Courtesy
Michelle Anderson, president and CEO of Junior Achievement of Maine
Updated: 6 hours ago
5-year COVID checkup: How to re-engage students for a more vibrant workforce
By Michelle Anderson, Junior Achievement of Maine
As we approach the five-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, the memories of those seemingly endless days are still fresh but the impact on our students is only just now coming into view.
Coming out of remote learning we’ve seen a shift in the way students participate in their studies, and how educators have been challenged with the task of re-engaging students who may feel isolated on their educational journey. This shift is validated by a 2020 McREL International study, utilizing student focus groups.
Participants were asked:
- How do students define the construct "student engagement"?
- What supports and barriers do students experience in engaging in the classroom and at school?
- Did student engagement in learning shift during the COVID-19 pandemic?
Discussion from the focus groups found that students felt a disconnect between the application of classroom studies to real-world opportunity and that students are more engaged in learning when teachers offered multiple connections between the content and the outside world.
Building, maintaining, and supporting Maine’s workforce is central to the health of our state’s economy and communities, and is a point in Maine’s 10-year economic plan. Thankfully there are many capable organizations providing solutions to this issue — including the organization I work for: Junior Achievement of Maine (JA Maine). Through my lens’ as its president and CEO, a solution to supporting Maine’s workforce includes playing the long-game with one of Maine’s most important stakeholders: its students.
Reengaging student learners by identifying differing learning styles, and life circumstances; as well as supporting educators in bridging the gap between in-school learning and real-world opportunity is central to JA Maine’s work.
Maine’s next workforce is in classrooms throughout the state, and ensuring that this next wave of doers, dreamers, business owners, and community leaders contribute to a vibrant economy starts by re-engaging them as learners.
Here are three ways to approach future workforce from a student angle:
Play the long game
Get your company in front of students as early as possible. Research suggests that career exploration is starting at younger ages. While high schoolers are of the age closest to a viable workforce, they typically already have an idea of what they’re going to do when they graduate. Elementary students, however, are still learning what their options are, and understanding the concept of a career and specific job opportunities. Partnering with local organizations that serve the student population is a great way to do this.
Provide opportunities for real-world experiences
Company support in bringing real-world experience to students is key in bridging the gap between in-classroom learning and real-world opportunities.
Creating partnerships with local organizations focused on Maine students allows your company to develop opportunities to showcase your business and industry to them. Opportunities can include job shadow experiences, allowing students a hands-on experience in your place of work, or supporting students through educational business simulation challenges.
This allows students to see career and work options available in the state of Maine that may not have been obvious to them within the walls of a classroom.
Volunteer In your community
Ensure your company is known in the community as a viable career option by volunteering for youth and educational focused organizations. Not only does company-wide volunteering promote more team cohesion, it offers a direct channel to working with students.
Volunteering pairs students with mentors who represent career paths they may be able to follow and provides them with access to building a network for professional development.
Even with the best mentors students don’t always have the broadest awareness of career options available to them. Your company can provide those mentors to students.
So while, the pandemic’s threat to public safety has been largely controlled, the impact on our elementary school students remains. By dedicating just a few hours of volunteer time, companies and the individuals that work for them can help to re-engage student learners, support educators and inspire the career and work opportunities available to students within the state. It’s a win/win/win Maine needs now.
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