Education
What We Should Teach Students About the World of Work
I spent most of my school years thinking I was preparing myself for the world of work. Many of my teachers would let me know that doing well in my subjects is required to get a good-paying job. I remember being fearful of my exams with the thought of being poor for the rest of my life lingering.
My teachers would always let me know how important it was for me to get a good job. And it was always for selfish reasons. Such as having money to buy what you want, being able to travel the world and move out of your parent’s house.
As a student, I was misinformed about the world of work. It looked like the freedom I had always dreamed of. I would no longer need to ask my parents for money, and most importantly, I could do whatever I wanted with that money. After all, it was going to be all mine.
However, I got a massive shock when I got my first corporate job. The first two weeks was all fun and bubbly. I was meeting new people and was dressed in a suit every day. But then a thought dawned on me. Am I going to have a look at a screen and do this until the end of the year?
Little did I know that people had been working in the firm for ages. Some had forty years of experience and had been sitting in the same chair for over fifteen years! The thought of this scared me. All of a sudden, my ticket to freedom soon looked like a prison.
Before you think I want teachers to let students know that their 9–5 will be a prison, I do not. But I think it would have been beneficial if the value of work was better articulated.
So, here are two things I believe teachers should begin telling their students about the world of work. It will improve career choices and also give them a better understanding of the world we live in.
Teach Them Why Jobs Exists in the First Place
One of the common misconceptions held by students is that jobs exist to make people money. It was not until I began studying economics was this thought broken. Many who were not studying economics still had these views about the world of work up to eighteen years of age.
Unfortunately, many do not know the real reasons behind jobs, including some adults. And I do not think someone has to study economics to learn it. Teachers can tell and show students the reason why jobs exist. And it can be understood by even a seven-year-old.
Teachers should be telling students that jobs exist to increase wealth in society. Then we should let students know the very basics of wealth and the role of money in that. Wealth is a plentiful supply of a desirable thing, and money is how we transfer wealth.
If I knew from an early age that jobs, at a very fundamental level, exist to create plentiful supplies of desirable things. The whole reason why I need a job would change. Students will learn that jobs are their way of supplying the world with something it needs.
By simply highlighting to children the wealth a doctor, engineer or lawyer provides, you pull them out of the rat race way of thinking. You no longer teach them that working is something you do for yourself, but it is done to add value to someone else.
Once children know this, they can then understand that money is the way wealth is transferred. When they create wealth for someone else, they, in turn, get money. And that is the worlds way of returning to you the value you have created in the world.
By explaining jobs and money in this way, students can get to grips with why people work. It is not just for money or to buy a nice flashy car. It is so that they can add value to society. And I think that is what students need to hear in the classroom about the world of work.
It firstly leads to better career choices as students no longer just seek the highest paying jobs. But instead, ask how do I want to create wealth. And it also puts students into the mindset of doing a job they love because helping someone should never leave you upset.
Teach Them About the Importance of Togetherness
One of the best things we teach students about the world of work is the value of togetherness. We should be teaching that the world is full of opportunities because no one can do everything. That is why everyone finds their place in the world of work. It is to pull together to help the development of society.
I remember my school taking us on a school trip to be volunteers for a charity shelter. We could not speak to the homeless people, but we helped set up the tables and clean the hall for the Christmas meal. Everyone had their roles, and in the end, we learned the value of teamwork.
After watching the homeless people eat, we all felt a tiny bit happier. Together we had created a space where value could be added to others. We should be teaching that the world of work is like that too.
We would never be able to operate the world if it were not for the majority standing together. So, by teaching this to students, we let them know that the world of work is an opportunity to collaborate. But to also bring value to the world with others like themselves.
Closing Thoughts
If I was taught about the world of work in this way, the initial shock of my first job would not have happened. So often, students are told that work is only there to benefit their survival needs and bring them what they want. However, this view of work needs to change.
If we want to create a society of people who seek to add value to others, we must start teaching it. And part of doing that is changing the way young people view the world of work.
