This week I attended a CPD course on Scratch Programming which is a fun way to introduce pupils to programming - a topic many students dread!
The excellent course was run by Frank Frame, the Advisor for Computing, and it was very hands on. We got to create some programs from scratch (no pun intended) as well as following the excellent resources.
Scratch is obviously going to fit in well with the aims of Curriculum for Excellence. An interesting piece of news was that apparently the uptake for Computing courses in Higher and Further Education is not as high as it once was, and there are many concerns about this. Scratch is one such reaction to this, by trying to remove the 'nerdy' or 'geeky' image of Computing and trying to make it more interesting to pupils.
I have found this pretty interesting since Business subject degrees (in all their many forms such as Economics, Marketing, Accounting, Management, Human Resources, Operations, Logistics etc) are among the highest uptake in Higher and Further Education Institutions. Yet the experiences of pupils in schools differ from school to school. If Business is so popular at University and College then surely with our new Curriculum for Excellence there should be MORE Business courses available for pupils from 3-18 rather than less? I am sure this was at the forefront of the inclusion of Business outcomes and experiences in the Social Subjects document.
Business subjects offer students the chance to learn hard and soft skills which are vital in the workplace. Indeed, Business subjects are uniquely positioned to help pupils gain insight into industry which is after all where we hope our young people will eventually end up and contributing to society as a whole!
Showing posts with label Business Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Business Education. Show all posts
Friday, 23 October 2009
Saturday, 1 November 2008
SBEA Conference 2008
Just back from Perth and was funny to bump into quite a few familiar faces.
The Key Note speaker was Colin Temple, MD of Schuh and his presentation was interesting as it gave us an insight into the timeline of Schuh's ups and downs and reasons/explanations for them. He was also an advocate of reducing his firm's carbon footprint, so perhaps he may be a useful contact for our Eco Group. I made sure I got his card!!!
I also attended the Higher/Int 2 Business Management Command Words seminar, and again there were some useful ideas which I intend to put into practice with my class next week. I attended a similar Higher Admin programme run by Pamela Brown and Karen McLeod of South Lanarkshire which was pretty helpful. It gave general examples of how to answer questions with the different command words eg COMPARE Madonna and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The kids loved it when I tried it. I held off doing one for Higher BM since I know there are slight differences between the subject's command words even though they are under the umbrella of Business Education.
Mr Paul Gallanagh, PT of Dunoon Grammar - and an old school friend of mine - displayed some aspects of aCfE in action with an innovative use of greenscreen technology (ChromaKey as it is called) with History pupils creating a show investigating the Wars of Scottish Independence. The kids wrote, presented, edited and produced the show on their own. Paul was an award winning project leader at Our Lady and Saint Patrick's in Dumbarton and created the UK's first school TV station - OLSP TV. I am currently working away in the shadows on a few ideas of my own which will be revealed in the near future. In the meantime, just keep your eyes on TeacherTube. (BTW congratulations to Alva Academy who have created quite a few vids on TeacherTube). Pity my own wee vids never made it to Reporting Scotland, but then again give me time people of Hamilton....
Financial Education was the last port of call in a busy day (the lunch was pretty good at the Dewar Centre!!!) and Jim Lally talked us through some ideas to help us nip our Headie's head until they get Business Education (and not Maths, Home Eccies or PSE) back at the forefront of financial ed.
Lastly, with everything that is going on in aCfE, it really has made me wonder whether some of the sterling work that our own Faculty has done over the last couple of years could indeed be adapted for aCfE. Though personally I have some good ideas of my own which I am keeping to myself just now. But all I am saying is that I believe there should be more of the National Priorities and Transferable Skills embedded into the S1-S3 course which we will ultimately end up having to write.
But it HAS, it MUST contain some elements of Business Education and not just be a vehicle for ICT or else the Faculty system will have failed teachers, parents and most of all our pupils.
So let's have a S1-S3 curriculum that can educate, inform and entertain BUT it has to also be relevant. I am afraid to say it could spell the end of the weemee culture we have in our school!!!
The Key Note speaker was Colin Temple, MD of Schuh and his presentation was interesting as it gave us an insight into the timeline of Schuh's ups and downs and reasons/explanations for them. He was also an advocate of reducing his firm's carbon footprint, so perhaps he may be a useful contact for our Eco Group. I made sure I got his card!!!
I also attended the Higher/Int 2 Business Management Command Words seminar, and again there were some useful ideas which I intend to put into practice with my class next week. I attended a similar Higher Admin programme run by Pamela Brown and Karen McLeod of South Lanarkshire which was pretty helpful. It gave general examples of how to answer questions with the different command words eg COMPARE Madonna and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. The kids loved it when I tried it. I held off doing one for Higher BM since I know there are slight differences between the subject's command words even though they are under the umbrella of Business Education.
Mr Paul Gallanagh, PT of Dunoon Grammar - and an old school friend of mine - displayed some aspects of aCfE in action with an innovative use of greenscreen technology (ChromaKey as it is called) with History pupils creating a show investigating the Wars of Scottish Independence. The kids wrote, presented, edited and produced the show on their own. Paul was an award winning project leader at Our Lady and Saint Patrick's in Dumbarton and created the UK's first school TV station - OLSP TV. I am currently working away in the shadows on a few ideas of my own which will be revealed in the near future. In the meantime, just keep your eyes on TeacherTube. (BTW congratulations to Alva Academy who have created quite a few vids on TeacherTube). Pity my own wee vids never made it to Reporting Scotland, but then again give me time people of Hamilton....
Financial Education was the last port of call in a busy day (the lunch was pretty good at the Dewar Centre!!!) and Jim Lally talked us through some ideas to help us nip our Headie's head until they get Business Education (and not Maths, Home Eccies or PSE) back at the forefront of financial ed.
Lastly, with everything that is going on in aCfE, it really has made me wonder whether some of the sterling work that our own Faculty has done over the last couple of years could indeed be adapted for aCfE. Though personally I have some good ideas of my own which I am keeping to myself just now. But all I am saying is that I believe there should be more of the National Priorities and Transferable Skills embedded into the S1-S3 course which we will ultimately end up having to write.
But it HAS, it MUST contain some elements of Business Education and not just be a vehicle for ICT or else the Faculty system will have failed teachers, parents and most of all our pupils.
So let's have a S1-S3 curriculum that can educate, inform and entertain BUT it has to also be relevant. I am afraid to say it could spell the end of the weemee culture we have in our school!!!
Sunday, 24 February 2008
SBEA Mini Conference
I attended the SBEA mini conference in Stirling on Saturday 23rd Feb.
It explained a bit more in detail exactly what aCfE is going to be all about. The good news it seems for us in Business Education is that we may actually have an opportunity to have Business and Enterprise subjects taught at S1 and S2.
I do hope this doesn't mean we lose out on our IT classes to Computing!
But it must be a step in the right direction to gain more credibility for our subjects.
On another personal note, I would like to see Enterprise Education become timetabled in more schools and that the PT Enterprise & Creativity jobs are given more to Business Teachers rather than subject disciplines that may be enterprising in the sense of effecting learning and teaching, but do they have the necessary COMMERCIAL experience?
I would love to see our Business subjects be seen as important in the way they are in the USA. Business Degrees are right up there with Law and Medicine in the States.
On a final note, I watched with my class a video about John Caudwell and his star graduate recruitment programme. It was like a proto-Apprentice. The best bit was when his HR manager sifted through 2,500 CVs and only allowing 10 seconds for each. She picked up one and said: "This degree is non-commercial. Not what we're looking for." And she put it in the file going to the shredder. The sighs and look of despair from my Higher students was scary.
Perhaps also Teachers who have careers influence will think about this when they are telling kids to pick their subject!
Employers want practical skills and Business know-how. We can offer both at a High School level.
Anyway rant over!
It explained a bit more in detail exactly what aCfE is going to be all about. The good news it seems for us in Business Education is that we may actually have an opportunity to have Business and Enterprise subjects taught at S1 and S2.
I do hope this doesn't mean we lose out on our IT classes to Computing!
But it must be a step in the right direction to gain more credibility for our subjects.
On another personal note, I would like to see Enterprise Education become timetabled in more schools and that the PT Enterprise & Creativity jobs are given more to Business Teachers rather than subject disciplines that may be enterprising in the sense of effecting learning and teaching, but do they have the necessary COMMERCIAL experience?
I would love to see our Business subjects be seen as important in the way they are in the USA. Business Degrees are right up there with Law and Medicine in the States.
On a final note, I watched with my class a video about John Caudwell and his star graduate recruitment programme. It was like a proto-Apprentice. The best bit was when his HR manager sifted through 2,500 CVs and only allowing 10 seconds for each. She picked up one and said: "This degree is non-commercial. Not what we're looking for." And she put it in the file going to the shredder. The sighs and look of despair from my Higher students was scary.
Perhaps also Teachers who have careers influence will think about this when they are telling kids to pick their subject!
Employers want practical skills and Business know-how. We can offer both at a High School level.
Anyway rant over!
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