Mark Dashper STAR Facilitator, University of Auckland

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Deeply Love SIC for STAR
Mark Dashper STAR Facilitator, University of
Auckland Saskia Osborne STAR Advisor, Waikato
University
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Presentation Objectives

• Presentation objectives
• 2008 Definitions of Short Introductory Courses
• Recent supporting research both national and
  international
• Suggestions for your STAR Practice
• Clusters of Navigation samples of each cluster
  in terms of using SIC in a differentiated
  learning programme rather than one size fits all

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Definitions

• Short Introductory Courses (SIC)
• AKA Tasters (term used up till 2005, then
  replaced by SIC)
• Previously funded separately under STAR for Y10
  (until 2003)
• Courses not necessarily attracting unit standards
  or qualifications
• Length undetermined (from a few hours to a series
  of linked days)
• Has a degree of teaching and learning involved.

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STAR Facilitation
Selection of Research informing practice
Early Leaving Exemption Research
Schools Plus
STAR Facilitation work
NZC
NZCER Constellation of Prospects
NZCER Careers survey
Impact of NCEA on student motivation
Maori achievement research
NZCER Pathways and Prospects
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Short Introductory Courses(AKA Tasters) Research
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Short Introductory Courses(AKA Tasters) Research

• Students appeared to be using STAR (especially
  SIC) as a way of sorting options in their minds,
  learning through the making of mistakes in a safe
  environment, and trialing a wide range of areas
  often out of their immediate interest.

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Short Introductory Courses(AKA Tasters) Research

• It is also a coping mechanism as Dr Karen Vaughan
  has noted to deliberately postpone the
  development of career and/or work identities.
  (Vaughan, K. (2005) Journal of Youth Studies
  Vol. 8, No. 2, June 2005, pp. 180)
• This becomes a characteristic of an options
  generation who tend to remain non-committal for
  as long as they can before adopting short-term
  goals and temporary solutions (Mackay, H. (1997)
  Generations Baby Boomers, their Parents and
  their Children, Pan Macmillan, Sydney. ).

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Short Introductory Courses(AKA Tasters) Research

• The OECD have described the period immediately
  after leaving school as milling and churning
• Vaughan and Boyd refer to this as the
  postponement of fixed work identities
  (representing) an unwillingness of some young
  people to commit themselves to particular
  training or education programmes leading directly
  into careers.
• (Vaughan, K., and Boyd, S. (2005)
  PATHWAYS, JUNCTIONS AND PITSTOPS TRANSITION
  POLICY IN NEW ZEALAND in Youth Transition in a
  Globalized Marketplace pp 111)

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Short Introductory Courses(AKA Tasters) Research

• Pathways and Prospects research
• Four clusters of navigation the issues and
  perspectives of young people in transition.
• Each cluster of interviews tells a story about
  the relationship between pathways and navigations
  and provides a lens through which we can examine
  different forms of security and exploration for
  young people in transition.

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Short Introductory Courses(AKA Tasters) Research

• From this longitudinal study over the defined
  four Clusters of Navigation, the recommendation
  is
• If we want policies to be better aligned with
  young peoples actual priorities and needs, we do
  need to shift our thinking. It needs to move
  away from pathways and navigations within a
  simple model of transition-to-labour market, to
  something that takes account of identity
  production and career as process.

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Short Introductory Courses(AKA Tasters) Research

• Young peoples narratives across all clusters
  highlight that
• ? careers decision making is not a single
  decision at a single point in time
• differing levels of commitment to any pathway
  option may or may not be the same as commitment
  to a specific career and
• similar orientations may be based on quite
  different, but equally valid, reasoning.

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Short Introductory Courses(AKA Tasters)

• Possible focus questions for self review
• How many students were assisted through STAR?
• Which of these were SIC? Examples?
• How well did we meet the needs of students who
  became at risk during the year? Were they given
  access to SIC?
• How much money do you set aside to cater for
  SICs during the year?

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STAR Background
Benefits of SIC within STAR for Students
Chance to try out new things, not necessarily
fitting with career path
Available from Y9 upwards
No stress for qualifications
Chance to gain new skills, or eliminate careers
without expense, or larger time commitment
Differentiation to meet student needs/identity
Broadens curriculum choices for students
Courses are available at no cost to the students,
so safe to take risks and trial options
Practical hands-on Experience in a wider
variety of courses
Different learning environment
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STAR Background
Benefits of SIC within STAR for Schools
Up-to-date industry specific knowledge and
resources
Students located off-site gain a wider
(real-world) experience in a number of career
paths
Flexibility to provide a wider range of courses
which fit milling and churning trends
Directly managed by schools, easily adapted, and
flexible
Funding may be used to provide courses with
external providers
Ability to align the curriculum with tertiary
study or the workplace
More effectively meeting student needs, by
allowing them to make mistakes
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STAR Practice

• How do schools make choices and access SIC
  courses from external providers?
• Do schools use data or student evaluations to
  monitor the delivery/relevance of SIC within STAR
  courses? How is this data used to impact/shape
  future courses offered in school?
• When new SIC programmes are developed, how do
  schools know they are meeting student needs?
• How do schools gather knowledge of growth areas
  in industry? How is this information used to
  choose new SIC courses and structure programmes?

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STAR Practice

• Selection - how do we choose which students do
  which SIC?
• Time out of (Maths?) class - oh no, not again!
• Distance to get to a SIC run off site
• Expertise at school - do we have staff to run
  SIC?
• Management - who will coordinate all the student
  choices?
• Driver - who will take the students, supervise,
  return them?
• Placement - when is the best time to do SIC?
• Evaluation - how will we evaluate if the course
  meets students needs?

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STAR Facilitation

• Pathways and Prospects research
• Four Clusters of Navigation
• The Hopeful Reactors
• The Confident Explorers
• The Passion Honers
• The Anxious Seekers

Dr Karen Vaughan
http//www.nzcer.org.nz
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STAR Facilitation
Pathways and Prospects http//www.nzcer.org.n
z
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STAR Facilitation
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STAR Facilitation
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STAR Facilitation
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STAR Facilitation
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STAR Facilitation
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STAR Practice
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STAR Practice
Suggested Web 2.0 tools for SIC SMS/Text groups
would work well for Passion Honers, (to disperse
information as it comes in, self directed).
Wikis for Anxious Seekers (to articulate their
needs and discuss and compare with others for
security). Twitter for Confident Explorers (quick
available information on a wide variety of
options, self monitored). Ning for Hopeful
reactors (social networking with an interactive
community of learners, guided and monitored).
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saskiao_at_waikato.ac.nz m.dashper_at_auckland.ac.nz