Aspiration into Action
In June 2023, UK Parliament published a cross-party Education Committee report noting the shortcomings in time and resources available to schools, to dedicate to careers education which could boost young people’s attainment and future prospects. It explicitly states that “starting careers provision at an early age is essential in supporting children to learn about the world of work, developing high aspirations, and breaking down stereotypes.”
In the summer of 2024, a group of primary schools in central Bedford, where the generational and multiple deprivation is the highest in the borough, noted that the career aspirations of young students were too often limited to the stereotypical ‘success’ careers of Footballer, Youtuber and Influencer. Activities that, in the eyes of young people are easy to access and quick enrichment, concerned the educators as unrealistic and unimaginative.
Furthermore, they posed the hypothesis that supporting a reflective process in the last year of primary school might lead students to an in-depth exploration of their motivations, and encourage them to reflect on the different career opportunities available, realistic and based on the real abilities and interests of the students.
The project, therefore, required designing a personal document dedicated to the children in which to engage the students to reflect on their objectives and discover different opportunities and areas of interest.
The proposed path is an educational reflection in three terms:
- inspiration
- testimonies
- discovery
each of the phases is based on school terms
- Autumn (Term 1)
- Spring (Term 2)
- Summer (Term 3)
Each term has a section where the student is guided to reflect on the initial objectives.
The graphic design is inspired by creating 3 macro areas (Terms) which are divided into 2 sections:
A – Input to the student
B – Reflections and tracking of changes to the objectives
Each macro area is distinguishable by a background with its design but the colours differ from input and reflection, in the reflection areas I have selected ad hoc motivational phrases and inserted a white space next to where the student can draw or paste the image of the character, this will lead the student to research who he/she is/was and to discover his career and values.
In collaboration with the project leader, we chose the title “Passport to the Future” precisely to underline the transition from primary to secondary school and leave a trail for the student to follow.
The booklet is set up, at least on the first page, like a passport, the cover instead wants to give a successful feature with the silhouette with British colours but without using the colours of the UK passport.
