NationStates Jolt Archive

...at the expense of adolescents.

For anyone living in BC, this should be old news. Last year, the BC government developed new graduation requirements for high school students. The most noticeable one was that students (currently in gr.11 or lower) must complete a "graduation portfolio" and present it to a panel of affluent community members. Each portfolio has sections called "core" that must be completed (eg: 80 hours of excercise, meticulous documentation of all food consumed, 30 hours of work/volunteer experience) and sections called "choice" that can be completed for extra marks (eg: additional excersise, creating original piece of art).
The government claims that it has created the program to ensure that BC graduates are "well-rounded" individuals. But the truth, acknowledged even by supporters of the program, is that it was developed as a way to try to save money in areas such as health care (compulsory excercise), post-secondary education (program strongly biased towards trade programs), and welfare (work hours required; career choices evaluated).
This may seem like a good thing, but speaking as a student, it isn't. The pressure on me right now is immense, and I'm beginning to feel as though I won't be able to complete all aspects. For instance, I've been working hard to get all 80 hours of excercise, while still maintaining a perfect GPA and dedicating time to the theatre and my singing. However, that leaves me no time for a "real" job. I'm a writer, and I focus time and energy on a novel I've developed, but my portfolio advisor has specifically told me that that is an unwise career choice, and that I must pick a real career that will guarantee me money. She essentially told me that I won't make it, although all those who have read my poetry and novel selections have praised them highly.
For any of you not bored to death by this point, I pose a question: Is the portfolio worth the stress is causes to teens? Will the benefits outweigh the costs? Will the majority of students fail, or will they pass, and come out better for it?
More information: www.bced.gov.bc.ca/graduation/portfolio/ (http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/graduation/portfolio/)

Note: aplogies for the rant. I'll be leaving before 4.30pst, so, if I fail to respond, don't sweat it.

Ask your portfolio advisor whether portfolio advisor is a wise career choice.

Ask your portfolio advisor whether portfolio advisor is a wise career choice.

Lol. She's actually a teacher, formally. Which she complains about, being from BC.

Lol. She's actually a teacher, formally. Which she complains about, being from BC.

Well, at any rate, she can't very well tell you that you can't be an author. If she wants to advise you that it's not a wise career decision, fine. But in the end, it's your choice, and she can't very well force you not to be. And I can't imagine they can grade your portfolio down based on what career you wish to pursue.

Well, at any rate, she can't very well tell you that you can't be an author. If she wants to advise you that it's not a wise career decision, fine. But in the end, it's your choice, and she can't very well force you not to be. And I can't imagine they can grade your portfolio down based on what career you wish to pursue.

They can't directly. But I am required to write a cover letter and resume, which I wouldn't really to be a writer. And I need to get those 30 hours, which I certainly can't as a writer.

In Ontario, I had to do 40 hours community service to get my high-school diploma. This sounds even more ridiculous.

In Ontario, I had to do 40 hours community service to get my high-school diploma. This sounds even more ridiculous.

40 hours is nothing, really. That's one week at a full time job.
If it promotes growth as an individual, I'm all for it.
I can't imagine anything bad coming out of helping the community, even if it is only for a short time.

To the OP ... don't give up on your novel. It sounds to me as if they've decided to discourage all who don't go into industry in some way. I would fight this with everything I have. Good luck!

Where I live you have to do at least 20 hours, but they recommend at least 30.

To the OP ... don't give up on your novel. It sounds to me as if they've decided to discourage all who don't go into industry in some way. I would fight this with everything I have. Good luck!

Right. My school sent me on this one program where I got to have this incredibly stupid personal coach who spent the entire fucking time he was supposed to "help me build my strengths and support me in my conscious choices for the future" telling me that my plans and choices weren't good enough, and trying to make me go for his ideas. Those, incidentally, included "bias towards the trade sector", as you put it, as well.
Oh, how I hated him, and all the hours I spent with him. But, maybe, all of this "never be like him and his kind" contributed a lot to my "strengths and choices" after all. Just not the way they intended it to.
(If it weren't for Eut, I'd say "fuck personal coaches" now, but..)

*Points and laughs at grade 11s*

Ahhhh, lucky to be born on 1988. :p

i was holding for an air freshener for 45 minutes, sniffed it and feel ill.

Im going for a cigarette and think i may die.

This has nothing to do with you so far, sorry.

Theres a ridiculous amount of pressure on kids these days, essentially to mature faster and faster. We're expected to get jobs at younger ages, buy more things ourselves, do more work for ourselves, and so on and so on. This clearly ain't gonna help you because you dont care about it. It just adds to the stress levels and ensures more kids end up dealing with stress, anxiety and depression.

Thank God Almighty that I graduated before this garbage took hold. Going to CAP class for a whole term was a huge enough waste of time, without this 'portfolio' nonsense. Not that excercise, work experience, artistic accomplishments and such are bad ideas, but regimenting them in this manner is idiotic.

Knowing the public school system, it's probably organized in the least time-efficient, most irritating, highly paternalistic, and insultingly patronizing manner. Contrary to popular belief, even students don't like having their class-time utterly and collosally wasted. I say boo to Christy Clark. These 'guidance' or whatever classes should teach you how to write a decent resume, tell you about various carreer paths, and maybe give pointers on post-secondary application which can be confusing - and that's IT. A few weeks out of P.E. class or something. All the rest of it is innapropriate, and silly.

Theres a ridiculous amount of pressure on kids these days, essentially to mature faster and faster. We're expected to get jobs at younger ages, buy more things ourselves, do more work for ourselves, and so on and so on. This clearly ain't gonna help you because you dont care about it. It just adds to the stress levels and ensures more kids end up dealing with stress, anxiety and depression.High levels of stress my ass. Kids have never had it so easy. Back in the day, you'd be working the day you could pick up a pail of milk/weed the garden/sew/help at the buisness or at home. I don't knoww here you come from, but here parents and educators are constantly lowering their expectations of young people for fear of wounding the delicate temple of self-esteem, or requiring too much of TV-softened intelects. General inactiity and boredom is probably a bigger cause of depression than this mythical "stress".

I'm not against this portfolio thing because it "adds stress" to the oh-so-overtaxed hidhschool students of B.C., but because it wastes time that could otherwise be spent on something real - like acedemics or sport by writing about it in yet another narcisistic compilation excercise.

So strange that after 25years so many things are the same.
Firstly I think that submission of portfolios of post secondary plans and a plan to get there would give a significant leg up to a student.
Much the same as when thoes same teacher/types in BC preached about knowing where you want to go and how to get there, we ignored them and waisted alot of years.
They 80hours of exercise seems absurd. That's on par with athelitic training.
Is there no elective within this for those that are not atheletic enough for this?
When I was in BC school I would have pulled a medical excuse on that one.

As to the advice your given thats the advice she is legally and ethically bound to give you.
If someone is employed to give you advice they have to give you the best advice. Find something that you:
a). can enjoy
b). are adept
c). Will support you and the possibility of family
d). Finally compromising all this with What odds are there for finding such a career in your province.
Much the same as all such preach picking up oilfield and computer stuff in Alberta.

The only famous poets are dead, 99.999999999% of all poets were penniless and f*d up, and alone when they died. In this day and age of the internet and people writing for free there is poor chances of being the next Dean Koonzt, most Authors go through many years of starvation before they make money at it. I know I tried.

On the other hand there is a desperate need for industialization of BC,
unless BC wants to continue to be at the mercy of base product exports.
(BC also needs a government with enough balls to turn off the taps untill the US and the individual states pays ALL the moneys it holds past due the millions owed on electricity by California and some other states, the millions owed over softwood).
BC needs to produce more refined product, and developed technologies.
This need dictates the prevailant education of the masses.
Also dictates where the best jobs will become available and thus provide sustainable odds of success for a young individual.

That said.
Bare in mind that this person is paid to say exactly what she says to you.
Understand that it is probably the best advice for the prevailant situation.
Its not worth it to get upset at her, she's just doing her job.
Consider the advice, being an author can be done anytime or on the side.
Unless you have a real desire to be poor, choosing a path as far away from that as possible is always the best choice.
After you consider the advice do what you choose to do it's you life, you are indeed fully free to cast it in any direction you choose.
Just remember it's your own fault down the road.

30 hours realy isn't that much over a course of a 4 (5?) year high school career. If you have conflicts between volunteer hours and doing well in school, volunteer during the summer

*Points and laughs at grade 11s*

Ahhhh, lucky to be born on 1988. :p

*sigh* you have no idea how good you guys have it. Not only do we get stuck with this portfolio deal, we also get stuck with Provincial Exams in Grade 10 and finally, a portfolio presentation to a panel of teachers which basically decides whether you will get scholarships in university or not.

I think this portfolio thing is an okay idea to get students motivated to think about their career choices for graduation, but the thing is, right now at my school, it looks like half of the grade won't graduate because they have no clue how to do this portfolio thing. And the worst thing is, last year, during planning 10, we did a lot of things for the portfolio, but this year, the government suddenly changed what they wanted again. So we all had to start over. If they are going to impliment a stupid program, the least they could do was finalize it before introducing it! Now it's back to square one.

*sigh* you have no idea how good you guys have it. Not only do we get stuck with this portfolio deal, we also get stuck with Provincial Exams in Grade 10 and finally, a portfolio presentation to a panel of teachers which basically decides whether you will get scholarships in university or not.

I think this portfolio thing is an okay idea to get students motivated to think about their career choices for graduation, but the thing is, right now at my school, it looks like half of the grade won't graduate because they have no clue how to do this portfolio thing. And the worst thing is, last year, during planning 10, we did a lot of things for the portfolio, but this year, the government suddenly changed what they wanted again. So we all had to start over. If they are going to impliment a stupid program, the least they could do was finalize it before introducing it! Now it's back to square one.
I know I am also lucky, also being born in '88.

I wonder during what free time we are expected to do this. Most weekdays I start my homework as soon as I get home and do not finish til after 1am. I also work way faster then most other people. The only breaks I get are when I have to work, when I play hockey (and you do not get enough ice times for that 80 hours [you get 40 tops] and those 80 hours have to be completed in one year [at my school]), Fridays, and Saturdays.

30 hours realy isn't that much over a course of a 4 (5?) year high school career. If you have conflicts between volunteer hours and doing well in school, volunteer during the summer
Well where I live its 30 hours in 4 months.

This thread is making me feel a little old...

Anyway, when I was in highshcool, the onus was quite different. The trades were for knuckleheads, and all students, regardless of how well they did in school, were encouraged to take the 'high road' of university. Most of my friends took 4 or 5 years of university, only to find out it amounted to nothing, and went to community college, with a large student debt at the end of it all.

By all means, pursue your dreams as a writer. I regret not doing the same sometimes. However, from a community standpoint, I can see the need to try to stress community involvement and to prepare you for life in 'the real world.' In Ontario at any rate, my generation came out of high school with no real skills, and all the trades were filled by immigrants because students were dissuaded from it in high school.

0_o
Canada is more fucked up than I thought.

High levels of stress my ass. Kids have never had it so easy. Back in the day, you'd be working the day you could pick up a pail of milk/weed the garden/sew/help at the buisness or at home. I don't knoww here you come from, but here parents and educators are constantly lowering their expectations of young people for fear of wounding the delicate temple of self-esteem, or requiring too much of TV-softened intelects. General inactiity and boredom is probably a bigger cause of depression than this mythical "stress".

I'm not against this portfolio thing because it "adds stress" to the oh-so-overtaxed hidhschool students of B.C., but because it wastes time that could otherwise be spent on something real - like acedemics or sport by writing about it in yet another narcisistic compilation excercise.

You seem to have forgotten that not all stresses have to do with physical labour. I'm expected to maintain a high GPA (which I do), perform community service (which I will), get a job (the one thing I don't have time for), get plenty of excercise (which I do), get 9 hours of sleep (which is impossible). Beyond that, I'm studying singing extensively, putting in hours of theatre rehersals, writing a novel, enduring dirty looks from people with half my IQ but three times my social life, trying to fight injust dress code policies at my school, and dealing with the nasty divorce of my parents. Now, I've never had to clean up chicken crap, so I guess I have no concept of how stressful it is. But, on that same note, you have no concept of how many social and academic pressures I face. I must warn you, as I should have warned several members of my school's faculty, I am not to be trifled with, and I'm certainly not to be patronised.

30 hours realy isn't that much over a course of a 4 (5?) year high school career. If you have conflicts between volunteer hours and doing well in school, volunteer during the summer

It isn't that much; you're right there. But, just for clarification, I need to complete it in the next year (I had a few months earlier in the year, but no proper guidance at that time), and, during the summer, I work on a musical that occupies pretty much all of July.

It isn't that much; you're right there. But, just for clarification, I need to complete it in the next year (I had a few months earlier in the year, but no proper guidance at that time), and, during the summer, I work on a musical that occupies pretty much all of July.

Does the musical pay? If so, there's your job.
If not, there's your volunteer. Just get the ehad of it to sign something stating that they needed your time and services and that you were a help to the community in doing so.