Job Exposure
Name of the good/interesting practice/initiative/policy
Job Exposure
Country
Malta
I am proposing that this example will be published also in the KSLLL database
No
1. Background
What makes this an example of good/interesting practice/initiative/policy?
- The motivation of the initiative (What is the history/background of the policy?)
- Linkages with LLG policy priorities (Please add references to other national/EU policies or documents)
- Participants
The Job Exposure consists of a two-week national project where a selection of Form 4 students are placed for one week within a workplace context either related to the Financial sector, such as a bank or an insurance company, within the Health Sector, such as a hospital or a healthcare centre or within the ICT Sector such as a software or hardware company. Students have the opportunity to observe workers on the job.
The importance of linking schooling with the world of work has always been given importance in Malta. The National Curriculum Framework – Towards a Quality Education for all (Document 2) (2011, p. 29) identifies as one of the educational objectives, the effective and productive participation in the world of work. It states that students should be exposed to direct work orientation experiences (p. 62). The document also emphasis the importance of students acquiring employability skills such as the skills of creativity, problem solving, teamwork, responsibility, time management, job search skills and others – skills which students experience during work orientation experiences.
Participants: A cross-section of Form 4 students within state schools. The selection of students is carried out on the basis of structured personality-based interviews, carried out by a three-member board set up within each school. The format of the interviews is based on research carried out by the team, and each board consists of a team member, a college-based trainee career advisor and a school-based guidance teacher. This is done following the student’s submission of a letter of application and curriculum vitae. In this way, a ‘real-life’ learning experience in interviewing is also provided to those students who sit for the interview but are not selected for participation in the experience.
Students are also prepared for the experience through weekly e-mailed tutorials, addressing the following topics:
• gathering industry and health related information;
• making a good first impression;
• planning your way to the place of work;
• and making good use of the log book.
Queries are followed up and appropriate guidance provided.
Aims and targets
- Objectives of the initiative (What did the policy set out to achieve?)
- Target group
- Methods applied to reach the objective (technological and /or pedagogical)
AIMS of the initiative:
- expose students to real life contexts and situations, providing them with a glimpse/view of what is in store for them in the future;
- serve as a bridge between compulsory school and the world of work;
- expose students to workplace ethics common to different work environments;
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
- understand the relevance of school regulations to the world of work;
- understand the importance of acquiring employability skills such as team work; communication, leadership, responsibility and accountability etc;
- Acquire a number of job search skills: writing of a letter of application, the filling-in of a CV, preparation for an interview (for which students are also encouraged to look up information), sitting for an interview.
- entice students who find schooling ‘difficult’ to see the relevance of school subjects to different careers;
- broaden students’ knowledge of career options by encouraging them to explore careers they would never have thought of considering;
- widen students’ exposure to careers in a particular sector, e.g. the different career options found in the tourism sector;
- help students to assess whether their perceptions of a particular career is realistic and help in deciding whether or not to take up that career.
- encourage students to enquire about post-secondary/other courses and hence realise the importance of taking school seriously;
Target Group: Fourth Formers (14-15 year old students)
2. Implementation
Strategy and actions (Please describe the approach adopted to make the reform work and any actions taken.)
- Level of implementation (national, regional etc.)
- Implementation (description)
The Job Exposure is a national initiative. This ensures that all secondary state schools are involved in the implementation of the initiative. Collaboration was sought by the Directorate for Educational Services with entities such as the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) for the financial sector placements, the Malta Information Technology Agency (MITA) for the ICT sector placements and entities in the health sector for placements in health sector. The initiative is co-ordinated by the Career Guidance Teachers at the central unit at the Directorate for Educational Services, Student Services Deparment. Career Advisors and/or guidance teachers are responsible for coordinating work at school level. The job exposure is conducted during the summer period, thus complementing the career initiatives which are undertaken during the scholastic year. In this way students are well prepared for the experience.
Monitoring and evaluation
- What has been put in place for monitoring and evaluation?
- What actors are involved?
Monitoring: Students are monitored during the week of the job exposure by career advisors from the Directorate of Educational Services. A minimum of 3 visits are conducted by the supervisor during the week. During these visits time is dedicated for helping the student to critically reflect on workplace issues such as conditions of work; career prospects, employee relations, etc. Students are also helped to engage in self-reflection through the use of a log-book. This helps them to assess whether their perception of the career is realistic. This provides the student with an opportunity to think concretely about their career path and to decide whether to take up a particular path or not. Students are also informed about the right educational route and qualifications needed to pursue the career in question.
Evaluation: Students are asked to fill in an evaluation questionnaire at the end of the experience outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the initiative. An evaluation exercise is also conducted by the entities responsible for choosing the work placements thus assessing the viability of the students’ placements.
3. Outcomes
Achievements (Please describe the main outcomes/results according to the following headings. Each option can be answered - up to 50 words)
- Specific results
- Cost effectiveness
- Budget
- Innovative aspects
Specific results – Strenghtening the link between education and the world of work in a number of emerging sectors in Malta.
Cost effectiveness :
The job exposure poses a number of cost effective advantages:
- These expos are often aimed at motivating students to study. Students often do so on becoming aware of subject/educational relevance. Research suggests that early school leavers often cite lack of work and life relevance of their schooling as a factor in their dropping out. Dropping out of school has serious and lifelong consequences for young people. One of the strategies for retaining young people in the school system is through job exposure experiences which provide students with an opportunity to understand this link between what they are learning in school and work opportunities beyond schooling. These students are more likely to attend to their class work and build a positive mental image of their future.
- Students obtain a realistic image of the career observed. If at the end of secondary schooling the student eventually opts to follow this career path, there is more guarantee that he/she will follow through and not drop out of the course of studies;
Budget - the expenditure comes out of the national educational budget
Innovative aspects – These initiatives are being followed through at College level where colleges are organising their job exposure initiatives thus targeting the needs of their students.
Success factors (What key success factors have led to or prevented success?)
- Lessons learnt
- Unintended impacts (Have there been any unintended impacts? Positive or negative?)
Lessons learnt
Job exposure experiences have been successful for the following reasons:
- Cooperation between the entities involved – Directorate for Educational Services, MITA, MFSA and health sector entities;
- Involvement of career guidance professionals who co-ordinate and or/supervise students both at college level and at the place of work;
- Cooperation from Colleges;
- Cooperation and support of parents of students participating in the initiative
Strengths and weaknesses
- What areas of the policy can we learn lessons from?
- Are there still challenges ahead?
Challenges
- Coordinating job expos at national level and thus providing all students with the opportunity to experience work place exposure;
4. Additional narrative description of the policy/practice/initiative
Additional information
Name of contact
Dorianne Gravina/Sandra Cortis
Role (in policy initiative)
Policy initiators and implementers
Organization name
Directorate for Educational Services, Student Services Department
Address
Fra Gaetano Pace Forno Street, Hamrun, HMR1100
Phone
0035621225943
Fax
0035621220838
dorianne.gravina@gov.mt; sandra.cortis@gov.mt
Website address
No links specified.
Documents and publications
Attached files
Links
https://www.education.gov.mt/MediaCenter/Docs/1_BOOK%202%20ENG.pdf
This information was provided/updated by:
Dorianne Gravina/Sandra Cortis
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