opinion piece*
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INSPIRING MAKING THE RIGHT DECISION WHEN CHOOSING SUBJECTS IN GRADE 9 CAN BE DAUNTING. NARETHA PRETORIUS, CAMPUS HEAD AT IIE-VEGA SCHOOL, OFFERS A GUIDELINE ALONG WITH EXPERT ADVICE FROM CAREER COUNSELLOR PROF ZAK NEL
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ubject choice is just a starting point, the beginning of a lifelong journey. Few people know exactly what they want to do – most discover it along the way, while some make radical career shifts far removed from what they originally studied. We can however approach this starting point in a better way, ensuring a more meaningful, enjoyable and fulfilling journey for our children. The answer sits in the cliché “love what you do, and you will never work a day in your life”. Parents may feel anxious and uncertain, especially when facing current challenges, fears and prejudices. Our attitude has a great impact on how our children will feel about their choices, so rather approach the process with excitement and inspiration. How do you achieve an enjoyable experience in selecting subjects? As a higher education manager, I have witnessed the subject and study choice process parents and learners go through. And as a parent myself, I can relate. Recognising this need, the IIE-Vega School collaborated with Prof Zak Nel, a career counsellor and counselling
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psychologist with over 40 years’ experience. Here is a guideline, combining my experience and his advice. NOTICE WHO YOUR CHILDREN ARE
Be a curious observer, ask and listen. There is no need for psychometric assessments if you can notice it yourself – often the answer and direction is right in front of you. Observe these two telling factors: your child’s personality and mode of thinking. Their personality is their way of being and what they love doing. It is who they are. Their mode of thinking on the other hand is the way they are “wired”. We naturally perform at our best if we get to utilise this. The aim is to identify and name their preferred way of thinking. For example; creative thinkers are makers and play with creative ideas, analytical thinkers enjoy numerical challenges and feel safe in facts or information – they carefully think before they make decisions, language thinkers enjoy expression through stories or words, kinetic thinkers express through movement or performance, technical thinkers build mechanical things, digital technical thinkers enjoy information technology like coding,
empathetic thinkers connect with the world around them (people, animals or nature), and versatile thinkers are diverse in various thinking styles. Subjects must ultimately complement the person. CREATE A SUBJECT SCORECARD
Identify which subjects they enjoy the most, are most confident in or find most interesting, as well as the subjects they perform best in and the subjects they dislike or find the hardest. Finally, ask them to select from the school’s available electives, ask them what they would prefer, and ask them why. CREATE A STUDY AND CAREER OPTIONS GUIDE
Making subject choices in Grade 9 is the starting point for their study and career choices. To study a degree they need a Bachelors pass in matric, and to meet the entry criteria for their preferred degree. With information on websites from private and public higher education institutions, Prof Nel advises you should explore with your child and create a table to compare the following: • The degrees available and their entry criteria (the subjects and marks they ask for).
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