability will stand students in good stead once they leave the college.

“There is no getting away from the fact that students need a core base of academic knowledge to be well-prepared for the world after secondary schoolbut they also need a set of other skills to thrive in that future.

“We need to teach them, for example, what to do when they don’t know what the next step is or if they are unsure of what to do. That’s really important.

“For example, when a teacher is working on an algebra problem and comes across an issue in solving it, they can demonstrate strategies for coping with the problem. Young people are often osmotic learners, so they learn through seeing how the teachers react and respond to their own difficulties and challenges,” Lamb says.

“It’s also important for them to work on collaborative projects so they can learn to be accepting of each other’s differences and work together. That capacity to learn from each other can really be extended by something like Google Drive, and it’s a measurable way to enable teaching and learning behaviour.”

Those skills cut across all subjects and disciplines and can be passed on through classroom interaction as well as in other activities, he says. The school’s philosophy of providing an all-round education means all students have to participate in sports, cultural activities and house activities.

King’s original founding philosophy from 1896 – providing ‘the best all-round education it is possible to obtain’ – remains relevant today despite it being a very different world. Students with a broad base are well equipped for the fast-paced change of the modern world.

The concept of an all-round education is at the centre of the school’s teaching and learning philosophy, which covers eight key dimensions: learning, internationalism, democracy, environment, adventure, leadership, service and spirituality.

The eight dimensions help to define and measure specific skills so they can be fully learned and understood by students and so staff can demonstrate that set of skills through teaching behaviours.

Lamb says the school needs to think constantly about what the future might look like for its students and therefore what skills might be required: “The skills of being able to express yourself articulately on paper and verbally will remain but the way we communicate is going to change, including other methods and modes,” he says.

“Our job is to teach skills that can assist our students in the future, giving them not only the hard knowledge to succeed independently but the soft skills as well – the sense of involvement in community, the ability to be intuitive and collaborative – so they can make the most of the opportunities presented to them.”

Source: NZ Herald

6 | March 2019

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The skills vs knowledge debate: what do teachers think?

Should we be focusing on teaching our kids to problem solve and communicate? Or is it more important for them to have a foundation of knowledge?

Rachel Helyer Donaldson takes stock of the debate.

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he concept of 21st-century skills has divided many educators into two camps: those who believe skills like problem solving offer the key to success in the future and those who argue that traditional knowledge remains fundamental.

Last year English academic Briar Lipson slammed “the 21st-century skills craze”, branding it “un-evidenced hogwash” in an Education Central article.

Lipson, a research fellow at policy think tank The New Zealand Initiative, says that in England, the idea of 21st-century skills was dropped rapidly, “like a Furby in a pokémon hunt”.

Too many Kiwi educators, she says, are in thrall to the idea that educating for the future means swapping out knowledge for generic skills. Under this model, teachers are no longer valued for their subject knowledge.

“The reality, of course, is that skills are intimately intertwined with factual knowledge stored in long-term memory… there is no evidence that skills are transferable.”

A critical necessity?

Former school principal and education consultant Steve Morris disagrees.

Twenty-first-century skills are “not a ‘zeitgeist of the times’,” he told

Education Central, “but a critical necessity” in today’s globally mobile world.

“The world drives electric cars, while education still tootles along in a Model T… the future is already here and it demands a different skill set from what was required in the past.”

Good teachers are still relevant but “by placing students before subjects, great things start to happen”.

Many Kiwi students are “bored and disengaged” and cannot see the link between what they learn at school and the ‘real world’, he says.

The key to raising student success rates, Morris says, is by creating an “engaging, motivating and challenging curriculum, along with teachers who have the appropriate tools at their disposal to make it happen”.

Skills like critical thinking and cultural awareness actually require students to think deeply. Meanwhile, the things that are easier to test and teach are also easier to digitise, automate and outsource.

“Employers more than ever before are looking for heuristic, not algorithmic thinkers.”

Binary view “unhelpful” Other educationalists argue that a binary view of skills and knowledge is unhelpful and even dangerous.

Changes in education are needed to deliver a curriculum that prepares children for the modern world.

Catherine Kelsey, assistant principal with responsibility for Curriculum and Pedagogy at Hastings Girls’ High, says the debate suggests there is a new formula to teaching.

Changes in education are needed to deliver a curriculum that prepares children for the modern world. Yet good teaching has always encompassed these skills.

Meanwhile the workforce has “always needed people who can think, who can self-manage and work in teams”.

Educators must not “get suckered” by seductive labels and those who claim to provide “a magic answer”.

“What extent is business/economy driving education and why are educators buying into this? Soft skills are important, but you can’t think if you don’t know anything – good teachers know that.”

It is “critical” that New Zealand moves beyond a binary debate of knowledge versus skills, and instead recognises that both are “essential” to education, says Dr Nina Hood.

Hood, a former teacher who now lectures at the University of Auckland on the role of digital technologies in education, says skills and knowledge represent different sides of the same coin.

One cannot exist without the other. “It is for this reason that we struggle to write an essay on a topic that we do not know well enough.”

March 2019 | 7

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The new world of work: are students prepared?

Justine Munro, co-founder of 21C Skills Lab, says that the community of interest being formed by new business and education partnerships will transform high school education in Aotearoa.

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he word ‘disruption’ has suffered from acute overuse, so much so that we risk failing to empathise with the crisis that employers face. Disruption means nothing less than the destruction of established business models in the face of new models, leading to vast cohorts of workers with obsolete skills and a shortfall of workers able to fill the new roles. Reskilling workers, and preparing tomorrow’s workers, are two of the biggest challenges of our times.

Job ads already ask for digital literacy 212 percent more than they did only three years ago. They ask for critical thinking 158 percent more, and creativity 65 percent more. Demand for fundamental traits like curiosity and tenacity is now overtaking demand for technical skills, which has rapidly become out of date.

Employers are struggling to find workers with the right traits, and reskilling is both difficult and expensive once workers lose the neural plasticity that is such a notable feature of adolescence.

Business/education partnerships Therefore, forward-thinking businesses are looking at how they can partner with high schools to foster creative, socially intelligent workers of the future.

Adolescence is the ideal time to develop the 21stcentury (21C) skills of creativity, curiosity, digital fluency, communication, teamwork and global competence that businesses need to thrive.

To ensure that these business/education partnerships achieve meaningful scale, 21C Skills Lab is working with Spark Foundation, Stanford d.school and leading New Zealand educators to roll out an Edternships Programme in 2019. Standout educators and progressive business leaders shadow each other, learn about the new world of work and education practices respectively, and collaborate to create an open-source, transformative learning experience that is fit for the 21st century.

The programme is being co-designed

by New Zealand educators, businesses, students and iwi, together with philanthropists and government agencies for a full roll-out in the second half of 2019.

This will involve three phases, described below: Phase One – Design Institute, led by Stanford d.school (March-April 2019)

After substantial early collaboration, this phase culminates in a Design Day on 12 April 2019. The outcome of the Design Day will be a prototype Edternships Programme that will be tested in Phase Two.

Phase Two – testing (May-June 2019) During this phase, 21C Skills Lab will test the programme prototype with educator and business champions. Phase Two will culminate in a Feedback Workshop in June, where participants will come together to share experiences and make changes to the prototyped design.

Phase Three – Roll-out (July-October 2019)

In term 3, 21C Skills Lab will run the Edternship Programme with an initial grouping of educators and businesses, ensuring feedback and impact evaluation is captured for constant iteration of the programme.

Reskilling workers, and preparing tomorrow’s workers, are two of the biggest challenges of our times.

21C Skills Lab welcomes school leaders, educators and businesses interested in joining the programme as co-designers. They will work alongside some of the country’s smartest teachers and leaders from businesses including Spark, Fonterra, Xero, thl and Air New Zealand, and public sector agencies such as MBIE, ACC and Callaghan Innovation.

8 | March 2019

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“What we never used to have to do was to teach the students how to study. Now we do.”

Gaming the system: NCEA and the Record of Achievement Ahead of the public discussion of the Government’s NCEA review, Jaylan Boyle asks two senior educators to critique the current Record of Achievement.

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ive ‘Big Opportunities’ have been identified and tendered for public discussion as part of the Government’s ongoing review of the NCEA system. ‘Big Opportunity 5’ focuses on the Record of Achievement – the distillation of a student’s journey through NCEA – and how it might better reflect what a student has actually learned (and what they haven’t).

Universities in particular have said that the Record of Achievement is very opaque and often masks shortcomings in a student’s learning history that can prove to make all the difference when they’re confronted with the more demanding world of academia.

While the job of Victoria University Dean of Engineering Dale Carnegie may not be to win friends and influence people (with apologies to him, undoubtedly not for the first time), part of it is to ensure that students entering this demanding course of study are equipped with everything they need to hit their potential. Carnegie says that he gets no help in this from the NCEA system and its distillation, the Record of Achievement.

While he is quick to point out that NCEA has in one aspect succeeded – in its mission to keep kids at school longer – he says that’s of no consolation when he finds himself faced with a classroom in which a decent proportion of students are clearly in over their heads, despite what their Record of Achievement may say.

“What’s really clear, especially in engineering and the other physical sciences, is that students are coming through woefully underprepared – not just in terms of content knowledge, but also in study skills and approach to study. The standards and the ability of the students have plummeted to the point that we almost write off the first trimester now.”

Carnegie believes that the Record of Achievement is designed to make the best of a student’s learning record, which isn’t a lot of help in assessing whether they have what it takes to get through their first year.

There is a reason why New Zealand is experiencing a chronic shortage of engineering graduates, and no amount of window dressing can change that.

Is ‘achieved’ a predictor of success?

A glossy record

Carnegie and colleagues have run some analysis to examine whether an ‘achieved’ NCEA grade is a predictor of success in engineering, taking in data from most of New Zealand’s major universities. Spoiler: it is not.

“The ‘achieved’ grade is an incredibly poor indicator.

I believe that the achieved grade can span anything from the historical 40 percent right through to about 75 percent. We don’t even trust what an achieved grade means anymore. Whereas before, when a student came through with the old bursary results – while that was a flawed system also – we could actually rely on that as being an indicator of student ability. We simply can’t with NCEA.” Carnegie says that he would go back to the old system “in a heartbeat”, and although he acknowledges it had some serious flaws “at least students were learning a subject in its entirety, and they were getting a numeric grade that was at least a reasonable indicator of ability, whereas that’s lost now.”

Carnegie believes that, in effect, NCEA serves to teach students how to play their cards right.

“Here I’m talking about students of around median ability, shall we say. The high-flyers, they’re fine, there’s no problem at all. But what NCEA is training kids to do is to game play. What we see is that students come through with this expectation that because they’ve been learning in modules, and not learning a subject in its entirety, they think they can just pick and choose what they’re going to learn. Some of them think that they can do re-sits; they can take alternative modules. There are all these ways they can game the system to get past.

“It’s not unusual for us – because we track students’ progress from the time they arrive – at around week four, five or six, to be having conversations with students and saying, ‘Hey, we’re getting really worried that you’re getting behind’. They’ll say things like, ‘Don’t worry, I was behind at school too. I caught up then, I’ll catch up now’. In their minds, failure is nothing to worry about because they’re used to a system in which they can just pick up other modules.

“What we never used to have to do was to teach the students how to study. Now we do.”

Bronwyn Wood is a senior lecturer at Victoria University’s School of Education. She believes that the NCEA Record of Achievement is set up to enhance a student’s post-secondary school opportunities, which is a good thing in some respects, but that this approach can create a lessthan-honest portrait of how they’ve conducted their learning.

“Firstly it shows what they’ve achieved, but it doesn’t show what they’ve attempted but didn’t achieve. So it’s very rewarding to the student who has this glossy record of achievement, but at no stage would you know that they’ve actually previously failed courses that they’ve achieved on a subsequent attempt, or that they’ve failed to even attempt stuff that would have been a good idea.”

Wood’s other major criticism of NCEA as a whole, reflected by the Record of Achievement, is that it disincentivises students, who need to learn how to extend themselves before being confronted with the rude awakening that is university.

“There’s absolutely no incentive to do anything challenging or difficult. This is reflected in the Record of Achievement. There’s simply no incentive to do a difficult credit when you could just do a lightweight one as an alternative.

“We’ve got evidence from a study we’re doing for students arriving at university having completed NCEA that shows that 27 percent of them admitted that they avoided completing achievement standards because they didn’t have time in the exam so they just focused on the ones that they wanted to do, or that they didn’t feel like doing it, and wanted to do something else.

“The beauty of NCEA is its flexibility, but that’s also its greatest flaw – the flexibility means that there’s no requirement to do anything that’s difficult at all.”

March 2019 | 9

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Crane operator finds her place and continues family legacy Deciding what career to set a lifetime of hard work to can be quite a daunting task to face. As an apprentice or trainee you can land a great job and earn while you learn.

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his is exactly why Rebecca Banks, a 19-yearold crane operator, decided to leave school at 16 and join the family business.

“I had no idea what I wanted to do so I didn’t want to take the big step of going to university and then regretting it,” Rebecca explains. “My mum works in the office at Banks Engineering and Crane Hire and she needed help, so I decided to leave school and go work in the office until I figured out what I wanted to do.”

The company was started by her dad over 20 years ago. While it may seem a big jump from admin to cranes, Rebecca took it all in her stride. “We needed more qualified crane operators, so my dad asked if I wanted to sit my crane tickets and I just went for it.”

Rebecca now operates a five-tonne crawler crane and

a 20-tonne mobile crane and has her Dogman ticket and Class Two Load Pilot ticket.

What Rebecca loves most about the role is the variety, “It’s pretty challenging but every single job you go to is completely different.”

She also enjoys people’s reactions when she gets introduced as a crane operator, “There aren’t a lot of female crane operators, so it’s pretty out there and watching their mouths drop is pretty funny, it’s nice to surprise people.”

When asked why she didn’t think twice about getting her crane tickets Rebecca said, “When you go to uni, you’re not guaranteed to get a job afterwards. But, if you go into a trade, you’re pretty much guaranteed a job. In that sense, it’s way better than going to

university, but it depends on what you want to do really.

“All my friends who went to uni have horrible debt, but in the next year or so I’ll be looking at purchasing my first home.”

Rebecca wants to continue working her way up the ranks and move on to the bigger 50 and 90-tonne cranes. She has some advice for women out there looking to enter trades: “Construction companies I have spoken with have been very encouraging towards women getting into trades because they’re generally gentler with the machinery. If you’re a woman who wants to get into the industry, you could easily get a job because you’re being sought-after really.”

10 | March 2019

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The levels are wrong Josh Williams, CEO of the Industry Training Federation, wants to see the NZQF level descriptors reviewed so that industry and trades qualifications get the recognition they deserve.

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he Industry Training Federation (ITF) has recently submitted to the review of the New Zealand Qualifications Framework (NZQF), supporting a review of the NZQF level descriptors.

I know. I have already used several terms that cause normal people to glaze over. But bear with me, because this matters. The issue is about the perception and status and sometimes stigma people can have about vocational options and skilled occupations, and how we define progression in education.

We want the current review to remap industry and trades qualifications on the NZQF, in terms of their actual skill levels.

Here is the official descriptor for Level 7, which is where the NZQF puts undergraduate degrees:

These could affect the structural integrity of our kids’ rooms and will likely involve a substantial hit to our savings account. That’s high-stakes stuff, so we did the right thing: got three quotes and met with our prospective contractors.

Long story short, they did an amazing job.

Our builders didn’t just know stuff, they knew how to do stuff. When you take cladding off a house, you find out lots of new issues, and so you diagnose, apply complex problem solving, and select appropriate techniques, using specialist skills, in a professional context.

Having lived through this, I wish to claim the following as ITF’s Chief Executive, but even more so as a mortgage holder: if our contractors did not have the things that NZQF Level 7 talks about, in terms of skills, knowledge, and application, we would not have hired Knowledge: Specialised technical or theoretical them. We would not have trusted them with our walls. knowledge with depth in one or more fields of We would not have parted with that money. work or study.

So I find it weird and wrong that, typically, our qualified tradespeople Skills: – Analyse, generate currently carry a Level 4 solutions to unfamiliar and sometimes complex problems. qualification.

“I find it weird – Select, adapt and apply a That says that after four or and wrong that, range of processes relevant to even five years of theoretical the field of work or study. and technical training, they typically, our qualified have climbed one level of the Application: Advanced tradespeople currently qualifications framework from a generic skills and/or specialist Level 3 NCEA school leaver. carry a Level 4 knowledge and skills in a That denotes that a fully professional context or field of qualification.” qualified, licensed, professional study. tradesperson is operating one level Reading the descriptor above, below where a first-year university I have no doubt that NZQF Level student is studying.

7 describes many, many, critical And it deems that someone like me, with a members of our workforce that we BA in English literature, has graduated three levels would recognise as skilled, qualified, professional tradespeople. And, for that matter, many other higher on the NZQF than the licensed building specialised and qualified people we rely on to provide practitioners who sorted out my house. critical services, social services, and care.

Well, this BA is calling “BS”.

But that’s just my opinion. What about the research?

At this point, you would be completely right to state Recent Victoria University and WelTec research into that this is a case of ‘apples and oranges’. One can’t the language of the trades found that the amount of possibly compare horizontal control joint remediation vocabulary required for reading in the trades is as with the literary expression of religious doubt. much as the amount of vocabulary needed to read You would be right, but that is exactly my point. university-level academic written texts. They’ve also Back in the day, someone did just that, when they looked at both English and Tongan languages – the set up the NZQF. They said tradespeople apples are finding is the same.

Level 4, and poetry appreciator oranges are Level 7.

But that’s just the research. What about some firstThis is not a ‘university versus trades’ thing. A BA hand experience? Last year my wife and I hired a in English is a fantastic qualification. It opened doors builder and his recently qualified BCITO apprentice for me and thousands of others. But I don’t think to reclad part of our house. those degrees would be diminished, or open fewer It’s our first family home. Like a lot of people doors, if the NZQF – on society’s collective behalf – these days, we were lucky to get a house at all, and acknowledged that our fully qualified tradespeople it turns out there were one or two issues with the 1980s extension. have scaled different, but entirely equal, heights.

March 2019 | 11

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Changing lanes: why one career for life is no longer the norm Gone are the days when people stayed in one stable career for their entire working lives. While a career change can be daunting, it can also be incredibly rewarding. Rebekah Fraser spoke to three women who took the leap into new careers.

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resh out of university, Whangarei-born Danny Dyer began her working career as an archeologist. However, she quickly realised it wasn’t the right job

for her.

“My life seemed like it was going to be defined by writing reports, being away from home, monitoring and waiting for pay cheques. I decided to get out before I got too invested in it and stayed for the wrong reasons.”

Seeking stability, she began working in sales and marketing.

“Event organisation became my thing, but even though I enjoyed it I still needed more of a creative outlet.”

Dyer began studying graphic design whilst working, and “played” with polymer clay in her spare time.

“I decided to take a risk and resign to create art before travelling. It paid off and I realised that I was in love with creating art and wanted to make it my new career.”

Now based in London and creating under the name Danny Rae Design, Dyer works part-time in a cafe and part-time on her art.

“I think it took my journey through careers to realise art was what I wanted to do and for that I wouldn’t change a thing.”

She said there were skills she had used across her different careers.

“Problem solving, for example. In archaeology I’d work with site managers and together we’d make plans for their site to avoid disruptions to the dig.”

In sales and marketing, those problem solving skills helped with event planning, Dyer said.

As an artist, client requests often led to quick thinking.

“The size of my pieces are limited to the size of an oven, but a client wanted a large piece. I rang around commercial bakers and found one that had a large enough oven to bake my piece.”

Dyer said her generation was fortunate to have flexibility in their working lives.

“We are lucky that in our generation we don’t have to conform to the norm to be classified as a success. We have the opportunity to create our own idea of success and success to me is being happy and doing what I love, learning a variety of skills, seeing the world and sharing my creativity with others.”

Hair to dear For Jasmine Ruffell, the birth of her first child sparked her career change.

“I had lost the passion and decided I needed to push myself and pursue a career that I was excited and passionate about.”

A hairdresser for six years, she is now training to become a midwife.

She said her skills developed in hairdressing were already playing an important part in her new career.

“Both jobs require a great deal of communication with clients and staff. Building relationships and connecting with clients also plays a major role in gaining my clients’ trust and respect.”

Time management is another important skill she learned during hairdressing that will help as a midwife.

“Initiative and problem solving skills are important too. In both careers, things will happen that will be out of my control and I’ll have to adapt to new situations quickly.”

“If you can demonstrate you have transferable skills that employers value, you have a good chance.”

Medical tape to real estate Rachel Jenkinson made the move to real estate after working for St John New Zealand as an office manager.

“At St John I did a bit of everything, but primarily I focused on fundraising.”

Moving from secure employment to self-employment was a “leap into the unknown” but skills gained from St John had helped, she said.

“People might think it’s not similar at all, but actually both jobs are about helping people. I get such a thrill from seeing people succeed and move on to the next chapter in their lives.”

She said marketing and networking skills refined from her career at St John helped as a real estate agent.

“It is different in the focus on people, but those communication, people skills and troubleshooting skills I relied on at St John have helped me now.”

Careerforce chief executive Jane Wenman said a lack of experience when changing careers didn’t have to be a barrier to getting employment.

“Employers often look for people who demonstrate a good set of transferable skills.

Having transferable skills signals to employers that you are adaptable, flexible and therefore employable.”

She said soft skills – such as communication, showing initiative and having a good work attitude – are valuable across all industries.

“If you can demonstrate you have transferable skills that employers value, you have a good chance.”

12 | March 2019

educationcentral.co.nz/category/futurefocus

What do employers really want?

On the cusp of a robotic takeover we asked what do employers want from the young people they employ fresh out of school, training or tertiary study? Jody Hopkinson talked to three different employers as to what they want and expect from young people entering the workforce.

D

o corporate bosses want lots of qualifications? Not necessarily. Many corporates are looking for the ability of an applicant to be flexible and have a go get ‘em attitude rather than a Masters in Business Management per se.

Diversity and inclusion BP New Zealand employs more than 2,000 people across New Zealand says their Managing Director Debi Boffa.

“We’re involved in everything from fuel distribution and airport operations, through to retail and corporate functions. Diversity and inclusion are central to our staff culture. Close to half of our executive leadership team is female and in our national office we have many full-time staff mothers who have stay-at-home partners. BP has an agile working policy which offers part-time hours, remote working as well as flexible start and finish times.”

BP’s New Zealand operations offer career opportunities in corporate and retail roles.

“Employees are involved in creating innovative products and offers for customers, developing strategy for our business, growing and designing our network, enhancing our latest app or enhancing the way we supply and distribute fuel. With us staff could be working for BP, Castrol or Air BP.” BP looks for a number of skills from new employees. They want staff that are customer focused and service-oriented, have a can-do attitude and excellent time management skills, as well as being a team player; people who are able to multitask in a busy setting. Potential employees BP looks out for are keen problem solvers; adaptable; and are able to look at things creatively.

Attitude and aptitude Neale Overend owns and runs Computer Recyclers in Tauranga. Opened in 1996 he and staff recycle old laptops and computers, update them and sell them on. He employs several staff at a time.

“For me they need to know the basics of computers as in how a computer works, how the CPU talks to the RAM, how the CPU talks to the hard drive. They need to know the basic stuff about how things work that they have learnt at a polytechnic.

“They need to have a great deal of aptitude and be able to learn quickly and are able to figure things out for themselves.”

He says he looks for new employees having a “good attitude” toward wanting to work.

“I take them on and have three weeks to figure out if they’re happy to be here and if they can do it. After three weeks you can figure out if they can do it. One lad I’d been told was a computer genius, after three weeks of training we gave him a basic box to diagnose and fix, and not for the life of him could he do it.

“On the other hand, one of the best employees who has worked for me for five years has Asperger’s and has an incredible attention to detail. He’s the kind of kid who since he was three was taking machinery apart and learning how to putting them back together.

He can figure nearly any machine out – he’s amazing.”

New employees need basic training via a diploma in computing.

“I don’t want them to have trained too much because then I have to re train them. I’d rather train them myself so then I know they’re doing it how I want it to be done. How you diagnose the problem is actually the time saver, anyone can fix the things.”

Neale says the education system provides the goods – but that the key to success for students doing the study and/or training, is that they actually want to be doing that particular course.

“I did a computer course many of my employees have done, in 2007. There were always a small number of kids who wagged a lot or yapped in class – maybe the tutor wasn’t strong enough. In their defence probably shouldn’t have to be, but that’s the reality that there are students there wasting other people’s time.”

Neale says training on the job should be a constant.

“We all need to be keeping our knowledge up to date.”

Motivation and reliability Glen Fitzjohn is owner of a painting business painting “new-builds” in Papamoa. He has employed up to ten painters at a time. He currently employs two.

“My three top requirements are motivation and reliability, and using their initiative. I’ve been really fortunate I haven’t had many bad employees.

“Skills-wise they need to be able to prepare everything for painting, keep the job site clean and do

the painting. Some of my best workers haven’t had any qualifications. And sometimes some of the employees with qualifications have been so far up their own arse they don’t think they have to toe the line.”

The first eight weeks on the job are an intensive training period, he says.

“You’re teaching them the basics of what paint where, how and when. My best worker ever had his first job with me and came to me with no experience whatsoever. He was able to communicate with clients, was always reliable and eager to learn. I trained him and within eight weeks he was getting to the stage of doing it solo.”

Communicating with clients is key, he says.

“Most of our clients are great but some can be picky and negative and have very high expectations.

So staff have to be able to converse with a range of people and be professional at all times…some clients have worked and saved for 20, 50 years to buy these new homes. We need and want to do a good job for them.”

Glen says he notices those employees who have responsibilities and/or are part of a strong family unit often means they work harder.

“My top employee had a hard upbringing; he just had this incredible self-motivation. He didn’t let anything faze him.”

Glen says ongoing on the job training is essential.

He praises the New Zealand education system.

“I think poverty makes it hard for kids to learn at school and in turn set themselves up for life after school. It consumes your mind worrying about what you’re going to eat – it’s hard to think about anything else. It affected me when I was a kid.”

Glen says tighter margins affect staff in that he as a boss doesn’t have the time or head space to be expanding the business and further expanding his staff at times.

“Passing on knowledge from older painters to those ones starting out is so important. It’s just hard to do that when there are so many more rules and regulations to be followed, and more costs than there used to be in terms of health and safety and insurance for example. It’s changed how we do things. The money’s not flowing down from the top, which means the pay rate hasn’t increased but costs have. That means we’re tired.”

educationcentral.co.nz/category/futurefocus Sponsored Content

March 2019 | 13

From Scrubbing Cages to Coding Languages: One Woman’s ICT CareerTransformation

W

hen Sarah Turner was working as a vet nurse, she never could have imagined life as a backend software developer on a multinational project.

“I always thought the tech industry was full of geeks in dark rooms sitting behind computers surrounded by empty energy drinks. I didn’t think I had the brains for it and the environment never appealed.”

Caring and empathetic, Sarah loved being a nurse but was exhausted by the physicality and low pay of vet clinics. A mother of two beautiful kids, Sarah knew that she also couldn’t invest in a three year Bachelor degree. Desperate for change, she decided to enrol in a commerce paper at Victoria University of Wellington.

Maybe a business career would provide a better work-life balance for her small family?

During this paper Sarah had a lucky break, a single assignment required learning the basics of HTML CSS. Here Sarah realised that her detail orientation and natural empathy were critical for completing the assignment. Following this, she began a search for an intensive programme where she could hone this new and highly practical skill.

This is when Sarah found the Wellington ICT Graduate School. Uniquely placed in the Wellington Tech ecosystem, this TEC funded initiative partners with Victoria University of Wellington and Whitireia/WelTec to offer oneyear, Level 9 Masters Degrees. Perfect for professionals like Sarah, who are ready to invest in a major career transition into the tech space.

“Everyone wants you to succeed,” says Sarah about the Wellington ICT Graduate School, “our professors collaborate with industry

professionals to create courses that make us job ready.”

When Sarah arrived to the first day of class, she was especially surprised to see a room half-full of other women. The cultural shift towards promoting diversity in tech was directly reflected in her classroom. Moreover, because of the conversion nature of the course, her peers came from all different backgrounds and walks of life. Artists, linguists, musicians and mathematicians without any prior experience in the tech world.

“I was definitely surprised at the range of skills I have had to employ to complete the course projects. My prior experience as a mother and vet nurse has helped me to work in teams, understand directives and write code confidently.”

The Wellington ICT Graduate School also provided Sarah the chance to work with the other disciplines. Alongside Master of Professional Business Analysis and Master of User Experience Design students, she completed collaborative projects for local Wellington businesses and start-ups.

Because her Master of Software Development programme blended technical education with teamwork, Sarah was able to complete real life projects which landed her the internship of a lifetime working with a global team.

“Today’s tech industry requires both soft and hard skills,” says Lynda Turner the Director of the Wellington ICT Graduate School. “Professionals can no longer work in isolation. Technology is inherently about people and that’s why we are excited to provide these innovative and transformative programmes.”

Leading by example, Sarah’s children have seen her work long hours and most weekends but they have also witnessed a strong, motivated professional ready to capitalise on natural skills she never knew she had.

“As an adult, I have discovered exactly what I want to do, and I’m not giving up anytime soon.”

Wellington ICT Graduate School offers five taught Master’s-level degrees, developing students in the areas of software development, business analysis, information technology, user experience design and design technology. The School offers a Postgraduate Diploma & Certificate in ICT creating a pathway for people looking to get a formal qualification for the tech industry.

14 | March 2019

educationcentral.co.nz/category/futurefocus

“In a professional and personal sense, I think upskilling brings a person a sense of pride that comes from having new knowledge and skills.”

Keeping pace C with industry: the importance of upskilling Advancements in technology and changes in industry are driving home the importance of keeping skill sets relevant to meet the needs of everchanging jobs. By Rebekah Fraser.

areerforce chief executive Jane Wenman believes it is important that both employees and employers are open to continuous learning and upskilling.

“We live in a fast-changing world where new practices are being developed, new technologies are being invented and new discoveries are made. We need to be able to keep up and adapt quickly.”

Fonterra HR director of global operations Rachael Regan-Paterson says the company has a “strong commitment” to lifelong learning.

“As an organisation, you’re only as good as your people are.”

She urges other companies to take upskilling seriously.

“Every organisation in New Zealand needs to be looking at their learning budget and asking themselves if they’re setting themselves up to succeed in the future,” she says.

“For Fonterra, as the world goes into a different way of working, we are setting a really strong platform to succeed. We need to be looking at ways to adapt and letting our staff know that yes, there will be changes but you’ll be coming with us.”

Wenman says that training ensures organisations have “high-performing and contributing” staff.

For staff, training can lead to higher pay, more confidence, and a better understanding of the employee’s role, their organisation and the people they support, she says.

“In a professional and personal sense, I think upskilling brings a person a sense of pride that comes from having new knowledge and skills.”

Necessary business cost Wenman says good employers are “forward thinkers” who know that investing in education is a necessary business cost.

“It’s never wise to allow things to become stagnant, which is why it’s important for employers to provide ongoing training or opportunities to upskill to their staff. Upskilling can help people to expand their knowledge, develop new skills or improve their existing skills.”

March 2019 | 15

educationcentral.co.nz/category/futurefocus

Say ‘cheese’:

a lesson in upskilling The fast moving world of photography has driven home the importance of upskilling for Whangarei-based business owner Sarah Marshall. By Rebekah Fraser.

F

or photographer Sarah Marshall, upskilling is an important business expense.

“The photography industry is so fast-paced with technology and creativity; I have come to realise that not keeping up will be far more costly to business than the cost of upskilling itself.”

Marshall began her business, Sarah Marshall Photography, after completing a small business management course in 2011.

Regan-Paterson says that training and learning is a “significant investment” for Fonterra.

Technical training for staff to meet health and safety and food safety compliance was important.

“It is more than that though. Having knowledgeable employees who are open to learning; they are motivated. They want to continue in their careers.”

Staff at all levels of the organisation have the chance to upskill, she says.

“As we progress in life, not just in our careers, we need to show that we don’t stop learning. It doesn’t matter if you’re 25, 45 or 65, having an open mindset and being willing to learn is really important.”

Upskilling “no-brainer” Pete Castle worked in the media industry for 37 years before joining Fonterra.

The blender operator at Te Rapa says it was a “big adjustment” switching careers.

“When you’ve been in your field for three decades, you’re the one people come to with questions. Joining Fonterra, I knew nothing.”

Castle started on the packing line before moving into the cream cheese plant, and says he leapt at the chance to undertake the DairyCraft programme offered by the company.

“I wanted to understand what was happening around me. It’s made me more comfortable at what I’m doing at work.”

Upskilling is more than just learning the technical skills required for the job, he says.

“As well as learning more about my job, I earn while I learn and I get a pay rise at the end of it. I have the support of a coach at work. It was a no-brainer to upskill.”

Wenman urged employers to look at different ways of learning that would suit their staff, be they in-house training, apprenticeships, or paper-based or online learning through external providers.

“I think it’s crucial that we remove as many barriers as we can for staff to upskill and learn. We need to investigate how best we can support upskilling them without taking away too much from their personal time.”

“As a full-time mother, I appreciated the opportunity to study business and put together a business plan in my hometown. The skills and knowledge I learned from the course have been the foundation of my business ever since.”

Since starting her business she has completed a course on studio lighting and takes part in less formal areas of education, including workshops with other photographers.

“We get together to share and learn from each other. We teach and talk about creative ideas, technical and gear advice and business skills.”

Networking benefits Marshall also takes part in online education to keep up to date.

“Online networking is generally ‘community over competition’ and fellow photographers are often an open book when our colleagues need help or advice,” she says.

As well as providing technical learning, upskilling offered networking benefits.

“Being a self-employed photographer means that you are mostly by yourself working on your business, apart from what seems like the brief time with clients behind the camera. It can feel like 80 percent of running a photography business happens in front of a screen.”

She says upskilling also provided personal growth, as well as professional skills.

“I found I came back from a workshop feeling refreshed, energised and inspired to be creative, improve my pricing or add new products and services.

It is also just nice to be around creative business owners who speak the same language and are a joy to spend time with.”

Marshall says she is grateful for online learning options for upskilling.

“I think we are lucky to have online education at our fingertips as well as local short courses so we can run a successful business as well as be with family.”

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