Year 7 DiSCovery: Exploring Careers
Careers In Focus
By Ms Lana Nunis, Year 7 DiSCovery Curriculum Leader
Year 7 DiSCovery is always a great experience. Students are often asked to consider aspects of their lives that they otherwise may not have put much thought into. This is definitely true of recent DiSCovery classes, where students reflected on their skills/strengths and researched potential career choices. This was a fairly eye-opening experience for most students.
Students found out about careers they had never heard of before, they learnt what people in certain jobs actually do and investigated the subjects they would need to study to be eligible to undertake the tertiary studies required for the career. The students also met Mrs Ramsay, the Careers Advisor, and were introduced to the DSC Careers Website and Career News. Let’s hear from the students, below.
Student Reflections
Justis C, 7A:
"For the last two lessons of DiSCovery, Year 7s have been doing career action plans activities to identify and acknowledge their own strengths, skills and interests. We participated in a class discussion related to skills and how they linked to our future choices. We also contemplated possible career options and where we might seek assistance. This is a great method to enhance our knowledge of different careers that we may be interested in.
"For the first lesson, we started off by tracing an outline of each of our hands. On one hand, we had to identify five dream jobs and on the other, we recorded places or people we think could provide guidance with those careers. We then nominated one of these jobs as our first choice. Then, we went to the 'My Big Tomorrow' website to research our chosen career. It provided solid information about that specific career, like the requirements we needed in order to pursue this career, the salary and the pros and cons of this career. Thankfully, it also recommended subjects we can choose for that course. Lastly, it displayed a short but detailed documentary about things you needed to know about that career and what you basically do.
"Finally, for our recent lesson we visited the 'My Career Portfolio' website and brainstormed words that describe ourselves. After we’d brainstormed, we then chose five values we thought best described us, five values we live by and five values that may influence our career choices. Last of all, we filled out an online career action plan by summarising our reflections."
Harvey C, 7A:
"The class of 7A recently embarked on a study to acknowledge choices and obligations for our future. We analysed our skills, strengths, the links between secondary school and the world of work.
"DiSCovery’s focus led us to consider what choices we need to make in order to follow a path that's right for us. With the help of Mrs Nunis, we’ve strengthened our understanding of how to forge a future for ourselves.
"As young people, we have the opportunity to lead fulfilling lives, which can foster a positive sense of wellbeing, compassion and good relationships.
"Although we can't predict the future, we have structure that inspires us to make positive life choices."
Amy M, 7A:
"In the past few lessons of DiSCovery Year 7s have been looking at skills/ strengths and how they can help us in future career choices. We have filled in questions about what we are good at and how these skills can help in our jobs. As a class we have participated in the, ‘five things that describe you’ and, ‘five strengths that you will need in your career choice.’ While doing this topic, it made me think more about what job I would like to do. I’m sure like a few other Year 7s, they would’ve had no idea what job they would like to do in the future. With a few helpful websites and some surveys, most year 7s are pretty keen on at least one job they wish to pursue. This activity was very helpful in quite a few ways. I learnt about incredible jobs that I was interested in, and discovered more about myself and my skills. It was fun to take surveys and learn more about myself. It helped me realise what strengths I need to get certain jobs."
Saanidhya S, 7A:
"Our last couple of Year 7 DiSCovery lessons were about our career choices and what we wanted to do when we got older. We focused mainly on what we wanted to do and what our strengths and abilities were. We used websites such as 'My Big Tomorrow' to determine what jobs we could do based on our strengths.
"The lessons helped me gather ideas about what I'd like to do when I grow up and how I would need to go about it. They helped me establish ideas based on my abilities. The lessons also helped think about what careers I'd be best suited for."