Teaching Sequence

50 minutes	Part A: What Do I Want from Work?
50 minutes	Part B: Creating Opportunities to Find Meaning and Fulfilment
20 minutes	Reflection

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

Part A: What Do I Want from Work?

Step 1.

Explain to students that it is really tough to be able to know what you ‘want to do’ after school, for a number of reasons. Without experiencing something, you can’t know what it is like - as the old saying goes: ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’. You could say that the expectation that a person would know what they would like to spend their working life doing by the age of 16 to 18 is somewhat unrealistic! In saying that, there is a system that people are expected to work within, and students are beginning to start making decisions that can impact upon them. The best way to succeed in managing and developing a career would be to try to get as much information and experience so that the decisions are informed.

To start exploring what students might want from work, ask the class to form pairs. Invite each pair to choose one of the clips featured below:

How to Find Fulfilling Work (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veriqDHLXsw)

How to Find Meaningful Work (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H91JDqeR_jg)

Step 2.

Once they have finished watching, ask pairs to summarise the clip by listing three main points (or three 'somethings'), two controversial ideas (or two things they disagree with), and one question related to the key concept or learning on the Student Worksheet.

Then, invite students to share what they learned from the clip with a person seated close to them, or facilitate a quick class discussion to hear some of the ideas that students have around the two clips.

Step 3.

Ask students to respond individually to the following prompts on the Student Worksheet:

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 = I’ve never heard it before; 10 = This is nothing new), how new is this information for you?
Imagine you are explaining ‘Fulfilling Work’ to your friend. What would you say?
If you had to explain ‘Meaningful Work’ to a grandparent, what would you say?

To summarise, invite volunteers to share their responses in a quick class discussion.

Part B: Creating Opportunities to Find Meaning and Fulfilment

Step 1.

The idea that work should be meaningful and fulfilling may be new for your students. This could mean that some of your students haven’t considered that the choices they make about what to do beyond secondary school could be informed by what they find meaningful and/or fulfilling. To complicate matters, students may not even know what they currently find meaningful or fulfilling. Try to keep this in mind when delivering the next part of this lesson.

Introduce this part of the lesson by informing students that there are many different ways that people can discover what they consider ‘fulfilling’ or ‘meaningful’, and that the best way to equip ourselves to make a decision is to open ourselves up to as many different options as possible.

Step 2.

As a class, watch the following video. It features Rebecca, a La Trobe University Aspire student, and her contribution to her community in her role as the Student Action Captain at her school.

Aspire: Rebecca (https://youtu.be/BdpGBO6YRHk)

Connect the content of the video to Part A of the lesson by facilitating a quick class discussion around the question:

Could Rebecca’s role and the action that she took help her to connect to what she finds meaningful and fulfilling? How?

Invite students to note down the main points of the discussion on the Student Worksheet. If you have time, students could summarise their understanding by creating a mind map. They should label two central bubbles "fulfilling" and "meaningful" then establish a visual connection between the two concepts and Rebecca's experiences and actions.

Step 3.

The next challenge for students is to learn about the different ways that they can have experiences that will help them to identify their preferred pathway, and make informed decisions around their own career management and development.

The class will compile their findings to create a “20 ways to find your meaningful, fulfilling career” list to advise others about how to find out what will be meaningful and fulfilling work for them. The advice students compile should list things that people can do to seek out 'try before you buy' experiences that give insights into what that a pathway actually involves. This enables a person to more accurately assess whether they will find the work meaningful and fulfilling. The list could be modelled from lists that feature on online sites such as Buzzfeed.

Through creating this guide, students will develop a more comprehensive understanding of how to autonomously seek information and opportunities available to young people who are making important decisions about their future pathways. Encourage students to use the websites listed below as a starting point for their research:

https://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/jobs-careers/volunteering-work-experience/how-to-find-volunteer-work
https://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/jobs-careers/volunteering-work-experience/organisations-seeking-volunteers
https://www.volunteer.com.au/
https://govolunteer.com.au/
https://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/jobs-careers/how-to-find-a-job
https://www.latrobe.edu.au/study/aspire/are-you-eligible

They could also consider the keywords below to guide their research;

Volunteering
Work experience
Community service
Networking
Internet research
News media

Give each student a printed copy of this research guide. The guide prompts students to research and write down their suggestions for how people can identify what they find meaningful and fulfilling. Students are also asked to describe what it would take to actually do what they are suggesting. This could include providing specific websites with information about how to find an opportunity and/or contact details and other information required to successfully pursue that option.

Suggestions could include:

Volunteering with an organisation aligned with their interests
Asking a family friend to show them around their workplace
Making a list of the different jobs that align with personal interests
Information about the different pathways after school and the purpose each serves
Joining or creating a group of like-minded people to do good things in the community

Step 4.

Encourage the class to work together to improve their first attempt at this task by facilitating a quick peer-review session. Give each student enough Blu-Tack for their three pieces of paper, and ask them to stick their paper onto a clear space on the wall/whiteboard. Invite students to view each other’s suggestions with a kind approach and identify any gaps or areas for improvement that their peers' work may need. Encourage students to add more details based on the questions and suggestions of their classmates.

Step 5.

Facilitate the class to work together to compile, edit and publish their "20 ways to find your meaningful, fulfilling career" suggestions. This could be done in a shared document, by creating a class PowerPoint presentation, an Adobe Spark page, using a class online forum, or with a piece of A3 size paper. The suggestions should be succinct and informative, similar to a Buzzfeed-style list. Encourage students to include pictures, format the list in an engaging way, and to put their suggestions into their own words.

If a whole-class list of suggestions is not manageable, smaller groups could each create a list.

Step 6.

Once the list is compiled and published, ensure that it is shared widely with the class and even distributed as advice to other students in the school. You could also challenge your class to take their own advice and try out as many of the listed suggestions as possible so that they are giving themselves plenty of options and are actively managing and developing their own career pathways.

Step 7.

If applicable, students may benefit from the knowledge that if they volunteer and/or contribute to their community, they can register to become part of La Trobe University’s Aspire Generation. The program supports students who make significant contributions to their community while they are still in school. La Trobe University’s Aspire Generation is a community of young people connected by their aspiration to make a difference through community service and leadership.

Year 12 Students can also apply to study at La Trobe University, and may receive an early provisional offer on the basis of their community contribution. By engaging in community service or volunteering, students are not only finding their meaningful and fulfilling pathway, they can also qualify for a place at La Trobe University through the Aspire Program.

For more information and to watch a video that explains the Aspire Program, visit this website: https://www.latrobe.edu.au/study/aspire

Reflection

Students are asked to respond to the following prompts on the Student Worksheet:

How important is it for work to be meaningful and/or fulfilling? Explain your reasons.
How will you use the information on the list the class created to explore and find out what is fulfilling and/or meaningful to you?

Extension/Homework

Challenge students to watch Brad Meltzer’s TED-Talk “Write your story - Change History” and apply Brad’s message to their own life. They could consider the TED Talk with some help from the prompts below:

In five words, summarise your response to the TED-Talk.
What in the world can you change?
What attitude/approach do you need to have to achieve this?
What are three other messages in the talk that you think are important?
Create a list of the things you like to do.
Think about how the activities you like to do could turn into work…imagine and describe what your job might look like.
Try something! Set up an opportunity to volunteer or contribute to community service.
Consider: What can I serve people? What do they need?
Be confident! What do you have the right to do?
What is your story? What do you choose?

Assessment

Students will reflect on the skills and knowledge developed throughout this lesson in a Career Portfolio that showcases their learning and skill development. This assessment task can be introduced at either the beginning or during the unit. Alternatively, it could be set as summative assessment at the end of the unit.

Considering Social Action

The Aspire Generation is a community of young people connected by their aspiration to make a difference through community service and leadership. They are the givers, the dreamers, the doers and the leaders who passionately pursue opportunities to address the big issues of their time. They think boldly and act responsibly and strive to leave a lasting impact on the world.

Students currently in Years 9, 10, 11 or 12 and have a passion for giving back, are eligible to be part of the Aspire Generation. Encourage students to give back by working in groups to plan and deliver an action project to make positive change in their community. The Aspire Generation: Work Studies Year 9 & 10 - Social Action lesson facilitates students to drive change through community engagement, volunteerism and leadership opportunities.

Aspire Generation - Setting Your Path

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