Group work about future education and job

Before visiting Bethel School in January 2018 I had prepared three group works. The idea was to make the pupils understand that there are different ways to think when you shall plan your future. We gave them three different ways:

No 1 What is your hope and plan for future education and job? (Examine your heart)

No 2 What are the needs for your country? What educations are most necessary that young people choose? (Examine your head)

No 3 Starting your own company

While I was there, the 73 pupils in class 7 were organized in 12 groups, with six pupils in each group working with no 1. They worked outside, under a three. They were very motivated. Probably they liked to discuss with each other without a teacher participating. From 2017 they had got a new curriculum. There are a lot of changes. One of them is to organize the pupils to work and discuss problems in groups. (I was not aware of this preparing the group works in Norway)

 

No 1 What is your hope and plan for future education and job? (Examine your heart)

The teachers and me organized the first group work together, the two others after I left.

The picture shows all the pupils after the group work, presenting their conclusions.

The occupations were: Doctor 37%

Engineer 21%

Soldier, Footballplayer, and Accountant 7%

Pilot 5%

Designer and Lawyer 4%

Business 3% Pastor, Lecturer, Teacher and Artist all 1 pupil

Asking the “doctor-pupils” why they had chosen this occupation they said that this was because they had relatives and friends that were ill and could not afford going to a hospital. (I guess that the motivation in many other countries in many cases is prestige and high salary.

The class 7 teachers (five teachers because the class has been working in two classrooms) and I discussed whether we should tell them that some of their wishes, like pilot, is probably unrealistic. (In Africa you can be educated as a pilot in South Africa and Ethiopia only and this will be very expensive. Going outside Africa will be even more expensive). Our discussions concluded that we should not say something like that. These dreams are good for their motivation and make them work hard at school and get good exam results. They will become reality oriented later in life.

No 2 What are the needs for your country? What educations are most necessary that young people choose?

The answers were:

1.     Farmers

2.     Doctors

3.     Engineers

4.     Soldiers

5.     Teachers

6.     Judge

7.     Scientists

No 3 Starting your own company. Each group was given this sheet:

Starting a company - a group work for pupils at the end of primary

Introduction – different kind of companies. A company can sell goods or services or both. A hairdresser (service) can also sell shampoo and other goods. A company can sell computers (goods) and also repair them (service). A company can offer transportation (service). A company can produce and sell pottery (goods).

Imaging the group comes together when you are 20 years old. You have decided to discuss if it will be a good idea to start a company selling solar panels, often mounted on ceilings (a panel designed to absorb the sun's rays as a source of energy for generating electricity or heating.)

When considering starting a solar panel company you ought to answer several questions, like:

1.      Where can we store the panels?

2.      How much money do we need for equipment like tools for the mounting, a car, a computer, etc?

3.      What shall be the name of the company?

4.      What is the need for this product? Will we have customers?

5.      Who shall be the founders and owners?

6.      How shall we advertise and spread the knowledge of our company so that people in general and other companies get aware and we get customers?

7.      Shall we only sell the panels? Shall we only mount, on the roofs and elsewhere? Or shall we both sell and mount?

8.      What price must we take to have customers but also a good profit?

9.      If it’s difficult to produce, where can we buy it? What is the price?

10.  Where can we get money to finance the investment costs?

Question 1 to the group:

1 Which two of the 10 questions do the group mean are the most important to answer before deciding if starting a company working with solar panels is a good idea?

Question 2 to the group:

Let us say you have concluded to start a company which shall sell and mount solar panels. Different kind of companies need people with different kind of education and experiences. It’s also important that the people in the company have a good personality - honest, hard working, enthusiastic, trustworthy (contact with customers), etc 

 2A Mention three types of education/competence that will be important in the company

2B How can you find out about the personality before you hire a person in the company?

2C What is the best for the company; only women? only men? a mixture?

Comment from me (Bjorn) Nov 2018

Of course – these pupils are 14 years old and too young to fully understand the issues they shall deal with in the three types of group work. But I guess seeds will be stored in many of the minds and will gradually germinate later on.

In plenary after the group works the teachers explained and they had a discussion with the pupils. One of the issues was; which are the two most basic questions? In my mind these two questions are the most basic. (If you don’t have a positive answer to these two questions there is no need to bother with the eight others.) 

question 4.  What is the need for this product? Will we have customers? And

question 9.  If it’s difficult to produce, where can we buy it? What is the price?

It was surprising that none of the groups had concluded with q. 4 or q. 9.

Another issue is of course question 10. Where can we get money to finance the investment costs?

My opinion is that this is basic, but less basic than 4 and 9. When you shall ask for money the person you meet need to be convinced that this is a good and realistic idea. He/she will have many questions and will not be interested unless you give good answers.

The three group works were “invented” by me back in Norway before going to Tanzania in January 2018. I had some discussions with Norwegian friends but no discussions with African people before I arrived. Especially group work no 3 can be made many ways and should be coloured by the situation and culture in the country the pupils live. I guess my solution will function better in Norway than in Africa.

I would be very happy if some of the readers could give a response to these questions:

1.      Will this way of introducing the issue Starting a company function for people around the world? (10 or so questions to the group and let them pick out the two most basic)

2.      Are the questions 4 and 9 the most basic around the world

I would be happy if some of the readers would give a response to these questions

Have a good day

Bjørn, address  bjornisogn@gmail.com

P.s. This blogg was established in 2012. It has been 13 200 visits. Less than half are from Norway. All the continents and more than 50 countries are represented. The 10 countries on the top are (in Norwegian):

Norge	5309
USA	2145
Russland	1709
Frankrike	941
Ukraina	893
Nederland	745
Tyskland	285
Tanzania	159
Canada	89
Polen	49