Welcome to the Life lessons taught by the Ant Man newest ... · Griffin told me later. It had been...
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SUPPORTING THE GUIDANCE-ORIENTED APPROACH TO LEARNING FALL 2011 – VOL. 8 NO. 1 Check the GOAL Web site for regular updates: www.learnquebec.ca/goal Making Dreams Come True I N S I D E 2 She’s dynamic, she’s skilled and she’s hooked on GOAL. 3 Nine ways you can identify a GOAL school 3 Why Treats from the Terroir is as “GOAL” as it gets 4 What entrepreneurship means for GOAL practitioners . . . and an evolution in our editorial content. Separate elementary and sec- ondary sections now provide school teams with practical examples and age- appropriate strategies for introducing GOAL activities into the curriculum. A new column on page 4 discusses how the growing emphasis on student entre- preneurship is an important aspect of GOAL. And to lead off each issue, “Viewpoint” will share the personal GOAL insights of different educators from across the English sector. It’s all meant to assist you in your efforts to make learning exciting and relevant to your students. Enjoy! - Your GOAL Network How savvy are you about the guidance-oriented approach to learning? Sign up for our online quiz at www.learnquebec.ca/goal and your name will be entered in a drawing for a copy of the entertaining and informative One Week Job DVD. This 75-minute documentary tells how a young man from Vancouver named Sean Aiken set out to find his passion by working 52 different jobs in 52 weeks. View the trailer at www.oneweekjob.com Welcome to the newest issue of The GOAL Post Test your knowledge of GOAL Win the One Week Job DVD! Last summer, my eight-year-old nephew, Griffin, was bursting with excitement after he had followed around the ant exterminator who had come to his house. The man had taken the time to explain to him some of the tricks of his trade and the knowledge and skills it required. “I could see me doing that,” Griffin told me later. It had been a pleasant revelation to him that people could make a good living, driving around in a nice truck, killing bugs. He was thrilled. Teachable moments Maybe my nephew will become an exterminator one day; maybe he won’t. Either way, the experience has exposed him to an occupation that he can imagine himself doing. I believe that some of the most teach- able moments occur when we integrate career dis- cussions into the curriculum on a regular basis. Personally, GOAL has added value to my career because of the responsibility it has given me to help students find their true interests and obtain the skills needed to follow them. At a time when our guidance resources are stretched to the limit, GOAL provides a way for teachers, guid- ance counsellors, vocational centres, parents and industry to join forces in creating students who are self-directed learners and realistic career explorers. Administrators play a vital role by supporting career fairs in the school, encouraging guest speakers and helping teachers to re-shape field trips to include career information. We’re living at a time of major labour shortages in certain sectors and yet I have had students tell me they never intend to work. Imagine if, in the process of career exploration, we could stimulate their excitement to learn and create a positive addic- tion to work? Rob Buttars is the New Frontiers School Board’s Assistant Director General. Viewpoint Life lessons taught by the Ant Man by Rob Buttars Photo montage by Ponctuation Grafix Sean Aiken Photo: Allan Cole Roberts, NordicaPhotography.com
Transcript of Welcome to the Life lessons taught by the Ant Man newest ... · Griffin told me later. It had been...
SUPPORTING THE GUIDANCE-ORIENTED APPROACH TO LEARNING FALL 2011 – VOL. 8 NO. 1
Che c k t h e GOAL Web s i t e f o r r e gu l a r u pd a t e s : www . l e a r n q u e b e c . c a / g o a l
M a k i n g D r e a m sC o m e T r u e
I N S I D E
2 She’s dynamic, she’s skilled and she’s hooked on GOAL.
3 Nine ways you can identify a GOAL school
3 Why Treats from the Terroir is as “GOAL” as it gets
4 What entrepreneurship means for GOAL practitioners
. . . and an evolution in our editorialcontent. Separate elementary and sec-ondary sections now provide schoolteams with practical examples and age-appropriate strategies for introducingGOAL activities into the curriculum. Anew column on page 4 discusses howthe growing emphasis on student entre-preneurship is an important aspect ofGOAL.
And to lead off each issue, “Viewpoint”will share the personal GOAL insightsof different educators from across theEnglish sector. It’s all meant to assistyou in your efforts to make learningexciting and relevant to your students.Enjoy!
- Your GOAL Network
How savvy are you about the guidance-oriented approach to learning?
Sign up for our online quiz at www.learnquebec.ca/goal and your name will beentered in a drawing for a copy of the entertaining and informative One WeekJob DVD. This 75-minute documentary tells how a young man from Vancouvernamed Sean Aiken set out to find his passion by working 52 different jobs in 52 weeks. View the trailer at www.oneweekjob.com
Welcome to thenewest issue ofThe GOAL Post
Test your knowledge of GOAL
Win the One Week Job DVD!
Last summer, my eight-year-old nephew, Griffin, wasbursting with excitement after he had followedaround the ant exterminator who had come to hishouse. The man had taken the time to explain to himsome of the tricks of his trade and the knowledgeand skills it required. “I could see me doing that,”Griffin told me later. It had been a pleasant revelationto him that people could make a good living, drivingaround in a nice truck, killing bugs. He was thrilled.
Teachable moments
Maybe my nephew will become an exterminator oneday; maybe he won’t. Either way, the experience has
exposed him to an occupation that he can imaginehimself doing. I believe that some of the most teach-able moments occur when we integrate career dis-cussions into the curriculum on a regular basis.
Personally, GOAL has addedvalue to my career becauseof the responsibility it hasgiven me to help studentsfind their true interests andobtain the skills needed tofollow them.
At a time when our guidance resources are stretchedto the limit, GOAL provides a way for teachers, guid-ance counsellors, vocational centres, parents andindustry to join forces in creating students who areself-directed learners and realistic career explorers.
Administrators play a vital role by supportingcareer fairs in the school, encouraging guest
speakers and helping teachers to re-shapefield trips to include career information.
We’re living at a time of majorlabour shortages in certain
sectors and yet I havehad students tellme they neverintend to work.Imagine if, in theprocess of careerexploration, wecould stimulate
their excitement to learn and create a positive addic-tion to work?
Rob Buttars is the New Frontiers School Board’sAssistant Director General.
Viewpo int
Life lessons taught by the Ant Manby Rob Buttars
Photo montage by Ponctuation Grafix
Sean AikenPhoto: Allan Cole Roberts, NordicaPhotography.com
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Elementary Level
Fall 2011 2
Why this experienced teacher is hooked on GOAL
Young people’s educational success is directly related to their moti -vation in their studies, and motivation is sustained, among other things,by learning plans, training plans, career plans and life plans.
- from the foreword to Making Dreams Come True
Myriam Boffice had been teaching grade 6 students at Greendale Elementary in Pierrefonds for close to 25 years when she first heard of GOAL. “However, I had been using the GOAL approach in
my classroom without even realizing it,” she told The GOAL Post in a recent interview.
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Q: Did GOAL change the way you teach?
MB: Not really. Through experience, I hadcome to realize that children learn best whenwhat they are learning is relevant to their ownlives. For example, if we are studying the mapof Canada, I might teach the children map-ping skills. Facts are easy to forget, but kidswill remember the five Great Lakes if they drawthem on maps they make themselves.
What GOAL does is make the curriculum evenmore relevant by adding a layer of communityand career awareness. Our GOAL specialist,Nancy Battet, helps me introduce the childrento people in our community whose work isrelated to a theme we are studying. Theseguest speakers have a different point of viewand another way of explaining the subjectmatter. The kids’ eyes get big as quarters whenthey hear about their jobs and the skills theyneed to do them. All of a sudden, we’re notjust learning a subject in school, we’re learningabout life.
Q: How do you apply GOAL in yourclassroom?
MB:Well, if we’re doing a uniton inventions in our science class,I will ask the children to thinkabout why something was invent-ed and how it changed the waypeople lived and worked. Oneyear, we invited an engineer intoour class who had worked on theCanadarm2’s Dextre handattachment. Imagine how inter-esting that was!
Or when my students ask, “Whydo we have to do an oral presen-tation?” I’ll respond: “Becausewhen you go for your first jobinterview, you want to be able totalk about yourself in a strong,clear, confident way.”
When you talk to kids about careers, theybegin to realize why it’s important to studyand learn. I’d love to invite a chef into my class. With all the cooking shows on TV, kidssee that as a really cool profession. But thatperson could tell them that being a chef isn’tjust about cooking. You need math to buy andmeasure ingredients. You need to be able toread and write recipes.
Q: You have an annual career day in yourschool. What does this give the children?
MB: A child who loves animals might thinkshe’d like to be a vet but then discover thatshe can’t deal with blood and cutting. At acareer fair, she could be exposed to other jobssuch as groomer, trainer or wildlife biologistthat also involve working with animals. Whenyou give kids career options, chances arethey’ll discover something out there that they are good at. It gives them a reason to learn
and opens a door to counter the “schoolsucks” attitude of the teen years.
Q: How can a teacher new to GOAL getstarted?
MB: GOAL is really just a way of using theresources around you to complement whatyou are already teaching. Meet-the-teacher-night is a great opportunity to ask parents ifthey would be willing to talk to your classabout their work.
If your students are learning about their com-munity, why not invite the mayor or a munici-pal representative to visit your class? Or ifsomeone from the fire department is comingto talk about fire safety, have the kids preparequestions about the skills firemen need. If youare doing a unit on dinosaurs, invite anarchaeologist to speak to the kids or makefossils in art class. The possibilities are endlesswhen you open your imagination.
“All of a sudden, we’re not just learning a subject in school,we’re learning about life.”
“GOAL is really just a way of using the resources around you to comple-ment what you are already teaching,” says teacher Myriam Boffice.
For more information about GOAL:www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/dgfj/csc/pdf/resume-en-bref_eng.pdf
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By exercising their language and visual skills as food writers and photo -graphers, a grade 8 class from Montréal’s Royal Vale School illustrated
how GOAL can support the curriculum.
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Treats from the Terroir typifies GOAL in action
English teacher Selena Lobo first heard aboutTreats from the Terroir from her school board’s lan-guage arts consultant. The project, part of theeducational program of Montréal’s BlueMetropolis International Literary Festival, aimedto involve high school and elementary students in
creating a book that would raise youth’s aware-ness of local foods and food production.
“I was intrigued by the idea of having my studentswork towards a tangible end result,” says Selena,who submitted her name to participate. “Andbecause I had only one grade 8 English class lastyear, I felt it would be manageable.”
Several schools took part in the six-month projectand each one focused on a different aspect offood production. Selena’s students visited thePearson School of Culinary Arts in LaSalle,where they saw future chefs, pastry makers andbutchers in action. Inspired by that visit, each stu-
dent’s assignment was towrite about and/or takephotographs of some-thing food-related.
To support the students,Montréal food criticLesley Chesterman andphotographer ColleenLeonard shared profes-sional tips with the classand later helped themedit their work. They alsochose which submissionswere published.
As “GOAL” as it gets
Selena Lobo wasn’t think-ing of GOAL when sheagreed to have her classparticipate in Treats fromthe Terroir. Nevertheless,
the project was about as “GOAL” as it gets. Herstudents saw for themselves how writing and visu-al communication skills are directly relevant tointeresting careers. They learned about foodpreparation and experienced new foods. They
benefitted from the advice of two professionalsfrom their community. They discovered the exis-tence of training programs some had neverknown about. And they did all this, while earningmarks in their English course and acquiring sub-ject-specific and cross-curricular competencies.
Royal Vale students proudly display their copies of Treats from the Terroir at thebook launch last spring.
Nine waysyou can identify a“GOAL” school
I was intrigued by the idea of having my students work
towards a tangible end result.
Need more copies of The GOAL Post?
Contact Doris Kerec at LEARN. Telephone : 1-888-622-2212
or e-mail < [email protected] >.
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Educational success goes beyond pure academics. Learn more about the role of Complementary EducationalServices at www.mels.gouv.qc.ca/dgfj/csc/pdf/19-7036A.pdf
1. The entire school team—teachers, admin-istrators, complementary educationalservices professionals and library staff—understands GOAL’s connection to theQEP through all the Broad Areas ofLearning and the cross-curricular competencies.
2. GOAL is mentioned in, and supported by,the school’s educational project and/orsuccess plan.
3. Activities that promote greater self-knowl-edge and career awareness are routinelyintegrated into projects, activities andsubject areas.
4. Time and space are set aside for teachers,guidance counsellors and other staff towork together to create learning and eval-uation situations (LES) that include GOALactivities.
5. Parent, community and business partnersare welcomed into the classroom to showstudents how in-class learning can beapplied in adult lives and careers.
6. GOAL-inspired learning experiences spanacross all cycles in a coherent fashion thatgives continuity to the development of stu-dents’ self- and career-knowledge.
7. A significant number of students aredeveloping their identities, soft skills andcareer awareness by taking part in extra-curricular activities, project- or communi-ty-based initiatives, mentorship programs,job shadowing, career fairs, skills work-shops, etc.
8. Effective information and counsellingresources are available and highly visible.
9. Professional development provides teach-ers and other staff with ideas and rolemodels for integrating GOAL into the curriculum and culture of the classroom.
Secondary Level
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The GOAL Post Fall 2011 Vol. 8 No. 1
The GOAL Post* is published three times a year by the GOAL Network, in collaboration with MELS’ Secteur des services à la com-munauté anglophone et aux affaires autochtones et au plan nord. It is printed and distributed by LEARN. Editorial and produc-tion coordination: Laurene Bennett, Communications Arpeggia [email protected]. Graphic design: Sylvie Desrochers,Conception graphique Babill-Art [email protected] Online coordination: Robert Costain [email protected]*Funded by MELS, through contributions from the Canada-Québec Agreement on Minority-Language Education and Second-LanguageInstruction
Attention: student entrepreneurs at work!
Encouraging young people’s entrepre-neurial instincts makes both economicand pedagogical sense. Small- and
medium-sized businesses are the backbone of our econo-my and entrepreneurship is an essential driver of innova-tion and growth. At the same time, the motivation, self-confidence, effort, team spirit, responsibility and othercharacteristics of an entrepreneurial spirit are the samequalities that enable young people to see through tocompletion any project or initiative they choose toundertake.
Widening the discussion
So how can we develop this culture among our stu-dents? Through the guidance-oriented approach tolearning, we are already exposing youth to a variety ofcareer avenues that may suit their individual talents andaspirations. Widening our discussion to include entrepre-neurship allows them to reflect on the qualities thatmake for a successful entrepreneur. Are they also deter-mined self-starters who are comfortable with risk? Could
they see themselves creating their own summer job orentering the labour force as self-employed entrepreneurs?
A field trip to a zoo becomes a GOAL activity when stu-dents not only learn about the animals, but also the vari-ous occupations needed to maintain a zoo. That couldinclude the self-employed vet who treats different speciesas part of his or her practice. We can also ensure thatlocal entrepreneurs are represented at career fairs orincluded among the community partners and mentorswe invite into the classroom to talk to students.
Remember, too, that all these activities can be directlytied to the acquisition of subject-specific and cross- curricular competencies. They are one more way ofengaging students in their learning.
Include examples of entrepreneurship in your career discussions
by Nathalie Morin, MELS- SSCAAAPN
Educators keep hearing about the importance of student entrepreneurship. What does this mean in the context of GOAL?
Contact us!
A quick look at some of the entries in the Québec Entrepreneurship Contest confirms thedegree of leadership, creativity, and resourcefulness students are capable of.
At Québec High School, students in the Work-Oriented Training Path have launched “CaféInn” to provide a food service to psychoeduca-tion students at the nearby campus of theUniversité de Québec à Trois-Rivières.
To meet their “stage” requirements, the QHSstudents operate the café four days a week andare responsible for ordering supplies, planningand preparing light meals, serving customersand operating the cash.
“It’s a win-win all around,” says QHS specialcare counsellor, Julie Slattery, who helped thestudents set up the café and is a part-time psy-choeducation student at UQTR. “Because ofthis experience, one of our students hasobtained another ‘stage’ in the kitchen of theChâteau Frontenac.”
Entrepreneurship guide coming soonA new MELS’ guide linking GOAL and entrepre-neurship will be released soon and training ses-sions for the English sector are planned for laterin this school year. Stay tuned!
Entrepreneurship & GOALY O U R G O A L N E T W O R K
Nathalie Morin Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du SportComplementary Educational Services (Anglophone sector) (514) 873-3339, ext. 3695(418) 266-3117, ext. [email protected]
Central Québec School BoardSandra Hughes, Guidance [email protected]
Diane Labbé, Director of Student [email protected]
Commission scolaire du LittoralCharles Lasnier, Guidance Counsellor [email protected]
Cree School BoardAndré Tremblay, Guidance Counsellor [email protected]
Benoit Strasbourg, POP, Vocational Training & GOAL [email protected]
Eastern Shores School BoardMalcolm MacPhee, Career Orientation, Youth Sector [email protected]
Eastern Townships School BoardChris Colley, Career Development [email protected]
English Montréal School BoardMarsha Gouett, Career Development Consultant [email protected]
First Nations Education CouncilTreena Metallic, Pedagogical [email protected]
Lester B. Pearson School BoardTom Conti, Guidance Counsellor, Adult Education & Vocational [email protected]
Nancy Battet, Community and Partnership [email protected]
New Frontiers School Board Chantal Bergevin, GOAL/Entrepreneurship/Work [email protected]
Tom Muirhead, GOAL/Entrepreneurship/Work Study [email protected]
Québec Association of Independent SchoolsAmanda Walbert, Teacher, Vanguard High School [email protected]
Riverside School BoardTo be named
Sir Wilfrid Laurier School BoardSteven Scallion, Career Development Consultant [email protected]
Western Québec School BoardKelly Butler, Career Development [email protected]
MELS (Anglophone sector)Ivana Colatriano, Supporting Montréal Schools [email protected]
Cheryl Pratt, POP, Explo & EN [email protected]
MELS (Francophone sector)Christiane Daigle, Orientation et [email protected]
Québec High School students are pictured here with their “Café Inn” coordi-nators, Dave DesRosiers (striped shirt) and Julie Slattery (far right).
The GOAL Post is also available in PDF format on the GOAL Web site at www.learnquebec.ca/goal
