Introduction
We know we need a more relevant, responsive and resilient education system; the challenge is how to achieve this. Placing careers more centrally in schools has so much to offer. It enables children to locate themselves in the world; it provides a ladder of social opportunity for young people. Careers education unlocks the potential of teachers by offering them a wider perspective to sustain their vocation and commitment.
There is a clear rationale for integrating careers education more centrally into curriculum planning. It can bring the curriculum to life, engage teachers and students with the real world, and allow young people and teachers to build their vocational networks and harness their social capital to make the most of them. It can also become a vehicle for teachers to connect with their purpose and sense of themselves as a leader in the classroom and beyond. We wanted to bring this alive in the learning experience of our trainee teachers.
From November 2023 to July 2024, 26 Secondary PGCE students at the University of Worcester elected to follow an ‘Enhancement Activity’ in Careers Education. This was the outcome of a collaborative innovation between University of Worcester, Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) / Worcester Children’s First, The Edge Foundation and the Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC), all of whom have a strategic interest in high quality careers education. We left our egos at the door, galvanised around this key idea and integrated it into our own strategies. We created a micro-ecosystem of support for Kim Hibbert-Mayne, the Course Leader who in turn bought out the very best in the cohort.
We believe this is pioneering work, so we wanted to lay down the path we have taken and learnings that are emerging. Kim Hibbert-Mayne has produced this toolkit for the Edge Practice website that will be of use to PGCE tutors, teachers and school leaders. We share the resource bank used, and the lessons learned so that those engaged in Initial Teacher Education can use these resources to plan their own programmes.
This is the start of our own journey in this area. We, like our students, are in a process of becoming. So please use this resource however it helps and feedback to us your own learning. Our shared intention here is for teachers to feel fully resourced, from a deeper sense of purpose that will, we hope, anchor them when things get tough and shape their contribution as their careers develop. As one participant concluded, rather profoundly, in his reflection: ‘This doesn’t seem like the end of the Programme; it feels like the beginning of a much deeper journey of self-discovery.’
Shaun McInerney and Kim Hibbert-Mayne
University of Worcester
s.mcinerney@worc.ac.uk
k.hibbertmayne@worc.ac.uk