Sharing a little of working world with six-year-olds

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT, the business to education charity, has seen a 15 per cent rise in volunteering since last September as the recession takes hold. This year 3,000 business volunteers from more than 150 public and private sector organisations will deliver JA enterprise and science programmes to 63,000 primary and secondary students throughout the State. The programme aims to excite and inspire young students in areas of disadvantage to remain in education and to see it as their key to opportunities in life.

LAST APRIL, The Irish Timesselected Junior Achievement as the company charity. Five hundred schools across the State work with Junior Achievement, which welcomes members of the corporate world into schools to share their experience of working life with younger members of the community.

Employees of The Irish Timeswere encouraged to volunteer their time and business acumen. The process involved spending an hour a week over the course of six weeks at a chosen school, using a structured module. For some children, this was their first contact with the business world. The objective was to emphasise to the students the benefits of work, not only personally but to create a wider understanding of the economic world and help them realise their potential.

The module I worked on was “Ourselves”, focusing on the economic roles of individuals. As a volunteer I took a half-day seminar with a Junior Achievement representative to run through the structure and activities for the module. The material centred on compelling stories about children their age helping, working, earning and saving in an environment they could all relate to.

Each week, a group discussion would encourage students to elaborate on their personal experiences. This highlighted the new diversity and challenges found in Irish primary schools, a diversity that may be more apparent to adults than to the children themselves.

Also included in the training was advice on classroom management and effective teaching techniques.

My initial visit to the school was to meet with the teacher to learn more about the class structure and relevant information about the students – for example, the different levels of English language proficiency within the class.

The enthusiasm of the group of six-year-old boys made any nerves evaporate. They were immediately animated by the presence of a new person in their class and inquisitive as to why I was there.

One story that interested the group focused on a class raising money for a new playground for their school. In the story, the students were asked to spend time reading at home with an adult and asking for sponsorship of one cent for every minute reading. The subsequent discussion produced some novel ideas for fundraising!

Some of the highlights for me were when I spoke about my job and asked the students their views on media and its presence in their daily life. When asked who read the newspaper at home, I was immediately bombarded with raised hands and shouts of “ME!”.

The class was so open and welcoming to me each time I visited. I learned a lot from the boys’ attitudes and it does bring you back to the simplicity of life through the eyes of a six-year-old. In some way you take a little of that with you.

Katie Molony is a promotions executive with The Irish Times