CAREER ORIENTATION PROGRAMME at Gimnazija Vič in the school year 2015/16
People want to be happy, healthy, successful ... An important part is employment and people who can combine their hobby with their work that enables them to provide for themselves financially as well are the happiest and the most successful ones.
That is why at secondary schools, especially at grammar schools that have Matura (a school-leaving exam), we put a lot of emphasis on our students' strengths, talents and the development of skills that can help them when they decide which university they want to study at.
Therefore, in the first year we carry out a programme where students get to know themselves and their wishes, learn about how to set their goals and think about the ways to reach these goals. We talk about the meaning of life. The programme in the first year consists of approximately 10-15 hours. We carry it out on the first school day, when newcomers meet their classmates, teachers, the school environment and have the possibility to get to know people and tell something about themselves (their interests, hobbies, etc.)
We carry on at a get-to-know-each-other camp, where students spend two days with their teachers. They hang out in an informal, out-of-class situation and we prepare activities where they introduce themselves in details, work in teams, learn new things about themselves and their classmates in different circumstances than at school. These activities are organized and implemented by our school social workers and teachers with specific knowledge.
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| Getting to know each other |
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| Posters about ourselves |
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| Team work |
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| Evening activities |
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| Having fun outdoors |
In class, our school's psychologist conducts a programme, called “Learning how to learn”. This programme enables the students to find out what their wishes and abilities are; they learn things about time management and setting goals; think about how much effort they are willing to put into reaching their goals and success at school and in life. We show them different learning techniques, how the memory works, how our emotions influence successful learning …
These lessons are not part of our national curriculum, but are part of a certain number of lessons/activities our students need to have every school year.
In the second year our students can choose a field they are especially interested in and we organize so called “research camps”, where they learn about research methods at a specific subject in details.
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| Research camp - analyzing sea water |
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| Research camp - local cuisine |
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| Research camp - a visit to a wine cellar |
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| Research camp - at a dog shelter |
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| Research camp - the production of juice (Fructal) |
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| Research camp - Pipistrel (production of light aircraft) |
In terms of career orientation our students invite their parents to present their professions in class. They explain everything about the job they do, the education necessary for the position, the possibilities of promotion and of course the reasons why they chose this profession.
In the third year the school's counsellor presents different possibilities the students have in connection with university enrolment in Slovenia and abroad. We talk about what the students want, which their talents are and where they could improve, we explain the procedure of enrolment to them and different study programmes. They also have the possibility of individual counselling in our school advisory service.
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| Information about studying abroad |
In the fourth year we explain the enrolment procedure and the requirements of different programmes in details, as well as enable them to discuss everything individually with the school's counsellor. We also carry out a couple of lessons in class where students think about themselves and their goals, their strengths and different possibilities for their employment. We also prepare the so called “career marathon” every year, where representatives of around 20 faculties (in Slovenia we have only 3 universities, which are then divided into faculties) present their programmes. Students and teachers from these faculties come and explain the enrolment requirements, entrance exams, programmes and future employment. We also invite third year student from Gimnazija Vič to these meetings. Besides everything mentioned, we also organize presentations of different studies abroad for second, third and fourth year students. We invite our former students who study abroad to explain what they study, where they work and how satisfied they are with their choice.
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| "Career marathon" at Gimnazija Vič |
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| Lecturers; Faculty representatives |
We also invite all of our third and fourth year students to different events organized by faculties and working organizations, where students can get all of the necessary information on studies and employment. We enable them to connect with the Employment service of Slovenia, where they can fill in different questionnaires that help them determine what their future field of work could be.
We help our students when it comes to applying to a university abroad and in Slovenia.
We also keep in touch with our former students to see which faculty they attend and how successful they are in their studies. We include the data we get into the evaluation of our work.
When it comes to career orientation in Slovenia, we have the support of external institutions, such as career centres at faculties, the Employment service of Slovenia and the centre for enrolment, where they take care of the enrolment, applications and the selection procedure for universities.
Last but not least, we also offer courses of autogenic training and meditation to our students, where they can learn the techniques which help them be calm, relaxed and focused.
Majda Jus Ašič
Certified EuroPsy psychologist
Translated by: Jona Lara Šrajer Štravs
