Careers education is hope - A short case study

Recently, we received an email from an inspiring school who have just begun to use BECOME. The Liverpool Hospital School provides education for students on a one-off, short or long-term basis, depending on their medical treatment and needs.

Here, in their own words, is their experience of the power of a future vision to see value in yourself.

A Year 8 student came to Liverpool Hospital School who was difficult to engage.

To build a relationship quickly and to ensure that she felt comfortable, we initiated a 'getting to know you' board game so we could elicit any passions and interests. This was also a way for her to get to know the teachers, too.

She was happy to participate but during the game, one of the questions was 'describe yourself in 3 words.'

This question stumped her, she just froze and said that she couldn't. We explained that this could be characteristics or physical and gave examples. We used this opportunity to describe her as stylish due to the jacket that she was wearing. This made her smile and giggle. 

We decided to use the 'Unique Me' lesson plan from BECOME, as one of the learning outcomes is: I will reflect on myself as a unique, valuable individual. We felt that this was an important outcome to address due to her difficulties with describing herself and that she was in hospital with suicidal ideation.

We spent time talking about what makes us all unique and used the video as a talking point too. It was evident that she soon relaxed and began openly talking more. She then used the worksheet to note down her answers to the questions in the grid.

At the bottom of the grid, it asks, 'The people who know me best would describe me with these three words:' It was great to see that she was now able to answer these without teacher support. The second part of the worksheet was valuable for her too, as we could emphasise the importance of change and nothing in life is linear. This seemed to resonate with her. 

During the session, she spoke to us about her passion for art, maths and sport.

We showed the BECOME.ME app and she looked up art. Fashion designer came up and this seemed to spark curiosity.

We explained how the log worked and that she could continually work on it using her log in.

She was the first student at Liverpool Hospital School to get one of the [BECOME licenses] and start thinking and planning for her future.

This is evidence of the impact that BECOME has already had for one of our students in a short amount of time.

How BECOME opens up the options

'Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.'

- Albert Einstein

We appreciated the story and positive feedback from just one of the many Secondary and alternative schools using BECOME.

The Liverpool Hospital School student used filters to find jobs relating to her interests in Sports, Maths and the Arts. Here's a bit about how filters work in the BECOME.me student app.

Filters enable students to discover so many options they may not have thought of before!  For a student interested in Maths, Sports and the Arts - what about being a sports psychologist, a coach or a scout? A statistician would use mathematics skills. A sports reporter - or a fashion designer - use a range of creative and arts skills to communicate, design and inspire people about sports stories. The image of the app below shows career areas that relate to Maths, Sport and The Arts.

Clicking on Fashion Designers, we find many options again, from fashion advisors to stylists, specialist designers for uniforms, sporting gear, athletic shoes and hats, designers for the theatre, dance and film. There are merchandisers, product developers and more.

It's powerful to see that there are plenty of options that might fit you -- unique you -- perfectly.

BECOME in Secondary education

Many high schools use BECOME in various ways in the Secondary context, to open up students' career ideas and explore their assumptions about careers and what success looks like.

• Designing a Career Development Program - A case study
• The Secret Ingredient for Senior Subject Selection
• Secondary Careers Education with BECOME