Start thinking about yourself.
Something that can rarely be needed as an instruction to a teenager. Trouble is, most thinking at that time is focused on what your hair looks like, which trainers you want and how your selfie game is. It’s unlikely to be built around deep and meaningful self-reflection
Habits, once learned, will return as easily as well-loved song lyrics. This is why its CRUCIAL to develop positive self-reflective habits which highlight our skills and abilities – not just our grades.
The new tool I’ve developed for my book – the CASK model – is, above all, a method of developing habits across a school or education setting that lead to habits being created in young people which encompass self-reflection, pride, knowledge of self and skills and a growing awareness of how these skills and habits can be of use in the future.
“You are more than your grades” is a crucial and powerful statement for students to take on board in the data-obsessed push to measure everything about school life and performance.
“You are more than your grades” is an essential phrase to remember for teachers, lecturers, mentors and employers when teaching, supporting or appraising people (young and not-so-young) in their sphere of influence.
“You are more than your grades” is a powerful reminder for students, parents, teachers, employers and mentors to remember when supporting young people – different people shine in different areas at different times.
Ask yourself:
- Who hasn’t made a mistake?
- Who hasn’t flunked an exam?
- Who hasn’t failed a test?
- Who hasn’t been in trouble?
- Who hasn’t underprepared for a meeting or interview?
- Who hasn’t felt stressed, tired, overwhelmed, angry, upset or just plain fed-up?
Ok, this is why grades aren’t everything.
“Careers education is about looking at the young person and not seeing them for what they are now, but seeing them for what they can become” as Emma Hardy MP for Hull West and Hessle said at the National Careers Week launch in March 2019.
What can you do to help young people to become, and how?
Send The Ladder Back Down.