Curated by the Knowledge Team of ICS Career GPS
Education
How to choose a school that is the ‘right fit’ for your child
Excerpts from article by Shweta Sastri, published in India Today
Parents want the best for their children – the brightest future possible. Ensuring their child’s happiness, safety, health, and the best education are all part of this hopes. Parents want their children to grow into confident and compassionate human beings. It is very important to find the right school that fits a child’s approach to learning; each child has a different personality with varied needs and interests.
Finding the right school with the “right fit” is essential.
Change in school environment
Education has evolved over the years. Progressive, contemporary schools of today will look different from when you were in school. Then, there are still many traditional schools around whose emphasis is on high stakes testing. These schools will feel safe and comfortable to you because this is what you know and what you remember.
Thankfully, parents today have more options to choose from for their child’s learning; learning should be more engaging and interesting. What top universities and employers demand is much different now than it was even ten years ago.
Communication skills, collaboration, problem solving and creativity, along with being empathetic, caring and outward looking, are all qualities that top institutions seek in potential admissions and employees.
Contemporary schools
Contemporary schools are places where children question their world, experiment, learn, collaborate, and are active participants in their learning, and not simply passive recipients of “wisdom”.
A student’s love for learning grows when they are actively involved in understanding of concepts, nurturing of skills through applications, and development of character so that they may act responsibly in the world.
A growth mindset school encourages children to learn from their failures and not just celebrate success; and that developing grit to push through failures strengthens future learning. Schools should inspire students to find their own voice and learn through inquiry and collaboration to build confidence and grow into responsible individuals.
A school that defines rigour as a creative, joyful process within a positive learning environment for children – should not be difficult to find. It takes parents asking the right kinds of questions of school admissions officers, and a willingness to step out of their comfort zones to do so!
What do parents expect from schools?
Parents should seek schools that focus on real-world project-based learning that stimulates a child’s mind in an authentic context. Parents should look for schools that connect the dots between school learning and real-life application.
The school needs to integrate every student’s conceptual understanding, skill-based competencies and character development to prepare him/her for life.
When a school engages the parent community in their activities, events, and supports parental involvement in their child’s learning, it reflects their vision of wanting the best for every child. It honours parents as children’s first teachers, and invites them to be co-contributors in their holistic learning and development.
Career
How to beat mid-career malaise
Excerpts from article by Rebecca Knight, published in the Harvard Business Review
We all have times when we wonder, “Am I at the right company? Am I in the right job? And is this all there is?”
These questions are especially agonising for mid-career professionals, who may be searching for fulfillment while juggling demands at home and intense financial pressures to earn.
What experts say
Gianpiero Petriglieri, associate professor of organisational behaviour at INSEAD, says, “Midlife is the time where you lose the illusion of immortality. You know your opportunities aren’t endless, and you realise that time is finite.” Even people who have achieved a great deal of career success aren’t immune to these feelings, says Whitney Johnson, an executive coach and the author several books including Build an A-Team. “They question: ‘Is this really what I want to be doing?’”
You need to be proactive and figure out what to do about it. Here’s how.
1. Reflect and reframe
For starters, identify the cause of your professional discontent. “When you have a sense of malaise, you begin to question everything,” Petriglieri says. “But you need to break down the problem and start with the place where it hurts. Is it your job? Or the organisation you’re in?”
Depending on your answer, “the prescription is different.” It’s different when you’re young and can live and work anywhere in the world, plotting your career path how you like. “But in middle age, the scope is tighter. You know you need to work in certain geographic regions and earn a certain amount of money to live. The constraints are actually helpful,” says Petriglieri.
2. Make small changes
It’s not uncommon to be generally happy at your organisation but miserable in your job. One possible remedy, Petriglieri says, is to consider what kinds of small “changes you can make to bring yourself more fully to your work.”
Even if you cannot change your circumstances, “you might be able to change the microenvironment in which you operate.” You could also try to negotiate different work arrangements or schedules, or request a move to a different office. Shaking up your routine and “rejuvenating your commitments” can have a big impact on your outlook and perspective. The key is being deliberate “in what you choose to do, whom you choose to do it with, and where you choose to do it.”
3. Focus on learning
One of the biggest culprits of middle-age career malaise is boredom. “Your life and your career is one big learning curve,” Johnson says. Asking your boss for a promotion — and taking on new challenges and responsibilities — is an obvious answer.
If there are no appealing openings, Johnson suggests designing one of your own by “looking for problems inside your organisation — and then making the case for why you’re uniquely equipped to solve them.” Be creative. Think about ways you could use your strengths to make or save your company money. The bottom line: “You mustn’t wait for someone to tell you what your next job is. Go create it.”
4. Consciously seek meaning
The unmet desire for impact is another common source of ennui and professional unhappiness, according to Petriglieri. You may reach a point where you’re working long hours while wondering, “What is it all for?”
Bear in mind that “meaning is not going to knock on the door,” he says. “It is like love — you have to keep looking for it, working at it, and you cannot take it for granted.” He suggests making a concerted effort to meet the people who directly benefit from your work, whether they’re customers, clients or colleagues. “When you can see how your work is being used by others, it is hard not to find meaning.”
5. Consider a career change
If these strategies don’t have their desired effect, it could be a sign that you need to make a dramatic move. Be honest with yourself about what is keeping you in your current position and whether some risks and experiments might be in order.
True, switching careers in midlife is intimidating. But, again, remember the positives of your predicament. “Presumably you’ve got some expertise and you know yourself better — you don’t need approval from others as you did in your twenties,” Petriglieri says. Use that knowledge to think deeply and carefully about what you want to pursue if it’s not your current career. In these cases, working with a career coach can be helpful, Petriglieri says.
6. Challenge your assumptions
Your feelings of professional malaise could also be a sign that your job looms too large. It could be that you need to seek self-worth and life satisfaction outside of work — perhaps through your family or faith, a charity you support, or a project, hobby, or sport you’re passionate about.
True, it’s not the way most ambitious and “successful people” are conditioned to think. You need to surround yourself with supportive people who won’t judge your desire to break free from the traditional trappings of success.
After all, your time is not forever.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in the article mentioned above are those of the author(s). They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of ICS Career GPS or its staff.)
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