Namaste
This blog focuses on the Career Focussed Junior College we have launched in 2020. This article may also help parents with some guidance to help their children have a happy, successful, fulfilling life and career even if they are not at Aurinko.
There is a buzz about the Aurinko College in the world of Education because you finally have a program at the school level that connects #passion2career and bridges the huge skill gap seen in students in the first year of most Undergrad courses. Many do not know that this program starts at Grade 8 in Aurinko and is open to external students at Grade 11 when they apply for admission.
Most students approaching for admissions at Grade 11 usually make career choices in the following ways.
1. I score high in science and math and hence I may be good in them and hence the science stream. Or I don’t like these subjects and don’t do well and hence non-science stream.
2. Taking science and math till grade 12 gives me an option to enter into any stream so Ill just stick to it.
3. I want a job that helps me earn more 🙂 So choose a stream that has the best placements in terms of emoluments.
4. I want a particular stream or college becuase my friends have taken it
5. My parents decide for me ( usually based on fears, conventional methods and preconceived notions)
There is no talk of what they like, what are their passions, where do they see themselves going, what are their must-haves, what is their career path, where does Junior college fit into that path, and which subjects fall into that path. Grade 11 and 12 is considered as a transition to get into Undergrad and sensitization or exposure to the tools of the trade or the world of work is not considered important to choose career streams
This is in contrast to our children at Aurinko who have mapped their passions (cultivated and nurtured from 0-14yrs) to careers and built a 10 year career path mapping subjects, colleges, and internships to this path. Then whether they are good at that subject or like it or not they are still committed to it as they know exactly why they need it.
So why do we do what we do and why is the Aurinko College Program so unique and relevant in our world today?
Increasingly we hear employers, prospective students and futurists saying that success is all about the skills, not about the degrees.
Historically, degrees and advanced certifications were the gateway to an interview. While they got you a job, they also ensured you remained there as job requirements remained almost the same or gradually increased with the passing time.
But times have changed. As technology ripples through the economy and society in an ever changing world, much of what is learned in college becomes outdated in a few short years. Though soft skills of creative thinking, critical thinking, communication and leadership do not go out of date and remain in demand, the hard facts and skills of most of the disciplines are changing
What the industry wants is workers with a combination of soft skills that do not go out of date and a basic understanding of the current hard facts and skills that will be useful for just a few years before they must be upskilled for a new generation of technology. This combination of knowledge and skills may not require a degree. But it will definitely need a passion for lifelong learning and the ability to quickly learn and adapt. It will also need clarity and an alignment to the chosen path within the individual so he remains motivated and perseverant. These people will make the biggest difference within organisations and life.
As the world faces a shortfall in skilled workers, white-collared and blue-collared workers do not fit the bill. Instead we need a new breed of workers – those that have a passion, fuelled by a desire to learn, those that develop the technical and soft skills needed to work through nontraditional education paths. These workers along with a four-year degree from college also is trained through interactions with the community, vocational schools, skill boot camps, technical certification programs, high school technical education and on-the job apprentices and internships.”
As traditional education becomes redundant the onus lies upon schools and colleges to reinvent the content & learning experiences and relook at the learning outcomes of students and its relevance & purpose in their lives
It’s not skills at the exclusion of degrees, but aligning the educational journey to fulfil the basic soft skills by certifying the core skills of creative thinking, critical thinking, communication and leadership and at the same time, we must be ahead of the curve on teaching technological implementation; emerging practices and technologies; and cultivating in our students, the flexibility in the application of knowledge to new environments.
This will ensure that the degrees and certifications remain relevant to both employers and prospective students. Careers are now increasingly seen not as being ‘chosen’ but as being constructed through the series of choices about learning and work that people make throughout their lives.
Thus the decisions that young people make at school and the learning experiences they have have a big impact on their lives – affecting not just their further education, training or employment, but also their social lives, finances and health outcomes.
How do we address this at Aurinko?
Aurinko Academy believes in preparing students to transition successfully towards a future career path. Throughout their schooling days, from Kindergarten to Grade 12, students are provided with hands-on curriculum opportunities to build general capabilities, their interests and aspirations are nurtured, and they are supported to make informed decisions about their subject choices and pathways. People, places, and phenomena are a huge part of their child-led and child-centric curriculum where interactions with each one of them slowly orient the students towards real life.
A year-long career focussed program in Grade 8 or a one month program in Grade 11 (depending on when they apply for admissions), focusses on helping students reflect on all their experiences, find passions that can be developed into a career, triangulate their attitudes, aptitude, and achievements to create a 10-year career path for themselves. This plan has is very detailed information of their needs, wants, desires, values they want to carry forward, their strengths, challenges, and their vision mission statements. It also has details about milestones that theyll need to meet to achieve this dream career and life including which colleges, their eligibility criteria, entrance exams, costing, location, and so on. The plan is not just words but brings together their research in all areas. This is vetted by their parents, teachers, mentors, and peers.
With the 10 year plan in place, the students are more engaged in education and highly motivated about their future as they have a clear understanding of themselves and how they might live and work when they leave school. High-quality career education and guidance is an essential part of schooling in preparing young students for their future and Aurinko Academy has been at the forefront of this for a decade.
The two key components of career education and career guidance in Aurinko Academy are:
- Career education – developing knowledge, skills and attitudes through a structured program from Grade 8 to 12, compromising of learning experiences in education and training settings which assist all students to make informed decisions about their study and/or work options and enable effective participation in their working life.
- Career guidance – assisting students to make educational, training and occupational choices and to manage their careers and move from a general understanding of life and work to a specific understanding of the realistic learning and work options that are open to them.
Supporting students in making well informed choices about subjects leads them to have a more optimistic outlook on life, sense of purpose and greater level of contribution that they make to their families and society. There are economic and social benefits when students are supported to make effective transitions from secondary school to further education, training or employment.
The Aurinko Academy Integrated Career Focussed Junior College offers a structured program to students in 10 career streams. Junior Colleges are a crucial stage of a student’s life and this first of its kind program in India helps the students make the right career choice, understand the career stream he/she has chosen, participate in various internships, get mentored to evaluate/improve their skills and build greater awareness and readiness to make the most of their Undergrad College and face the World of Work.
The highlight of this program is
1. 10 career streams to choose from ( Board subjects are given as per the demands of the career)
2. A one month passion2career program to map passions to a career and develop the 10 year career path plan.
3. A 3 month Bridge Program at the start of Grade 11 to align children on a path of self discovery
4. An intensive 2 year career toolkit for each stream to help them explore the tools of the trade
5. An intensive 2 year Foundation Program on 21rst century skills to prepare them for the World of College and Work.
6. Preparation or the Boards ( Option of NIOS or PUC) from the best aligned to the Aurinko Philosophy of Co-constructivism
7. Preparation for the Entrance Exams from the best in the Industry with a good track record
Aurinko Academy has been at the forefront of progressive education for a decade and this new offering is definitely changing the landscape of education and the lives of children once again!
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