JAN-MAR 2014

AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL LEAVERS ONLINE MAGAZINE

l o o h c s Leaving

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.com.au

2014

Jan-Mar

EDITION

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5 ways to generate

great ideas!

school shake-up why it’s time for change essential conversations between parents and sons

linked in: your essential online career tool

what you should know before leaving school

ool Leaving sch.com .au PUBLISHER

leavingschool.com.au CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Stephen Sutherland GRAPHIC DESIGN + LAYOUT

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Jeff Gilling

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PRINCIPAL’S CORNER Ten conversations with a son

CONTRIBUTORS

> Tim Hawkes > Jeff Gilling > Georgia Daniel > Phillip Hay > Harriet Farkash > Kate Fitzsimons ADVERTISING

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FIVE WAYS TO GENERATE GREAT IDEAS Train your mind to be more creative

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24 GEORGIA DANIEL What you should know before you leave school.

WANT TO WIN $500?

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50 HEADING OVERSEAS THIS YEAR? The importance of travel safety

34

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LINKED IN: Your essential online tool for careers, networking, professional development and success!

TIME FOR CHANGE Why schools need a shake-up in the 21st century

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EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED A heads up on what you can expect after leaving school

SURVIVING YEAR 12 A few tips for parents

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if you were restricted

to ten conversations what would the topics of these conversations be? – Dr Tim Hawkes

PRINCIPAL’S CORNER

Boys are herd animals. They get their identity, security and nurture from a group – usually made up of family and friends.

Essential conversations between parents and sons: I apologise for limiting the question to sons.

I do this because I am the head of a boys only school, and thus my credentials are not good for describing the conversations parents should have with daughters – although I suspect many of the conversations described below could easily be adapted for daughters.

My mind has been focussed on the question of essential conversations because of a recent invitation by Hachette Australia to write a book: Ten conversations you must have with your son – to be published in June 2014.

Following is a summary of thoughts as to what these ten conversations should be. I hope it might stimulate debate as to what conversations should be had between parent and child before the latter leave home.

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PRINCIPAL’S CORNER

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he world is not always an encouraging place. Our planet has people within it who are not always nice. Some can be unfeeling and even predatory. This can cause a boy to feel somewhat rejected and unloved.

There even exist some parents who do not love their sons. Some will say that they do, but there is no congruency between word and deed. Fortunately, most parents do love their sons, and demonstrate this love faithfully even when that love is tested by seriously bovine behaviour.

Boys are herd animals. They get their identity, security and nurture from a group – usually made up of family and friends. Without this communion, a boy is vulnerable. However, it is not just company that is needed, it is love.

Love is desiring the best for another, but it is more than this, it is also affection. Some parents manage the

A father’s provision must not be limited to hunting mammoths. It must include giving guidance. first injunction but not the second.

They describe themselves as loving their sons but not liking them. This is not enough – even though the latter might be justified by a son playing up like a second-hand lawnmower.

Some parents, particularly fathers, will present evidence of faithful provision as evidence of their love. This is also not enough. A son needs to enjoy his father’s company, to feel his father’s touch and to hear his father’s words. There is evidence to suggest that meaningful discourse between fathers and sons can be pitifully small.

Fathers will often defend their absence from their son’s life as caused by their duties as provider. But, a father’s provision must not be limited to hunting mammoths. It must include giving guidance.

With one marriage in three disintegrating in the western world,

January –March 2014

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PRINCIPAL’S CORNER there are a lot of sons that have suffered the part or total departure of a parent from their life. Some are lucky and find a wonderful step-parent to assuage their sense of loss. Others are not so lucky – either because there is no-one stepping in, or because those stepping in are not so diligent as mentor and friend.

A son needs at least one adult who adores him – preferably two.

A son needs to know that he is a priority in someone’s life. A son needs to be loved and he also needs to be appreciated.

A son needs to know that he is a priority in someone’s life. A son needs to be loved and he also needs to be appreciated.

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2 T

oo many boys do not know who they are. They have little idea of their extraordinary ability. As a result, their unique talents remain undiscovered and their life is blighted by their potential never being realised.

The teen years are years of searching for an identity that is their own – an identity that is independent of family, and possibly, even of friends. Too many boys are accidental in the formation of their faith, conviction and politics.

Others are worse – they haven’t formed ideas about anything and seem content to drift through life unlabeled (often interpreted as a good thing) and uninformed (often seen as a bad thing).

It is also important for a boy to know his history and inheritance. Whilst recognising that there are some

understandable sensitivities in some family circumstances, such as with an adopted son or a stepson, a boy needs to know something about the spiral helix of life that is his. What were his progenitors like? What are the character traits of his real or adopted family? What are the lessons to be learnt from family tragedies of the past and what is the inspiration to be learnt from the triumphs?

A son needs to develop his knowledge and understanding of self. He will have worked out that his biological gender assignment is male, but he may not have worked out the implications of this. A boy needs to understand his body, mind, heart and soul. He needs to understand his chemistry, his hardwiring, his character.

January –March 2014

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3 A

boy needs guidance in morality for within the dark corners of society, a moral blindness can stop the recognition of that which is right.

Within this shadowy world, ethics writhe into convenient distortions of the truth. Values melt and slump to a level that allows one to misbehave.

What will be the reference points for a boy’s behaviour? What will be the navigational markers he will use to navigate the world’s seas? There are many competing and even conflicting philosophies that beckon alluringly to him. What ones should he be guided by? There are many choices, including the secular philosophies associated with humanism, existentialism, utilitarianism, consequentialism and a lot of other ‘isms’, There are also divine directives to consider. Examples of non-secular references for acceptable behaviour include the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism, the Ten Commandments of Judeo-Christianity and the Quran of Islam.

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In the end, character is demonstrated by choices. There can be a temptation for parents to leave many of these choices to their offspring. More than one parent has said, with a virtuous glow, that they are leaving issue of sexual morality for their son to work through. This might be admirable if it were not for the fact that the son is then given no information to make his choice on this and other matters. The result is that an uninformed choice is made, and the results can be tragic.

4 M

any students like to watch.

Watching is safe. You bear no responsibility, you accept no accountability. Many of today’s teenagers are ‘screenagers’. They look, comment and criticise from the comfort of the couch. The child then becomes an adult who finds it difficult

Our sons need to be taught how to take ownership of their behaviours, how to be leaders and teamplayers, how to make appropriate decisions, and how to operate responsibly and well. to do much other than watch and excuse themselves from accepting any responsibility. Our sons need to be taught how to take ownership of their behaviours, how to be leaders and team-players, how to make appropriate decisions, and how to operate responsibly and well.

There is a desperate need for authentic leadership today. There are many who cannot lead themselves and prefer to leave the task to others. There are parents who cannot lead a family, and there many pin-stripe suits who confuse management with leadership.

A boy also needs to learn that inextricably linked to the heady joys of increased freedom with increased age, is the less alluring reality of increased responsibility.

5 R

ather too often, the boy of today is a lazy blob who is entertained by a range of expensive electronic equipment which limits his interactions to a number of ‘e-relationships’. These relationships are often short-term, disposable and shallow.

The exercise of social skills can also be under-exercised. This can lead to a boy becoming self-centred. In short, they can become a social liability in a group larger than one. What some boys need is to be taught how to live in community. They need to learn how to live with people who are different.

This will enable them to operate in a world where annoying people remain because there is no ‘delete’ button to remove them.

Living in community also requires an ability to manage mood, feeling and impulse. Our prisons are full of men who would not be in there if they had mastered the art of counting to ten.

Acting impulsively means that only the January –March 2014

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PRINCIPAL’S CORNER reptilian part of the brain is exercised.

Other parts of the brain need to be activated in our sons if we wish our sons expand their community living experience beyond a prison.

The ‘fight or flight’ behaviours exercised by boys are genetically useful when hunting mammoths or defending a cave from intruders. But they are slightly less useful in contemporary community, except, perhaps, in sport or when running to catch the 7:46 from Epping Station when the car broke down.

Much of living in community relates to people adopting behaviours that others find pleasant. It is probably all right for a son to eat like a pig, but he must know they are eating like a pig and be able to cease eating like a pig when the situation demands it. There is a whole raft of other social behaviours, which if not learnt, can result in a boy being disadvantaged. The simple act of sending a ‘thank you’ message for a present, shaking hands in an appropriate manner, knowing what bit of cutlery to use, addressing a letter correctly, and understanding what ‘formal’ means, are just some of the skills that need to be learnt by our sons if they are not aspiring to a career running an unmanned weather station in Antarctica.

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6 M

ost of our sons want to do well in life. They are usually aided and abetted in this quest by parents.

Schools also partner in this quest. Most schools boast they, ‘Help the child realise their full potential’. However, our schools, our families and our culture often do the opposite.

Contemporary society is hobbled by a ‘mean, median mode’ mantra that is designed to ensure a boy is ‘normal’.

There is a gravitational pull to the centre of the spectrum of performance.

Boys are often complicit in this because there is comfort in not being labelled a ‘geek’ or as being dumb.

Very little in this world is attained without the price of hard work.

Unfortunately, in this ‘add-water-andmix’ age of instant gratification, the ability to work long hours toward a deferred reward, is fast evaporating.

We grizzle when we are parked for two minutes to wait for our cheeseburger.

We petition for faster broadband access to the Net. We fume over our glacial promotion up the company hierarchy.

Many of our sons need to be introduced to the tricks that can be employed to achieve success in life. One of the best tricks is to get lucky – but this cannot always be relied upon, leaving the rather depressing alternative of having to work for our success.

One of the best tricks is to get lucky – but this cannot always be relied upon, leaving the rather depressing alternative of having to work for our success.

January –March 2014

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7 T

he western world generally does a poor job in preparing its sons to be intimate. There are always exceptions, but in general, a son is required to navigate their way through the sexual swamp with minimal direction. Such signposts that are given to him can be vague and contradictory.

The parents say this, and the school says that, but the porn site says something completely different.Where adult direction falters, peer direction takes over. The ‘leader of the sack’ can, in boastful voice, suggest the way forward to the forbidden fruit.

The proper people to educate sons about sex are parents. Some parents are wonderful at giving their children guidelines on sex, whereas other parents are poor at giving such guidelines. The range of excuses are extensive. ‘It’s not my job…the school will deal with it’. ‘I’m too busy’.‘It’s the sort of thing you have to learn

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What they want is something more elusive, something which is rare, and that is guidance on how to be a man.

yourself’. ‘They probably know more about it than I do’. ‘I’m not quite sure what to tell them’. There are plenty of excuses to choose from. Other parents teach their children an attitude towards sex that is unworthy of a civilised society. They model abusive and angry relationships, unfaithful relationships, degrading relationships.

The son watches it all, memorises it all and repeats it all.

Schools can also fail their students.

Classes will do pencilled drawings of reproductive organs and become experts on how babies grow in the womb. They will be introduced to the horrors of sexually transmitted diseases in a theoretical kind of way.

Some of the luckier ones may get to role a condom onto a banana and giggle their way through a lecture on dating. The mind is fed but not the heart. The questions a son wants to ask, he is not allowed to ask, for it is

not in the syllabus. So answers must be looked for on the Net, in magazines and on the back of toilet doors.

We must do a better job at teaching our sons about sex and intimacy. They have little need to hear more about the biology of sex for this is generally done well in schools.Neither do they need to hear about the morality of sex from adults who are no longer excited by sex and who have absolutely no connection with the virility of a teenager. They want to know what they can, where they can, why they can, when they can,

how they can, if they can. They no longer need to know how they measure up inside an environment of unconditional love. They need to know how they measure up outside, in the real world where love, like and lust churn dangerously.

It is not just smut and titillation that a boy wants, for they can get these sorts of thing quite easily these days.

What they want is something more elusive, something which is rare, and that is guidance on how to be a man.

January –March 2014

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8 T

he level of ignorance in young people about financial matters can be frightening. This is revealed in the number getting into financial trouble through an inability to budget, a failure to understand the traps associated with credit cards and

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an incapacity to retire debt. Too many are persistently living beyond their means, over-relying on parental assistance and making unwise choices when selecting hire-purchase options, mobile phone plans and leasing arrangements.

The science of wealth generation and wealth management also needs to be taught. Advice on saving and the traps to avoid when borrowing or when getting involved in ‘get-richquick’ schemes, needs to be shared with sons if we are ever going to expect them to manage their financial affairs appropriately.

PRINCIPAL’S CORNER Alcohol, cigarettes and a range of illegal drugs are used with little to no understanding of their long-term health costs

9 T

oo many of our sons are dying prematurely. Some die because of accidents. Accidents are the major cause of death for those under 45 years, in many developed countries.

For others, it is not an accident. Death is embraced on purpose. In much of the developed world, 20% of teen male deaths are due to suicide.

These are horrifying statistics, but it is not easy to arrest in a world where

the quickest growing medical problem in teenagers is depression and where high-risk behaviours among the young are common.

Rather too many sons are squandering the possibility of longevity.

Alcohol, cigarettes and a range of illegal drugs are used with little to no understanding of their long-term health costs. Stir into the pot a range of sexually transmitted diseases and the dangers associated with a tricked up V8, and the chances of a son ending up in a morgue are very real.

To this depressing litany needs to be added the health issues associated with ‘secret men’s business’. Our sons need to be aware of matters such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, erectile dysfunction and infertility.

This is not to frighten them. It is to inform them and to encourage them never to take their health for granted.

Finally there are the usual grim reapers of cardiovascular and coronary disease and a range of cancers which, statistically, are the main ways they will shuffle off this mortal coil. However, a boy can be taught to adjust his behaviours so that their exit can be delayed.

January –March 2014

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10 L

ife cannot be expected to provide a constant stream of fun, praise and success. If a son is going to crumple because he does not get his hourly fix of praise, he may not last long.

Self-esteem needs to be built up but never to a stage that ordinary performance is exalted as extraordinary.

‘Warm fuzzies’ are good but so too are words of

correction if they are shared with wisdom and understanding.

Sons should not depend on a constant diet of praise. Disappointment happens, discouragement happens, distress happens and thus some inner courage is required. It might be as well to remind some that if the world didn’t ‘suck’, they would fall off and that some resilience is needed against life’s misfortunes.

The Gods play with all and cause us to laugh and cry. Therefore, some emotional and physical courage is required. As it is said, we are all born naked, wet and hungry and things then get worse. Fortunately things also get better, because life, for most people, is a constant journey through high points and low points.

The Gods play with all and cause us to laugh and cry. Therefore, some emotional and physical courage is required

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OTHER AREAS: T

here are many other essential topics that should be the subject of conversation between parents and their sons. One of these is the art of effective communication. The grunt might work well on the football ground but not in the workplace or home. In addition to speaking well, there is the need to be able to write well. A boy needs to recognise that content governs less than 10% of the impact of speech. The remaining impact of a speech is controlled by the appearance of the speaker and the sound of the speaker. The science of voice projection, articulation, accent, pitch and pace needs to be taught, together with posture, grooming and appearance. Sons also need to be taught to read body language, to sense mood, to interpret the unspoken feelings of another. They need to improve their ability to send and receive unspoken messages, other than raising the middle finger.

Another topic which should be added to the list is that of being able to drive and maintain a car. Given the carnage on our roads and the large number of sons being mined for body parts, it is a wonder schools allow any student to graduate without teaching them how

to drive safely. A son should also be taught how to look after a car, how to change a wheel, and how to undertake a basic car service.

There are also matters of the soul that need to be explored. The symptoms of this failure are revealed in shallowness, loss of meaning and a failure to recognise the sacredness of ordinary things. Irrespective of the families’ faith position, all parents should require their sons to keep their soul healthy by a diet of noble action, moving experiences, love, wisdom and the opportunity to reflect on their actions.

Having noted the above, what has been left out? What else needs to have been included in the ten essential conversations a son must have with a parent? How would the list change for daughters? Whatever our thoughts, we need to ensure that we do talk to our children and that our children talk with us on a number of key topics before they leave home.

January –March 2014

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ďŹ ve ways to generate

great ideas!

Many great ideas happen spontaneously, occurring when and where you least expect it. But you can also train your mind to be more creative. – Jeff Gilling

g

etting good marks in your final

school exams are not the essential ingredient for success in the 21st century that you might have been led to believe.

Certainly, academic achievement is important, but getting high marks in and of itself is not the defining mark of success. In fact, it’s really important to understand that even if you do not get the marks you had hoped or even expected, not to worry, because life actually does have a way of working itself out!

Perhaps what is more important today than getting a high ATAR is to develop the ‘softer’ 21 century skills of IT capacity, cooperation and collaboration (the ability to work productively with others); enterprise and entrepreneurship (the ability to work for yourself); creativity and innovation (the ability to think and have new ideas).

Throughout the year we’ll explore some of these skills and how you can develop them, starting with creativity.

Here are five ways recommended by Inc.com to help you generate great ideas

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Observe and analyse A great idea may come from experiencing something new or different. Give yourself speciďŹ c times where you can visit a new place or check out new scenery. Seeing things from a different angle may open up insights to things you may not normally or commonly have seen before.

expand your circle of friends Socialising with the same people prevents you from thinking outside the box. Converse with people who are outside your circle of friends, and it will help spark conversation that may lead to new ideas. Seeing things from someone else’s perspective leads to new ways of thinking.

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2

3

5

read more books

There is much to learn from both fiction and nonfiction books. Reading frequently will keep your brain engaged and open to new ideas. Vary the types of books you read to keep ideas flowing.

clear your thoughts Find a time to meditate and clear your brain from everyday thoughts which may clutter idea creation. Clear your thoughts so your brain is able to foster new ideas. Allow your brain to wander from thought to thought, and try not to focus on the task at hand.

randomly surf the web Surfing the web helps you gather ideas from those not only physically around you but from around the globe.

Seeing what is happening half way around the world might help you with a solution in your back yard.

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Implementing these steps may take some work and patience. But by doing so, you’ll foster a great atmosphere for generating new ideas.

And who knows? Your next great idea may just be the start of something big!

January –March 2014

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Written Portraits: A National Creative Writing Competition for Australian Teenagers is a collaboration between Forming Circles Pty Ltd and Green Olive Press.

what I wish Iknewabout leaving BEFORE I LEFT

SCHOOL – Georgia Daniel

I wish I knew that being happy with your studies and career plan is more important than class and reputation

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i

was very fortunate to be educated at one of Melbourne’s best private girls’ school.

Whilst placing much emphasis on academic success, my school was supportive and caring, protecting me from the ‘big world out there’. Year 12, naturally, was hard work and stressful at times, with much pressure to perform outstandingly. I was aiming to study Arts/Law and the school careers advisor predicted I would receive an ENTER score close to being accepted into my desired course.

However content and proud of my

results, I narrowly missed out on entry into Arts/Law at Monash University.

The negative stigma attached to other universities offering the same degree was recognised at my school and amongst the academic community, so I thus rejected other Law degree offers elsewhere and attended Monash, studying Advanced French and Advanced Italian. My intention was to transfer at the end of 2010 into Arts/Law and continue my languages.

This was the dream, just a little hiccup in the middle.

However, Monash was not what I expected. The juxtaposition between a small, inner suburb girls school to a mammoth institution overwhelmed me. I lost my sense of self very quickly and very soon realised that I wasn’t enjoying my time at uni at all. I determinedly saw out the year but knew I couldn’t go back to the same degree, or even campus. It didn’t feel right. I received an offer to Law at La Trobe at the end of 2010. Taking a

huge risk, I accepted this offer. I haven’t looked back since.

What I wish I knew about leaving school before leaving? I wish I knew that your end of year result is not the be-all-and-end-all. I wish I knew that being happy with your studies and career plan is more important than class and reputation. I wish I knew that if you make the wrong course or uni decision, it doesn’t matter. I also wish I knew that even if you don’t receive your desired ENTER/ATAR, you can still achieve your aspirations. It’s just a matter of time and perseverance.

To the students leaving school, enjoy school while you can – one day you will miss it. The simplicity, structure and comfort of school I still yearn for 5 years on. Uni and post-school life throws you out into the real world; you have to change pace and tactics until you find a new place in society that fits you and feels right. For some, this transformation occurs naturally and quickly. For others, this takes time and sometimes you do indeed need to go backwards in order to forward.

I have just completed my third year of Laws/Psychological Science at La Trobe. At the completion of my degree, I hope to prosecute, ideally applying both degrees to my career.

January –March 2014

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If you're not on

LinkedIn you may be L CKED

OUT – Phillip Hay

If you’ve not heard of LinkedIn or have but aren’t yet using it or using it to its full potential, then read on to learn why LinkedIn is your essential online tool for careers, networking, professional development and success!

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January –March 2014

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a

quick way of describing LinkedIn is that it is your global resume online.

But more than this it is about connecting with other LinkedIn members related to your professional goals and interests. You might connect with people from your course, industry, skill-set, location, where you want to work or special interest groups.

LinkedIn certainly falls into the category of social media, however where Facebook is your personal and social life online, LinkedIn is your professional life online. It is important to interact on LinkedIn in a 100% professional manner, meaning that almost everything you would normally

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post on Facebook is typically going to be inappropriate for LinkedIn. If you wouldn’t talk about it in an interview, don’t put it on LinkedIn! Your LinkedIn profile includes your professional background and image, personal details, contact details, skills, employment and education history, interests, awards, projects and more.

LinkedIn also facilitates references where you request recommendations from specific connections through LinkedIn’s online workflow and once a recommendation has been provided, everyone can see it and who provided it.

Connecting on LinkedIn is also a bit of an art form. You don’t just want to “add” hundreds of people you have

You might connect with people from your course, industry, skill-set, location, where you want to work or special interest groups.

never met as if too many people decline your connection request due to not knowing you or not understanding why you want to connect with them, LinkedIn can bar you from making connections as connecting on LinkedIn is all about quality networking. When you do request a connection, you have the opportunity to write a short message. This is where you should introduce yourself and briey mention why you want to connect. A personalised connection request will have a better chance of being accepted.

This is also why LinkedIn caps your advertised number of connections at 500 to stop people treating connections as a competition which would lead to a January –March 2014

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reduction in connection quality. So even if you have 1200 connections, your profile will only say “500+”.

It is also important to note that on LinkedIn you cannot hide. The whole purpose of LinkedIn is to find and connect so even if you aren’t connected to someone, all other members can still see 100% of your profile. Having a LinkedIn connection means that you can directly contact that person and vice versa. On LinkedIn you can’t block anyone either. You can also see who has viewed your profile and others can see when you have viewed their profile although there are some settings to change this to anonymous. In general though, LinkedIn has much greater transparency and accountability.

Like Facebook, LinkedIn has a

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The takeaway message here is to not underestimate the power of LinkedIn throughout your professional career

newsfeed which you can post to. Such posts might be interesting articles, invitations to events, product announcements or thought leadership, to name but a few. It is through this same newsfeed that you can view what your network is talking about and you will typically find opportunities to read articles, learn new knowledge, attend webinars or physical events, access datasheets and many other benefits.

Prospective employers who you apply to work for will often look at your LinkedIn profile as part of their decision making, prior to ever contacting you.

A new trend starting to appear in job ads is that to apply you only need to supply your LinkedIn url (web address).

As such, your LinkedIn profile should be treated as a living and breathing professional asset which is constantly evolving and being updated. It is not uncommon either these days to see

business cards where the only line of content is the person’s LinkedIn url.

Further, often applying for a job requires you to use the employer’s own online job application system. Here, one of the first steps will often be to provide your LinkedIn login details so that your LinkedIn content will auto populate the employer’s job application system, saving you time.

There is much more to LinkedIn but hopefully this article has whet your appetite.The takeaway message here is to not underestimate the power of LinkedIn throughout your professional career.

And your challenge this week is to setup or improve your LinkedIn profile!

January –March 2014

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Why schools need a

shake-up in the 21st century – Jeff Gilling

It’s time our schools adapted to the realities of the new labour market.

The notion of leaving school for a “job for life” is extinct, but has the education system missed the memo?

January –March 2014

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is broken.

The education system

Not beyond fixing, but broken all the same. But while the world has moved on, the education system has not, meaning most students are not being adequately prepared for life after school in the 21st century.

Instead we seem to be stuck in a quagmire of 20th century thinking, sending the message to students that says the surest way to a successful future is to: “go to school, study hard, get good grades, go to university and then you’ll get a good job".

This worked for students in the industrialised 20th century, but with the world rapidly advancing in technology and thinking, it just won’t cut it in today’s new world.

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In a process-focused, industrialised world where students were taught to learn a set of skills that could then be repetitively applied — how to assemble widgets in preparation for a job assembling widgets for life — this linear model of career preparation worked well for the masses. Pity the students whose pedagogical styles did not fit, though.

By and large these square pegs — often creative and entrepreneurial types — were either at best forced to fit into the round holes of a system that was quite unsuited to them and perform in roles where they felt unsatisfied, or at worst they were discarded to one side. Of course, in between, were the courageous ones, who, unshackled of

societal expectation to conform chartered their own territory in Branson-esque endeavour — Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Elton John, even the co-founder of Tumblr, David Karp left school at 14 on his mother’s suggestion.

We have moved though, from an insulated, industrialist, processfocused world to a post-industrialist, global and outcomes-focused world.

Changed labour markets, on both the supply and the demand side have meant that flexibility in work is a higher priority all round. Where once employers wanted skilled, permanent, full-time staff within the firm in order to maintain competitive advantages and to guarantee production and January –March 2014

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Exploring study options?

Find out all you need to know about courses, study options, uni life, support services and more in ACU’s Undergraduate Courses Guide. www.acu.edu.au/courses-guide For For support support or info info call 1300 ASK ACU ACU or email futurestudents@acu.edu.au futurestudents@acu.edu.au

service delivery, and employees wanted permanent full-time work in order to guarantee safety and security of employment, greater flexibility is a higher priority now on both sides of the labour equation. The result is that skilled service providers are now increasingly sought from outside the firm for project-based contract work.

But with few good exceptions, our education system has been slow to adapt to the realities of the new labour market.

We’ve moved a long way past the notion of a job for life to a world where students leaving school over the past 25 years could well expect to have a portfolio of careers — to be employed in several occupations over the course of their lifetime.

There is plenty of evidence though to suggest we are on the verge of a further revolution in labour markets.

Companies such as Freelancer, elance, Fiverr, Odesk, Skillsapien and RemoteStaff are pointing the way of the future. A future of project-based or contract-based employment.

What this means for many of today’s students is they are going to be commencing their economic-earning lives in a hyper-competitive, global world. Rather than having a portfolio of careers they will likely be selfemployed freelancers at some point in their careers, competing with an increasing number of other service providers from around the world.

What does this mean for school leavers today?

Now more than ever, school leavers must be prepared to be the authors of their own economic outcomes.

The pendulum is swinging back to the pre-industrialised world where individuals developed a set of skills — notably in those times in a trade or profession — before hanging out their own shingle.

Today it is imperative that students leave school with a wide-ranging and well-developed skills set.

What does this mean for the education system? Perhaps the central problem with the education system today is that it is too heavily focused on achieving academic outcomes. This is the essence of the disconnect between the needs of students and the style of teaching on offer in most schools. The process is flawed.

With the requirement for regular NAPLAN testing in Australia (National Assessment Program —Literacy and

Today it is imperative that students leave school with a wide-ranging and well-developed skills set.

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Numeracy) and the need to achieve a high ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) in order to pursue (expected) further studies, the teaching styles in classrooms is often geared to achieving those outcomes to satisfy Government and other requirements.

It is a teaching-centric model not a model focused on achieving the very best of outcomes for students. The result is that students’ needs are not being met leaving many of them — and

many teachers too — feeling frustrated.

There are disappointing stories of poor academically performing children being encouraged to stay home from school on days when NAPLAN testing is done so they don’t weigh down the class or school average. Hardly a positive or encouraging message to send — to the kids themselves or the rest of the class looking on.

What is wrong with focusing on academic outcomes? Whilst academic outcomes and proficiency are still important, what is now more important is developing the softer 21st century skills of IT capacity, emotional intelligence, the ability to work in groups, to problem solve and understand the complexities of cultural diversity in modern life.

University of Oregon Professor Yong Zhao, who specialises in the implications of globalisation and technology on education is an advocate for this summation.

He believes standardised tests rarely predict the economic prosperity, productivity, quality of life and creativity of a nation, adding that research has confirmed the hypothesis “Personality traits and other noncognitive skills, however, have been January –March 2014

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shown to have a strong relation to earnings, productivity, and employability. Self-esteem or confidence in childhood has a great impact on earnings in adulthood,” he says.

According to Yong, the top five skills employers are looking for in order of importance are communication, motivation/initiative, teamwork, leadership and academic achievement.

Test scores come last.

What is clear is in this brave new world is that employers want wellrounded graduates with a broad range of competencies.

A 2013 study of more than 250 businesses in New Zealand showed that employers place a great emphasis on these soft skills, as well as the ability to deal empathetically and effectively with customer and client needs. But these skills are not measured by typical system tests, nor are creativity and entrepreneurship.

So we’re stuck. Because our current education system tests measure stuff that doesn’t matter in real life.

Professor Kyung Hee Kim of Virginia's College of William and Mary in the US says: “Teaching to (a standardised) test discourages purposeful creativity development and

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stifles children's creativity in schools.

Standardised testing forces emphasis on rote learning instead of critical, creative thinking, and diminishes students' natural curiosity and joy for learning in its own right”.

Test scores — from NAPLAN to the HSC to VCE and ATAR — are not worth as much as many believe and can potentially damage what really matters for an individual – such as the skills of co-operation and collaboration, creation and innovation, an insightful and inquiring mind, and importantly awareness, enterprise and entrepreneurship.

Deciding on a future career?

Use our career profiler to discover your dream job based on strengths and personality. www.acu.edu.au/mycareer For For support support or info info call 1300 ASK ACU ACU or email futurestudents@acu.edu.au futurestudents@acu.edu.au

EXPE

ECT – Harriet Farkash

12 is all about studying, partying in between studying, and developing the first stages of a fully-fledged caffeine addiction so you can make it to the finish line that is graduation.

But have you thought about what to expect after you cross that finish line? As Harry Styles (or maybe Greek philosopher Heraclitus) famously said, circa 500BC, “Expect the Unexpected”. So here are five surprising facts you should be prepared for post-school.

You’re going to have the best AND worst summer after you graduate.

Sure, it’s going to be great because you can finally post an Insta pic of your study notes on fire with the hashtag #ALLOVER, but also a bit crap because things are going to change, and change can be scary. The routine you’ve had for years is no more, friends are going to move away, the real world and all its responsibilities will kick in. The best thing you can do is roll with the punches. See each challenge as an adventure, and try to keep those challenges in perspective. Will what you’re worrying about really matter in six months’ time?

There are a million paths that will lead you to your dream, and achieving the TER that gets you into your preferred uni course is only one of them

No one cares about your TER It’s true – after about a year, your TER becomes as useful as the compass app on your iPhone. That’s not an excuse to close your textbook and binge-watch Game of Thrones just yet – you still need to do your best – it’s more a warning that if you think you’re going to live your dream life just because you got over 75, you’re mistaken. There are a million paths that will lead you to your dream, and achieving the TER that gets you into your preferred uni course is only one of them.

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You’ll feel like you have no idea what you’re doing If you don’t feel a bit lost or confused or unsure of what to do at least twenty times in the year after you leave school, you need to be taken to a lab for scientific testing as it’s possible you’re not human. Listen to your gut - it truly does have the answer, and know that at this moment you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be even if it doesn’t feel like it.

Just because you graduate doesn’t mean you start earning money After years of making $50 stretch like it’s made of spandex, you’re probably looking forward to the day you finish school or uni and can open a real savings account with actual savings.

But with crappy jobs and free interning a staple of life in your late teens/early twenties you might have to hold off layby-ing that Chanel bag for now. The secret to being the intern that gets hired? Be proactive and do every job that’s asked of you with a smile.

You will fail And this is a GOOD thing. No, seriously it is. And let’s get one thing straight: just because you fail does not mean you are a failure. In fact, it’s the opposite. It means you were brave enough to try. And you know what?

You absolutely CAN NOT be successful if you do not try. So go on, give it a go.

You might just surpise yourself.

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Thinking travelling this

of overseas year? – Kate Fitzsimons

Each year thousands of Australian students travel overseas, many for the first time. It’s become a rite of passage for many students after leaving school.

Unfortunately, the promise of an exciting adventure can sometimes turn to tragedy.

Kate Fitzsimons tells her family’s tragedy and urges young Australivans to take care when travelling overseas.

Did you know that an Aussie tourist NEITHER DID I and it is a statistic I wish I didn’t have to learn the hard way.

My family was just like every other hard working and fun-loving family until one life shattering phone call in the early hours of 20th October 2012 turned our entire world upside down when we discovered that my beautiful sister, Nicole, will never be coming home.

Nicole Fitzsimons is a name that you probably haven’t heard of before, but by the end of this article I hope it is a name you never forget.

You only needed to spend two minutes with my sister to know how extraordinarily special she was, her smile alone could light up a room. At 24 years young, Nicole was not only an

You only needed to spend two minutes with my sister to know how extraordinarily special she was, her smile alone could light up a room

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inspiring, talented dancer who had performed around the world, but also a devoted footy fan who studied journalism at Uni via correspondence.

From her love of footy, Nicole developed a passion for sports journalism which saw her land her dream job on channel 9’s The Footy Show at the start of 2012. Nicole was on the brink of reaching her full potential before she was tragically killed in an accident in Thailand whilst holidaying with her boyfriend. They were turning right into the driveway of the hotel when they were blindsided by a Thai local on a scooter speeding on the wrong side of the road who collided with them from behind at 80km/hr.

Nicole took almost the entire impact to her head and in a heartbeat she was stolen from us, forever.

My family has established The Nicole Fitzsimons Foundation to continue Nicole’s legacy of helping others, particularly performers & sportspeople, to fulfill their life aspirations. However, due to the traumatic experience we have been through another important aim of the Foundation is to raise awareness of travel safety overseas among young

dies in Thailand every 3 days?

Australian tourists with a mission to bring more of them home safely into the arms of loved ones. In fact, I am so passionate about sharing these messages with the rest of Australia I have walked away from my corporate career to dedicate myself full-time to Nicole’s Foundation by delivering voluntary presentations to senior school students around the nation.

My passion to educate other Australians on travel safety ignited when I started researching accidents overseas just after losing Nicole. I discovered that Thailand is officially the deadliest destination for

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Australians - accounting for one in every 8 deaths on foreign soil. Similar destinations like Indonesia and Vietnam also place in the top 5 highest recorded deaths of Australians overseas. A major cause of these deaths is accidents.

Unfortunately it is the ‘nothing is off limits’ fantasy that attracts so many young tourists to South – East Asia and this is where the real danger lies. These destinations are notorious for their relaxed safety standards and many tourists look at it as an opportunity to do the same. Through my presentations I help students realize there are dramatic cultural differences in every foreign country we visit that we need to be aware of prior to arriving there.

In Australia there are rules in place by people who care about our wellbeing which means that mum, dad and the trustworthy police are just a phone call away whilst we’re holidaying up the coast. But as soon as we step out of Australian shores we lose the safety net of protection that we have back home, including the

the number of Australian tourists under 25 dying overseas has doubled in the past decade as younger travellers continue to push boundaries and take risks

Travel Tip The ‘unthinkable’ can happen so it is important to be prepared. One essential thing you should do when travelling overseas is make sure you have proper and adequate travel insurance. With medical evacuations costing $100,000 from Bali and three days in hospital in the United States costing $75,000, if you can’t afford travel insurance, then you really can’t afford to travel at all.

Also, it’s a good idea to register your travel plans with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

emergency services, medical facilities and support systems.

Statistics reveal that on average 38 people die on Thailand’s road every single day, and Bali’s largest hospital treats up to 300 people each day! What is most alarming though – and it was reported recently - is that Australians are “completely OBLIVIOUS to the risks." Tragically, Nicole and Jamie were one of these many Australians and this needs to change. Australians need

to be educated on the alarming dangers of riding on South East Asian roads so they are aware that they are gambling with their life every time they do so.

Another alarming statistic is the number of Australian tourists under 25 dying overseas has doubled in the past decade as younger travellers continue to push boundaries and take risks that they wouldn't at home.

The need to educate Aussie youth about travel safety is more important than ever.

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This is one of the key aims of the Foundation that we are extremely passionate about fulfilling. Through our campaign we hope that these risks become common knowledge for all Australians. We hope when the temptation comes to jump on a motorbike in South-East Asia, Nicole’s bright smile comes to mind and people remember the risks are just not worth it. We hope this gives every Australian the wisdom to walk away from the bike, so that no other family has to utter those same two words of heartbreak – ‘if only’.

Besides the lethal risks of riding motorbikes on foreign roads, it’s also really important to be aware of the

www.nicolefitzsimons.com

other dangers that lurk on these seemingly idyllic islands including drink spiking, passport scams, as well as the serious legal trouble tourists can land themselves in by ignoring local laws and behaving recklessly towards locals.

Kate Fitzsimons has delivered more than 30 school presentations to secondary school students. If you would like to have your student’s eyes opened and hearts inspired by Nicole’s story, and have Kate speak at your school, please visit the Foundation’s website where you can download their travel safety e-brochure and learn more about the Travel Safety Presentation and the incredible difference Nicole’s foundation is making in the lives of others.

G N I V I V R U S year

twelve A few tips for parents

The final weeks of exams can be just as stressful for parents as it is for students. One of the most important gifts you can give your child is to support them in studying smart. Below are a few simple tips to help them increase the amount of information learnt and prolong the length of time the information is remembered.

Guide, support and encourage your son or daughter.

Encourage healthy eating, regular exercise and plenty of sleep.

Take their efforts seriously.

Create an effective work space in the house if they can’t study in their room.

Take a whole family approach to supporting the student.

Let them know you’re there when they need you.

Encourage them to believe in themselves.

Remind them of their goals.

Give them positive feedback whenever possible.

Don’t nag.

Remember the final year is about them, not you.

Don’t tell them they will fail if they don’t work harder.

Encourage them to take study breaks when necessary.

Help them put, and keep the year in perspective.

Keep an eye on their emotional health.

Don’t overload them with domestic chores.

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