Career Allsorts

Note: isPodcast is produced for listening and is designed to be heard. We encourage you to listen to the audio, as it includes emotion and emphasis that’s not on the page. While every care is taken, our transcripts may contain errors.     

Natalie Moutafis: 

Hi, everyone, and welcome to isPodcast, ISV's show for schools and the wider community. I'm Natalie Moutafis. 

Have you ever asked a child what they want to be when they grow up? Chances are the response will be a glimpse into the workings and imagination of a young mind, but even among primary school children, limits have already been placed on their ambitions, according to the research. 

ISV's career education consultant, Maria Floudiotis, tells Shane Green why this is happening and how a new program for primary school kids is helping them broaden their horizons. 

Shane Green: 

Maria, welcome to isPodcast. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Thanks, Shane. It's great to be here. Thanks for the opportunity. 

Shane Green: 

Maria, you're our careers expert at ISV, and we're here to talk about what's been a very exciting program you've been running called Career Allsorts. Now, I love the name, as you know. Can you tell us what's involved? 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Yeah. Look. Career Allsorts, it's all about encouraging curiosity among children about different jobs, really trying to raise their aspirations, to broaden their horizons. The program, I should say, has been adapted from Drawing the Future. So that's how this idea came about to begin with. 

So it was based on some research that was recently done in a whole range of countries that really highlighted that although children from an early age often have some well-thought-out ideas about what they want to do when they grow up, that sometimes, their options are very limited. Children are often influenced by family, friends, what they see and what they hear in the media, and so sometimes, that limits their options rather than broadening their horizons. 

Sometimes, they need to be challenged in relation to some of that career thinking or to challenge some of the gender stereotypes they may have about jobs. 

Career Allsorts is about giving access to career role models. The purpose of the program is to sort of spark that curiosity in children and to make them more aware of the world of work. What a lot of the research also shows, Shane, is that career education is often left until the senior years of secondary school, and that, in many ways, is too late. 

Shane Green: 

So what ages are we talking about, Maria? What year levels does this program operate in? 

Maria Floudiotis: 

In primary schools, ideally from the ages of about from seven to 11. 

Shane Green: 

Oh. That young? 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Yes. We had grades three, four, five, and six that took part. 

Shane Green: 

Well, let's talk about the nuts and bolts, Maria, of how it works. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

So there were two parts or two activities. The first activity is where students hear from a range of speakers who talk about their career. 

So what schools did, Shane, was that they invited a whole lot of members, people in the school community, such as parents, to come in and talk to students about a day in the life of their job, to talk about what they do, and to hopefully, then, spark students' curiosity. So there were a whole range of speakers that schools were able to get in to talk to students. 

The second part of the activity of the program was that students would then, not necessarily that same day or the same week, but create an artwork, draw or paint, or could have been a sculpture, of a job they would like to do when they were older. It wasn't necessarily based on what they heard or the speakers. It could be any job that they could see themselves doing when they were older, and it could even be something that they dreamed of. 

Shane Green: 

Wow. What a great idea. Well, let's talk about what happened in the pilot program. This is a fascinating program you're running here, and I love the idea of the students being able to draw, or to sculpt, or to paint their job of the future. So this was running in terms three and four last year. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Correct. 

Shane Green: 

There was a really enthusiastic response from the schools, I believe. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Really pleasing, particularly as it was the first year – it ran as a pilot. Six schools took part. One of those six schools did it across four of its campuses. 

Shane Green: 

Fantastic. So tell me how it worked. A parent would come and talk about their career or a day in the life of their job? 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Yeah. So I went out to one of the schools. They had a panel of speakers from a broad range of occupations, and it gave the students the opportunity to reflect and to respond to the speakers. 

They also, the students, had an opportunity to ask some questions, and there was just this really positive vibe in the room. There would've been a hundred students. They were grade five and six students. I even had teachers come up to me who were sitting in the audience going, they got a lot out of it just listening to the speakers. 

When I spoke to some of the students who were sitting behind me, they really just thought, 'Wow. That is great'. You know? It just really gave them inspiration, and there was one particular speaker who was a senior weather forecaster from the Bureau of Meteorology. One student said, 'I'd love to have that job', and even made a comment such, 'I didn't think females could do that job'. So that gives you an indication of how just hearing that speaker started to challenge some of their career thinking around that gender stereotyping. 

Shane Green: 

Wow. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

I was just blown away by the enthusiasm of the students and the speakers who really did inspire the students. 

Shane Green: 

Now, I'm guessing the parents that turned up to talk really enjoyed it, as well. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Ah. Yes. Yes. At the end of that, I spoke to quite a few of the parents. They enjoyed not only the interaction from the students, but the types of questions the students asked and the fact that they could actually share their career story. 

They really wanted to instil hope in the young people. One speaker talked about a range of barriers, obstacles to get to where he was, so that was really good for the students to hear, as well. 

Shane Green: 

Maria, a key part of this program, of course, is the artwork, and you've talked about that. Can you tell us about the artwork produced by the students in the pilot program. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Ah. I was just really impressed with the artwork. What really struck me is the level of self-awareness in some of the young people, and self-awareness is a fundamental component of career development. 

One of the students who loves science and maths and also solving puzzles wants to be a robotic engineer, and another who enjoys debating and is good at writing came up with lawyer as a potential option. 

That's where Career Allsorts can play an important role or career education in primary schools to really try and broaden their options. Yes. Lawyer could be one option, but what else can a young person who has an interest in debating and is good at writing, what other opportunities are there? 

I really laughed at one who wants to be a real estate agent, because they think they can be an excellent salesperson. I think that was terrific, that they're starting to think, 'Gee. I'm really good at selling,' that, 'I'll make an excellent salesperson,' and that they've thought that a real estate agent could be a potential option for them. 

Shane Green: 

Fantastic. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Yeah, and one, just to give you one more example, wants to be an artist and director, who loves drawing, and creating monster sculptures, and writing stories. He wants to write a movie that uses their sculptures. 

Shane Green: 

That's brilliant. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Yeah, and it was really refreshing to see that some of the children have identified that they will have more than one career. One actually indicated, in addition to the artwork, they wrote a brief statement about their artwork that they can change their career, that some go longer than others. 

I thought that was terrific, that they could see that they're not going to be in the one job for life, that they will have many changes. Another student commented on how it's important to know what your passions and interests are, because they want to pursue a career in an area that they are passionate about. 

Shane Green: 

I know, of course, we bumped into each other, and you were coming back from one of the schools with some artwork. You mentioned that you actually found the kind of work the kids were producing quite moving at a personal level. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Yeah. I did. I was really moved by their thinking, and how much thought they gave to it, but also the hope. I got this sense of hope that they see, and it's great. Because often, there's doom and gloom that you hear, but here's these young people that are feeling a sense of hope for the future, and so yeah, I did find them very moving. 

Shane Green: 

Of course, Maria, a selection of the artwork will be exhibited at ISV's Gallery in the Docklands. 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Yes. That's right, Shane, and look. We've got a great gallery down at Docklands, and wow, what a great way to introduce career education into primary school: hear from speakers, create the artwork, and have an exhibition in ISV Docklands. 

I really want the exhibition to be like a catalyst for further conversation so that when people come in and look at all the artwork, they can actually talk about the artwork. They can even question some of the artwork or inspire that sense of curiosity and really encourage those important career ed conversations. 

So the exhibition will launch on the 8th of March, and the exhibition will actually go until the 29th of April at The District, Docklands. 

Shane Green: 

We'll put details in the show notes, Maria, of how people can find the gallery. Maria, this is a simple but inspired idea, and after the success of the pilot program, what's next? 

Maria Floudiotis: 

Well, Shane, I'm hoping that Career Allsorts will run again this year. The schools that participated last year seem to really enjoy being part of the program, so I'm hoping to build on it. 

But I also see the start of more activities that, hopefully, ISV can do with primary schools to support the career education of all students. 

Shane Green: 

Maria, great to talk to you today about Career Allsorts, and congratulations. Thanks for joining us. 

Michael Broadstock: 

That's it for this episode of isPodcast. We're going to leave you with Beaconhills College Pakenham Year 11 flautist Dylan Crossley and staff musicians playing Claude Bolling's Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio. 

Natalie Moutafis: 

isPodcast is brought to you by Independent Schools Victoria. It's produced by Duncan Maclean and presented by Shane Green, Michael Broadstock, and me, Natalie Moutafis. 

Our podcast theme was composed and performed by Duncan. There are transcripts of our show with links to what we've discussed at podcast.iseducation.com.au. Please follow us wherever you get your favourite podcast, and while you're there, would love it if you could rate and review the show so more people can find us just like you.