Musings from a Not-So-Master Teacher

I agree with that. I was told when I went into highschool that I had to pick what direction I wanted to go. I picked college prep simply because I was young and my older brothers had done the same and went to UGA. Of course it ended up working fine because I have always wanted to go to college. But, I do not think that everyone is meant for college, so why do they make these students pick? I think they should be at least 18 before having to think about their life direction. The amount you grow up between the beginning of highschool and end is unbelievable. And even more so in college. I was undecided until the end of my sophmore year at Auburn. I am glad, because once I decided I was positive that is what I wanted!

I think you are absolutely right.  At fourteen, I wanted to be an Olympic gymnasts, despite the fact that I wasn't too good at it.  I think we are forcing our children to grow up faster each year and that's scary to me.  A fourteen year old can't figure out who they are, much who they will be in 20 or 30 years.  That is ridiculous!  I've never heard of any school system doing this and I'm extremely glad that I wasn't put in that situation.  This is more pressure than any child that age can handle.  I'm wouldn't be surprised if these kids were having panic attacks by now.  I wish our society could just lets kids be kids.  They need time to mature and grow up before they make any decisions that will affect the rest of their life.

I couldn't agree more. I remember taking those job quizes that pointed out your strengths and weaknesses about what you should be doing. The first time I took this I was in middle school. Why they gave it to be then, I have no idea. Like you I changed my mind all the time... from model to actress to a doctor and a vet. Quite honestly it took me until half way through my second year of college before I decided teaching is exactly what I wanted to do. Children, and lets face it even some adults, have such twisted and unrealistic views of "when I grow up" I don't see how someone could expect a child to know what they would want to do for the rest of their lives.

I couldn't agree... My 21st birthday is two weeks from today and I only have ONE MORE SEMESTER left in college, which I think is crazy! Granted, I have known what I wanted to do from day one, but I know some people don't even know after they are done with their first two years! I agree fourteen is way to young, when you're fourteen you're still trying to figure out who you are and adjust to this whole new world called high school. I guess I can understand their logic, but it really won't help kids in the long run because they are bound to change their minds... the average student changes their major three times after they enroll in college.

I completely agree with you.  I don't really remember talking about future careers when I was in middle school and really I don't remember much about it from high school either.  Even though it wasn't highly discussed I knew that I always wanted to be a teacher.  I guess I'm one of the few who have always known what they wanted to do with their lives.  Finding out who you are in high school is important but I feel like most people going into college don't really know what they want to do for their careers.  For example, one of my friends started out as a business major and is now an elementary education major.  People change while their college too and sometimes just as much as they have during their earlier years.  I think that giving students the nudge to start thinking about their future careers is important but I believe that it can wait until students are in high school to be done.

I understand your concern and I agree with a few of the items that you mentioned but if students are not academically prepared to go to college once they decide it may be a bit difficult to apply for admission.  I am aware that there are alternatives such as community college etc. but are we doing students justice by not attempting to prepare them for the future.  Generally, everyone changes careers about 3-5 times in there lifetime and though some kids know (think they know), what they would like to do, most do not. If we can allow students to explore and learn in the process, that is all we can do.  Thanks for discussing an important topic.

I've heard several times (including directly above)  that nowadays a person goes through an average of three careers in his or her lifetime. CAREERS, not jobs. Having students choose early will just get them ready for that first career that they're likely to leave anyway. Giving students time to develop a genuine interest in something and then pursue it may bring the average number of careers down.

P.S. I took those career tests in middle school they told me to be a rabbi (I'm not Jewish), a figure skating instructor, a jeweler, and, I'm not making these up, a circus clown.

It seems that everyone agrees that middle school is too early to choose  a career track, so I'll offer another perspective. Several years ago as a high school physics teacher, I had the opportunity to teach an engineering design course at one of my district's career academies.  This course was marketed to students  that might had interests in careers  related to "energy, power, and transportation," including auto mechanics, electronic techs, engineers, etc.. Though the  students in this class were not all going to be engineers, they all enjoyed applying their knowledge and creativity to the "real-world" problems we addressed in our projects.  Their enthusiasm and dedication were amazing.

I agree that most people gain different interests and probably make contributions through several careers.  My experiences showed me that as long as all students have to complete a set of high-quality core academic courses, career academies can provide them with opportunities to apply their energy and deepen their knowledge in their areas of interest during high school.