RB teachers unite in my cause please

show her what its like in the job center...that should do it

Exam results and education are not the be all and end all, and not everybody is suited to that route. There is never a day goes by that I don't regret sticking in at school. I was basically following the path of least resistance and I didn't realise that what I was doing was disqualifying me from doing anything I might have some enthusiasm for.

Another thing you have to remember is that further/higher education has become nothing more than an expensive way of not setting yourself apart from your peers.

Different things work for different people, even in same family as everyone knows, so only you know if something is likely to work or probably if it won't. When I was coming off the rails as a teenager my mother sat me down and had a very adult chat about the world and impact of choices, it worked with me, it didn't work for my sister, she is keen her children have the choices that she didn't. I think the key issue is the ability to be able to make those choices and not studying at school only closes doors, it doesn't open any. Whether that message is delivered by a grown up chat (no doubt she is screaming to be treated like an adult), scare tactics of consequences of not studying or bribery only you can know what is likely to work.

As a ps I'm sorry but I strongly disagree with "further/higher education has become nothing more than an expensive way of not setting yourself apart from your peers". Success is frequently about differentiation both academically and also demonstrated determination and hard work.

Isaac_AG":1jq57tvv said:

My son at primary wanted to be a doctor and did so all the way till GCSE's, my daughter wants to be an actress, now I now that if Julie Roberts or Emma Thompson didn't want to be one they'd not be so rich, but wat's the chances eh!! not a lot, so she needs something to fall back on if she doesn't make it big.

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Following on from Grahame's story, a friend of mine grew up in North East, parent's were teachers and he won a place at Cambridge. He got a 2.1 in English but wanted to be an actor. Went off to drama school post Cambridge. By acting standards did ok, some tv work including some highly acclaimed bbc dramas, one film (that was rubbish but it was quite entertaining when we were standing on a tube platform and some people noticed he bore a striking resemblance to one of the guys in a poster for a film on the wall). He was always struggling financially and eventually well into middle age had to decide to get a job that could actually support his family and he went to law school and is now a lawyer.

daugs":1rifzozo said:

As a ps I'm sorry but I strongly disagree with "further/higher education has become nothing more than an expensive way of not setting yourself apart from your peers". Success is frequently about differentiation both academically and also demonstrated determination and hard work.

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Yes, but having the same degree as everybody else doesn't provide any differentiation. The differentiation has to come from extra-curricular activities.

As a nation we have both a skills shortage and a large number of unemployed/underemployed graduates, a situation that the education industry should be made to answer for. If I was starting out, and didn't have pressure from my parents, I would be aiming to acquire some of the scarce skills rather than fighting it out with the graduates.

daugs":rfvq8dhi said:

As a ps I'm sorry but I strongly disagree with "further/higher education has become nothing more than an expensive way of not setting yourself apart from your peers". Success is frequently about differentiation both academically and also demonstrated determination and hard work.

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I must agree. My Masters has done little for me, and job wise I daresay I'd be pretty much where I am now without it. Difference is I paid my own way through the OU and studied off and on for best part a decade while still working full time on the real world. Not like half the graduate I meet who thought they'd walk out of Uni straight into a cushy number in Media for about £60k.

And I did it because physics interested me, though with dyslexia i was struggling with the maths so switched to metallurgy... which misrepresent much better for maths. Doh!

And am I the only person who doesn't thing success is measured on a payslip? Success for me is being able to get to sleep with a clear conscience, and without fretting about what the next day will bring. I can only drive one car, eat one pie, sit on one crapper at any one time.

Tell her she will get a visit from "Al" that should sort it.Even I would of done my homework.