VOCATION, VOCATION, VOCATION

PROGRAMME 10: KATHRYN

ACTIVITIES

Guidance

This programme will be useful as part of the general careers programme for post-16 students, and will stress the need to find accurate careers information and gain experience in vocations that interest them. It is ideally suited to being used before university applications work begins.

It could also be available for any individual students who have an interest in teaching or journalism as careers.

Before viewing

Discussion questions for small groups or pairs:

• What interests or hobbies do you have? What do you really love doing? Could any of these things lead to a career idea?
• What is your favourite subject or aspect of your course? Could this give you a clue to the vocation that might be right for you in the future? Brainstorm at least four vocations you could follow in the future.
• Are you thinking of applying to university? What do you need to do in order to find out as much as possible about a course you could do? Remember a university prospectus can only show you so much, and it is always biased.

After/during viewing

Some or all of the following activities relate to specific clips from the programme. We regret that we cannot make these clips available on the website. Teachers and other users can access the programmes free of charge from the Channel 4 video on demand service, 4oD (PC only), or the programmes may be taped off air for use in the classroom (see TV listings for the current term's schedule). Please note that the clip times will vary on different viewing platforms and devices.

Activities linked to clips

Download activity sheet for clips 1-3 [Word doc, 44KB]

Romeo and Juliet
Clip 1: 04.51 – 09.00

• Opens with Ann saying, 'Kathryn is ready for her first challenge.'
• Closes with David saying, '…so I think part of her is questioning whether the classroom is going to be big enough.'

Complete the question sheet (included in the downloadable activity sheet) in pairs. Questions repeated below:

How would you rate Kathryn's performance in the drama lesson? Does she seem to have the skills and qualities needed to teach? What are her main strengths?

Does she seem to be passionate about this? How enthusiastic was she?

What else could Kathryn do to find out more about the reality of teaching? in a group, brainstorm everything she could do.

Being a journalist
Clip 2: 09.56 – 14.33

• Opens with Ann saying, 'You love the English language, but will that be enough?'
• Closes with David saying, 'She is going to have to get as much experience as possible to improve her writing skills.'

Complete the question sheet (included in the downloadable activity sheet) in pairs. Questions repeated below:

Both teaching and journalism use written and spoken language skills but in what ways are the two vocations different? Consider these aspects of the job:

• Qualifications needed
• Experiences needed
• Holidays
• Pay
• Working hours
• Stress
• Skills needed
• Personal qualities needed
• Attractive things about the job
• Unpleasant things about the job.

An English degree
Clip 3: 20.53 – 22.40

• Opens with David saying, 'We are suggesting that Kathryn comes to Glasgow University to study English.'
• Closes with Ann saying, '…but she needs time to think about all she has experienced and pick the future that's right for her.'

Complete the question sheet (included in the downloadable activity sheet) in pairs. Questions repeated below:

What does Kathryn learn about doing an English degree at Glasgow?

Does she seem enthusiastic about this?

What else does she need to do to research her university options?

An English degree at Glasgow seems ideal for Kathryn – why is this? List the advantages to Kathryn. When you have identified a course and university that might suit you, complete a similar process and see how many good points you come up with.