Tackling misconceptions and stereotypical thinking with parents and carers
Leighton Collins is careers leader and careers adviser at Meadowhead School Academy Trust. In this article, he shares his insights about engaging parents and carers in careers and how the school is evolving one of its flagship annual careers events to capitalise on the updates to the Gatsby Benchmarks.
Leighton CollinsCareers leader and careers adviser, Meadowhead School Academy Trust
What’s so important about parents and carers?
One of the key themes underpinning the updated benchmarks is ‘engagement of parents and carers’. Parents and carers are a significant influence on the career decision-making of their children and careers guidance becomes all the more impactful when young people receive consistent guidance about their future choices from both their education institution and at home.
Sometimes parents and carers struggle to feel confident or knowledgeable enough to embrace this role and may rely on their own lived experience (which may be a bit out-of-date or not that relevant) and their own social networks for evidence, examples and guidance. In some cases, experience and social networks may be limited, impacting negatively on social mobility.
How have the benchmarks evolved to reflect this?
Updates to the benchmarks embed parent and carer engagement into planning, with careers programmes now required to set out how parents and carers will be engaged throughout. The changes specify the need not only to share information about careers, pathways and the labour market with parents and carers, but also to support them to use that information with their children.
The updates also state that careers programmes should actively seek to challenge misconceptions (including those of parents) and showcase diverse role models as well as stressing that careers programmes should be tailored so they are inclusive of, and impactful for, each and every young person.
How can this work in practice?
The demographic composition of each school or college is different and it’s important for the careers leader to recognise this, see what the issues are in their particular institution, and what interventions are required.
In Meadowhead for example, many of the parents are university educated and that could inadvertently lead to a position of: ‘I went to university and therefore my child will probably go to university’. Sometimes this could be without fully exploring the wider options available to make an informed choice. It’s important the young person makes that informed choice, based on their interests, strengths and the opportunities available to them. Wherever there are misconceptions or gaps in knowledge; we want to engage the parents to ensure they are well-equipped with good quality and up-to-date information about future pathways, study options and labour market opportunities. All for the benefit of the young person at the heart of the decision.
Applying the updates to Meadowhead’s current careers provision
One way that our school forges strong relationships with parents and carers is through the annual ‘Next Steps’ event we hold for Year 12s, and their parents and carers, in the summer term (usually in May). Given busy parent diaries, we give plenty of notice of the event to ensure high attendance rates.
The format of the event is that parents and carers are given a 20-minute briefing about different options post-Year 13. They then get the opportunity to talk to employers and Higher Education institutions, who have been invited into the school. The event has been well-attended for many years.
To make it even stronger and to ensure our careers programme is meeting the updates to the benchmarks described above, along with changes relating to meaningful encounters with employers, employees and further and higher education, we will be expanding it.
Firstly, we’re planning to bring in even more partners to ensure parents, carers and young people are exposed to an ever-wider spectrum of job sectors at the event.
The second change we’re making reflects how important the conversations that parents and carers have with their children after the event are. They are just as important as the conversations they have in the room. Every single family is different; some parents and children are open and chat about everything, including next steps after school or college; some families are more siloed in their conversations and don’t share as much with each other.
The aim of Meadowhead’s careers programme parental engagement plan is to ensure that we can give support to those parents where conversations might not be as free flowing between parents and the children.
So, this year, for the first time, we’re giving parents a take-away leaflet with some ideas of discussions they can have with their children after the event. Having some prompts or activity ideas is one way of helping parents use the information they receive at the event and making them really think about their continuing and important role in the careers choices of their child.
We hope providing this leaflet will help them have those conversations – it also signposts further support like Gatsby’s Talking Futures campaign, which is a suite of resources to help parents have constructive careers and education conversations with their children.
Resources to support careers leaders with parental engagement are available from the Careers & Enterprise Company and include a road map planning template for parents.
