Saturday, June 5, 2010
making the transition
The transition of leaving education and starting work os commonly recognized as one of the most difficult times in your life. college has no effective method of preparing you for the real world. By its nature, college is a time thats' free from any elements that you deal with in a reality that comes afterwards. Many tutors (in my experience) have a very limited understanding of what its like out there, purely because they haven't been. Talk to any professional designer and they will say the same thing.
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Being a designer, or being creative in any way, seems to make this transition even harder than usual. students leaving education are at a disadvantage when it comes to relating to the needs of industry because studying creativity actively takes you away from it. You are emotional, inspired, idealistic ambitious, intelligent and thoughtful, but have little grasp of what makes the industry tick. Students are pumped up with ideas that can change the world, holding the view that no one else seems to understand where its all going or how good it could be.
ReplyDeletecreative personalities like designers tend to be almost child-like. We experience the world from a fresh, open perspective, treating all experience as new, as something that cannot be taken for granted. The constraints or prejudices of mature socialized perceptions do not bind a child-like mind. It is these personality traits that are essential to the process of creative thinking. BUt the drawback is that, when making the leap into the professional design business, the designer can find it a struggle to relate to more mundane, financial, executive, or business aspects. This needn't be the case in fact far from it. IT is a feasible suggestion that designers could actually become great business strategist, its all a matter of perception, education and experience..
ReplyDeleteI agree with Kriz up to a certain degree - that college does not prepare students for the business world. Nonetheless, students at college can get quite some training by just being students - what do I mean? Being a student offers one many opportunities to learn things.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, working on assignments and putting in a lot of effort and handing them on time fosters the skill of working under pressure on one's own initiative. This is one of the most commonly requested skills found in the majority of situations vacant adverts one finds in newspapers and job-advertising websites.
Moreover, being a student in a class and possibly working with other students on group tasks / discussions / assignments fosters the skill of teamwork - yet another highly requested skill.
Participating in class and becoming really engaged in the learning environment helps students to develop their communication skills. Furthermore, feedback from lecturers is also important in helping students to improve such skills so that they become effective communication skills.
In conclusion, whilst agreeing with Kriz that college might not prepare students for the transition - being a student prepares you for the world of work in an indirect manner, irrespective of the course one is following, though different courses provide different training and so prepare students in different ways. Having said that, one should not rule out specific training courses that could eventually be organised by the college in order to directly train students for the world of work.
I must point out that I do not fully agree with Kriz; from my personal experience students are prepared to face the challenges at work. At the Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, students at national diploma level are given quite a substantial amount of practical experience, in addition to the academic content, because they are exposed to work experience in various industries as part of their course. This is carried out through an agreement between MCAST and ETC wherein our students have to work two times a week with an employer of their choice or an employer assigned to them by the same ETC. Furthermore, almost all lecturers have been working within the industry and have enough on-the-job experience which definitely gives that extra contribution to the academic background.
ReplyDeleteI think Kriz's post is mostly referring to students studying creative subjects, and yes it is very true that some students will end up working in mundane jobs designing quick, cheap adverts. However others might be luckier and find a better job where they are free to express themselves (to a certain extent of course, and within a certain deadline).
ReplyDeleteThis is precisely why when we are tutoring we should exploit the ideas of the students to the full and not restrict them and prepare them for the mundane jobs. We have to aim for the best jobs they can get, if we aim for the average jobs, the students will have boring, average, commercial works in their portfolio and this will kill their creativity, which is ultimately the foundation of their portfolios.
I think that we teachers need to encourage the student develop his own learning curve. Leaving college is the start of a whole new learning curve that will continue throughout life. Students should approach it with an open mind, focus and perseverance, It is time one learns how to communicate with industry by understanding it. The effort to learn about the world these students are entering need to be emphasized. One can not force students to to absorb themselves in it, talk to a lot of people, move around and find how it all works. Each time a fresh graduate approaches industry with an informed, rational method of doing business that does not show sign of naivety, it will make it easier for the next person. The people going in before this 'informed' person.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do agree that “making the transition” from the school to the world of work is an important issue. However, not all institutes are in the same position since each has got own specific points. Irrespective of this, one has to be careful how to prepare students for that move, although some of them will have a quite clear idea what they will do, especially those ones that are involved in the apprenticeship program. Personally, I have a vast of the industrial experience, and frankly I attract the most of students’ attention while passing to them some of that experience. However, I always try to stress the importance of the subjects that they study, since it would be very counterproductive if they get the idea that in the place of the work they will hardly need anything of that what they learn in school. It is important to explain to them that at work they will in fact start to learn about the right things but based on the knowledge gained in the MCAST.
ReplyDeleteThis transition from study to work is much easier if the student is prepared to take some desire to listen and learn about design that he had in college into the professional environment beyond. Learning requires an open mind, with the ability to receive information as well as transmit it. Students should curb the desire to immediately impress upon the world their personal vision of how it should be now that they are graduated. They should go into the business world with the same child like openness to this new experience, with the attitude they are starting the 'real' learning now. so many if these essential tools one need to be a good designer can not be learnt at college because their is no framework that prepares one for industry other than the experience of being in it.
ReplyDelete"their is no framework that prepares one for industry other than the experience of being in it." Kriz you are stating the obvious, this is why normally vacancies ask for certification as well as experience.
ReplyDeleteDo you have any suggestions of what we can do as tutors to better connect education with industry?
May I please butt in with my twopence worth of comments? I do not know whether they are valid to your scenario because yoou seem to be specifically discussing IAD students. However, I guess that life experiences are be generic.
ReplyDeleteI graduated in 1986 - yes that's right - you were most probably just a twinkle in your parents' eyes back then! I was also emotional, inspired, ambitious, (hopefully) intelligent and more than a little naive back then! I honestly thought that I could change the world and make it a better place to live in, after only a couple of months into graduation. Of course I could not be more wrong! My superiors taught me to differentiate between those situations which can be changed and those which cannot. As you yourself state, Kriz, "students should curb the desire to IMMEDIATELY impress upon the world their personal vision of how it should be". This does not mean that one should not have a dream and strive to see it fulfilled. On the contrary!
As you may imagine, the buzzword "job mobility" was relatively unheard of back then. Today' s graduates, on the other hand, have more incentives and opportunities to seek greener pastures where their enthusiasm and ideas can be appreciated and realised. The important thing is never to give up and to continue believing in oneself...
Good Luck!
I think that most people have the idea that a student following a Degree at University or a Diploma in a College will be capable enough to enter the world of work without any problems at all. But in reality, is this true or not? Is the Education system preparing students adequately for the world of work?
ReplyDeleteOne can argue that Universities/Colleges are training the students to work under pressure, to complete and hand in tasks within set deadlines, to work in teams and with other students with different backgrounds, opinions, race and culture. This is similar to the scenario that the students will eventually find in the world of work. This, in itself is a positive experience and helps to prepare the students in basic interpersonal skills and also help them gain experience in working under pressure. It is a fact that work problems are much different from school problems, but the students are being trained indirectly without them being actually aware of it. But is this enough?
Unfortunately it is never enough. This exposure is particularly lacking in Universities where students are still principally prepared academically. On the other hand, in Vocational Institutes, students have the advantage of being trained and taught academic subjects in parallel to practical training. The degree of this exposure varies but it is still considerable and this facilitates the students to have an easier transition to the world of work. After all, that is the real world that they will have to face in life.
Mariella
I agree that University does not prepare students to work in the industry. I read for the B. Accountancy Honours degree, after which I began my career in one of the audit firms. At first I found it hard as it was difficult for me to apply the theory to practice. We weren’t taught the most important competencies. In fact I decided to base my long essay on this matter.
ReplyDeleteHowever, at MCAST in the Institute of Business and Commerce, they are delivering the accounting technicians diploma course (AAT) which is very fruitful in my opinion. During lectures we do not just deliver the theory but we help students to apply it to various situations which they may be faced with at the place of work. Even examinations, they are called skills test, because we are actually testing the students’ competencies in the various areas of studies. Furthermore, during the three-year course the students are offered work placements. During our visits, the employers give us very good feedback.
Therefore we should not prepare our students academically only but can be practical and efficient at the place of work.
Nadia
Creative careers develop and one has to appreciate that it takes more than the time spent going to school. There is maturity in creative industries that comes about at a later stage, so I would suggest everyone to chill out. It is for sure that our students work bloody hard. They recognize the difference between what people are doing who are managing and the others. So at the same time we want to challenge them more and give them a clearer description of where they are heading. Art and Design remains a system in which advancement is based on individual ability or achievement. - we need to allow our students feel more confident in what they are doing, why they are doing it and what's available for them to achieve.
ReplyDeletewhat I would like to emphasize is that when students learn to learn, they go out in the world with the tendency they keep on learning. And then they spend their life educating themselves, so one never really stop learning. We need to develop thinkers. I notice that most of the time we focus to much on words like practical and vocational rather than thinking.
ReplyDeleteIn order to prepare students for the work of work I believe it is important that students are taught the difference between knowledge, skills, and behaviours; the three components which make up an ideal profile for the job market. Personal development could be dealt with by introducing ‘soft skills’ – which are the skills that develop your behaviours as a person, that make you competent to work with. This ‘self awareness’ that is brought about by these soft skills, forms part of ‘Emotional Intelligence’ (EQ). EQ means that a person is aware of their emotions – that they understand their emotions and also those of other people. They will know how to behave around other people and they will understand their feelings and mind set.
ReplyDeleteHey Lillylu, interesting point regarding Emotional Intelligence,
ReplyDeleteIn the past years a lot of research was done regarding the importance of 'Emotional Intelligence'' for business skills. Students with high EQ competencies are more likely than less intelligent people to gain success or even enter the workplace. Most of our students are way to sheltered.. repeated questions in class, questions asked about stuff covered in class half an hour before, why a Merit not a distinction etc etc.. The fact that in Malta most of the students still live with their parents also does not help them find themselves. Considering the way of life in Malta, it easy for one to be spoilt.
Hey Kriz, I agree with your points referring to the students 'finding themselves'. Emotional Intelligence is made up of 5 fundamentals – “ self – motivation, Social Skills, Self regulation, Social Awareness” and most importantly “ Self Awareness” These traits are becoming more and more important for business skills and will probably produce stronger outcomes. @
ReplyDelete@ Every new projecT activity involves implemenTing new skills, behaviors and knowledge that will benefiT ones performance in the workplace. I myself have gained new skills both inside and outside the learning environment. In my media studies class, I was involved in a small task where we had to work in teams to creaTe a small film. this challenged my teamwork as i recognized it as my main weakness. However I was still motivated to complete the task to the best of our ability and to do so, it meant I had to keep organized and on task. No one was given the post of team leader so I automatically took this role. This could be one of the main factors contributing to my weakness in team work as I tend to take the majority of the task to myself, however, as i was prepared to improve my team work, I made sure I remained with the group throughout the task and made sure each member gave equal contributions, that way, the final outcome will have been created from all of our ideas combineD, rather than just my own.
ReplyDelete... In this task, i tried not to dominate the group as much as I have done previously, and made sure people had an equal work load rather than taking on the project myself. I also focused on identifying each members strengths and weaknesses so they could use it in the task. This required a lot of patience and listening so that I could get the best out of people and give them tasks they are particularly good at. As a result, the final outcome was still strong, and was produced using all of our ideas. This task thought me that if i delegate tasks relevant to the chosen number;s strengths, I do not have to worry-about the final outcome being unsatisfactory and i do not have to complete the task alone. @
ReplyDeleteG.Yes, I totally agree that team work is vital to gain soft skills. You must interact with people to expand your emotional intelligence. You said you tended to take on most of the work yourself, but there might be less confident people who tend to keep back, and as you learned to be patient and to listen, these people would benefit from someone listening and encouraging them.E. So the team work would be taking on a new role in that case, not just to produce a final outcome, but to learn about each other. L.@
ReplyDeleteKeeping on the same note of Emotional Intelligence, I have come across that BTEC have come up with a solution by the name of ‘Effective Behaviours for Work’. This can be thought on levels in education ranging from 1 – 7. The four main categories are ‘ Leadership and management’ ‘Employability’ ‘Personal and life development’ and ‘Business Skills’.
ReplyDeleteYes Lilly. This course you mention will help one gain awareness of his-her current communicating behaviour and learn to use the communicating styles which will encourage constructive working relationships and avoid those which are more likely to lead to conflict.
ReplyDelete•Understanding how your communication influences the way others behave and vice versa
•Gaining confidence to tackle the difficult issues you need to address in order to work constructively in a team or managing others
•Becoming aware of how your own emotions and attitudes change moment-by-moment and influence your behaviour
•Learning how to manage emotion in yourself and others