As an educator, I know that there are a few pivotal moments that students have to face as they navigate their way through High School. I believe that the IGCSE subject selection for Cambridge students may actually be the most defining moment. The subject choice usually takes place in the 9th Grade and it’s an intense scene that plays out at schools across the country every year.
Not always an easy choice
While we, as educators, may see subject selection as a practical and quite technical process, parents usually feel an enormous amount of anxiety at this point in their child’s school career. Because, while some students may have a clearer sense of self and career path at 15 and have done their research around what decisions they need to take at this point, it is important to note that it’s also normal for most 15-year olds to get caught off guard.
Keeping the dream alive vs facing the reality
At Nova Pioneer, there is a selection of teachers who act as advisors assigned to help students with their choice. Getting the students to fill out the selection form is the easy part. The hard part is ensuring they help students make a choice that will best benefit them.
During this time, advisors have to walk a tightrope as they are faced with having to negotiate an often fraught space that exists between what the child may want versus what their parents want for them versus what the reality of the situation may be. Many-a-times we also find that there may be a conflict in the dreams and desires of the students and what their parents see as a practical way forward for them.
Take these things into consideration
Students approach me to discuss their subject selection quite often and sometimes during these times, I experience what feels like a wrestling match between my head and my heart. Imagine a scenario where a student reveals they want to study medicine post-secondary school however, their performance (historical and current) doesn’t or may not meet the requirements needed to enter this field?
There is so much to take into consideration entering these conversations. My intention is to always ensure students don’t leave demotivated and discouraged. Thus, I always try and keep two thoughts in the back of my mind:
- Basil, tread carefully for dreams are precious to the dreamer; and
- Try your best to encourage students to have more than one because dreams can be so fragile.
Guidance sometimes looks like redirection
There may come a time when you have to encourage a student to look at another career path especially when they are sold on another? As an advisor and educator, you have to consider the subject choice package a student may choose and the kind of results they would have to enter their desired field. You also have to consider where their strengths and weaknesses may lie.
For example, while a student may want to study medicine, as their teacher you may know that their strengths lie in creative writing, content production and they embrace the free thought of the arts or humanities. You have to think about how you can subtly probe the depth of their passion for medicine and try to understand why they have chosen that particular field. It is your responsibility, however, to help redirect students without killing their passions so that they feel empowered to win and set up for success.
Help students understand their options
Even when we know a student may do better in another field, with another subject package, we cannot deny them their choice. We also understand that every child deserves to go after their dreams, no matter how ambitious they may seem to us. In the instance a student is determined to take a particular route, despite their performance, we then have the responsibility to advise them on (1) what it would take to win; (2) what obstacles lie ahead and (3) what safety nets exist should things not work out. The beauty of the Cambridge system is that it has safety nets built into its curriculum – these nets can be triggered by the student, parents or the teacher should the need arise.
On your mark, ready, go!
Following the subject selection process, it is our responsibility to watch the student embark on their journey to a matric exemption. Every step of the way is monitored and interrogated, judgement calls made, advice asked for and given, detours and bridges built, and communications sent to the parents. There are occasions where we have had to burn the original map and start the journey anew. There’s no denying that the latter can be a challenge for both the teacher and the student. What a privilege it is to be involved in such a voyage.
How does Cambridge enrich this experience?
In the 10th Grade, students partake in the IGCSE examinations set up by Cambridge. When the IGCSE results come out, we are so incredibly fortunate that most of our students clear this hurdle and can progress to the final stage of their schooling.
For a few, we have to again embark on tough conversations to strategise and replot the path, and yes, sometimes we have to burn the original map and start all over again. This step, when required, is a vital demonstration of the growth mindset. Burning the map is not a failure. It is the discovery of a new pathway for growth; one where the student often comes to the realisation that their passions and talents lie in a direction completely different to the one they once believed was the only path for them.
Parents can help (or hinder) the process
The subject selection process does come with some tension, especially when the chosen path is the desired path of the parent and not the student? This can be a delicate space to navigate when parents and students sit with us and we have to advise on a path that may not be the most favourable to the parents. In those moments, all we can do is (1) lay out our concerns as their educator and advisor, (2) suggest alternatives, (3) try and provide a safe space for the child (normally in a hesitant, fearful whisper) to reveal her dreams and (4) hope that it plants the seed in the mind of the parents as well. These conversations can go either way and whatever the final decision, our role is to construct the timetable and give our students the assurances of academic, and social and emotional support from our team of caring teachers and counsellors.
Advising students to keep their options open
There are really hard moments that lie behind the completion of that subject-choice form. However, my advice is to encourage students to keep an open mind and to have more than one dream. This is my key piece of advice to students at subject-choice time is:
“Be nimble, stay aware, and yes… it is okay to change your mind. Don’t ever allow yourself to be trapped like a mouse in a maze. Pursue one dream at a time, but never stop interrogating it, and never stop reflecting on your own progress. Look at the data that you yourself produce every time you write a test or an exam. Look at the data when you peruse AP scores or tertiary course entry requirements. Again, look at the data when you chat with your teacher or a mentor about your progress. Maintain a sharpness in your peripheral vision so that you can pivot, sooner rather than later, if you know deep down that the light of one dream is fading, and the light of another starts to grow with unexpected brilliance.”
