Advice for schools and parents
What can schools do to enhance transition?
As teachers, you are very influential in young people's decision-making. Research indicates that students may rely more on your advice than on their family's knowledge, and also that families rely heavily on the school to guide their children into their tertiary courses and through the processes of choice and application.
Outlined below are some ideas for assisting students to make the transition between secondary and tertiary study. Some schools have an integrated policy for achieving this, while in other cases, much of the work may be the responsibility of individual teachers.
We hope you find some useful information here. We welcome feedback from teachers, and most importantly, we'd love to hear from you about activities and procedures that you have in place at your school.
| Encourage Forward Planning | Involve All Stakeholders | Do Your Research |
| Expose Your Students | Build Awareness | Be Available | Tips for Parents |
Encourage forward planning
Often high school students concentrate so hard on the final years of school that they fail to undertake adequate planning and research into the future possibilities. Research shows that students do best at university when there is a good match between the course they wanted to do and what they are studying now. Informed decisions serve students best. Here are some ideas:
- Encourage students to take every advantage of work experience in their preferred field or closely related areas. Setting a class topic around finding out as much about their preferred course as possible - through print, electronic or personal means - may give them time and space to think ahead. A recent study showed that up to 25% of high school students changed their first preference after a trial experience of their desired course. It is better to discover a mismatch before embarking upon a tertiary course.
- Simple activities such as 'Create your own business card for the year 2010'; can stimulate students' thinking. Other activities can be created around study themes within the school curriculum, for example, presentations, role-plays, interviews with people in the field, poster displays, creative responses or drama.
Involve all stakeholders
The progress of young people through secondary and tertiary education is a matter of importance to the entire community, and teachers are in the prime position to influence the future of the students in their charge. However, families and the students themselves need to be committed to the future course if the students are to have the best chance of success.
- Course and careers advice needs to be complete and timely. Many changes occur in the recruitment and selection processes for courses and the range of courses and careers available is always increasing. It is important to have regular, systematic contact with tertiary institutions and to make the information available to students. In addition, realistic expectations and possible pathways need to be broached to avoid disappointment and failure.
- Importantly, parents need to be informed about then possible choices and the consequences of processes such as subject selection, and parents rely on schools for this information. University students' dissatisfaction with their studies is often linked with parental pressure to study in a particular course. Students tend to perform better when they choose the subjects and courses in which they are genuinely interested, and their strengths and preferences need to be given as much weight as the prerequisites for specific courses that may not fundamentally suit them.
Do your research
Universities and other tertiary institutions are constantly changing in accord with economic demands, increasing globalisation and the growth of information technology. Physical resources at the University and the contents of the curriculum are continually being upgraded, revised and refocused, so your knowledge of the tertiary system can quickly get out of date. Some suggestions:
- Visit a tertiary campus or two each year, even if it is only to look in the library on a slow winter weekend. Your impressions of the place can help inform your perceptions about the resources, atmosphere and quality of the courses there.
- Explore connections with a nearby university faculty: do they have workshops for teachers or can you invite yourself to view their new teaching space or lab? Many faculties, departments, and university teaching staff are very willing to host visits from interested people or to come out to your school.
- Keep in touch with your old campus through the alumni association, checking the website or reading the magazine.
- Look into mailing lists and cast an eye over what comes through the careers office.
- Become familiar with the websites of tertiary institutions, and encourage students to do the same. In a recent first year focus group, some students said that they wished their schools had done more to promote the websites, which they now realise are good sources of information. Universities and TAFEs are becoming increasingly dependent on electronic publications, and websites are an excellent way for students to learn the kind of information not commonly included in material for prospective students.
Expose your students to real life experiences of university
Not every school can arrange a visit to a number of campuses or even fit one visit into their school timetables, but it is important to remember that the university or TAFE that is on show on Open Day is not necessarily the same institution that students interact with throughout the year. Some ideas:
- Invite alumni of your school to talk to students about their uni or higher education experiences over lunch. This could be a regular event and you can invite representatives from a number of institutions and outcomes, also including students who chose not to pursue further study.
- Investigate the possibilities of taking some students onto campus on a normal teaching day. Many tertiary institutions have some schemes that allow for this. You may be able to do a hosted tour or a self-guided tour of the campus and get an idea of the place.
Build awareness of the differences in learning environment
Many tertiary students report their dissatisfaction with the styles of teaching and learning experienced at university compared to school. While universities are striving to improve their teaching practices continually, the realities of large class sizes and a packed timetable can have an effect upon the learning environment. Students who are well prepared for these differences will have an easier adjustment period. Here are some suggestions for demonstrating the kinds of tasks students will face at university:
- Schedule one day a term where classes go for an hour, or are presented in lecture format, so that students can experience what it is like to be expected to concentrate for longer periods. Many classes at tertiary level are less interactive and engaging than classes at school, and students may need time to adjust their ideas about what happens in class. If they are accustomed to concentrating for periods shorter than one hour, they could workshop ideas for getting themselves engaged in the material being presented.
- Workshop self-management skills in class, and draw students' attention to the responsibilities they have for managing their own study load. While VCE scores correlate highly with success at first year, students who can manage their time (for study, work, sport, family and social life) most effectively will have an easier transition to the independent learning atmosphere of tertiary studies, and will also have more success at tertiary level.
Be available and open about what to expect
Many students return to their schools for advice well into their first year at university. While there are multiple services for any need on almost every campus, sometimes students have difficulty finding the services or just prefer to talk to someone who knows them. You can support them in a number of ways:
- Be explicit about the differences to be expected when students move to tertiary education. Access websites, alumni, tertiary staff for information if you are unsure about the differences yourself. Encourage students to think ahead about the types of learning activities they will encounter at tertiary level.
- Students value keeping in contact with respected teachers, especially at first. Some schools have dedicated this role to particular positions (e.g. careers counsellor, deputy principal) while others leave the choice of contact to the student to access when the need arises. Your interest in their future and their progress is important to them.
- Investigate the services at the tertiary institutions that your students regularly progress to. It is very affirming if you are able to name a person or a service of which you have personal knowledge. Most service personnel are very happy to provide you with information about their work. Warning: this type of information needs to be updated at least annually.
Tips for parents
- Tips for Parents: Includes tertiary success indicators as well as tips for how parents can help. Download (96Kb).
- Student Counselling Service tip sheets: What to expect during transition, and how to help your daughter or son make the most of the move to university. Download tip sheets.
- Future students website: More information for the parents and families of future students.