Duplicate
and distribute these activities. Students may work independently
or cooperatively.
Just
a Dream?
In segment 7 of "Carpool to Nirvana," Will Durst discovers
that the job he’d always dreamed of having–T.V. critic–isn’t
as easy or as fun as he’d imagined it to be. In segment 8,
in contrast, Meg Koc finds that a workplace characterized as ideal
in a magazine article turns out to be every bit as good as described.
Discuss
with your classmates how people can close the gap between dreams
and reality in their thoughts toward jobs and workplaces. Answer
these questions:
• What
might cause a person to feel disappointed after he or she lands
a dream job?
• How
can people get a realistic picture of a job or a workplace?
Now
try closing the gap between dreams and reality for a job you think
might be ideal for you.
• At
the top of a sheet of paper, write your ideal job, or an ideal
company to work for.
• Fold
the sheet of paper in half.
Write
at the top of the left side: Positive Points of my ideal job or
"PRO"
Write
at the top of the other side: Negative Points of my ideal job
or "CON"
• Fill
in the left-hand column with your hopes, and the right-hand column
with what you expect might be the "downside" of this
job.
• Now
do research to gather facts. You might interview a worker in that
job or company, talk with a company representative, visit the
company’s web site, talk to a union representative, or search
for information about the job or company on the Internet. Online
Job Resources are available.
Write
what you learn in the right-hand column.
After
you finish, work with classmates to make an informational display
of PRO/CON charts.
Share
Views
When you picture an ideal workplace, what do you see? Here’s
your chance to articulate your vision–and find out how it matches
up with those of others.
• List
five to ten characteristics your ideal workplace would have.
• Next,
develop a survey to find out what others think are ideal workplace
characteristics. (For a simple inspiration, you might choose to
check out Livelyhood's humorous LivelyPoll!
Ideal Workplace survey.) You may want to ask respondents for information
on their gender, approximate age, and type of work (if any) that
they do now, so you can break out results by those criteria.
• Distribute
the survey to a variety of people. Then collect the completed
surveys.
• Compile
and analyze the responses. Compare the characteristics most often
mentioned as ideal to yours. Identify similarities and differences.
You
might analyze what you learn about people’s workplace preferences,
write a report that presents your findings, and then share that
information with local employers, newspapers, or guidance counselors.
Debate
Commute Solutions
How tough is the commute in your area now? How much tougher
will it be when you’re ready to join it (or when you make your
next job move)? Maybe it’s time to consider some solutions.
• Work
with a small group to brainstorm possible solutions. These might
include encouraging telecommuting, creating safer bike routes,
increasing government support of public transportation, or building
more freeways. (You may want to re-view segment 5, "The Commute,"
or the Web site commute summary before you begin.)
• Write
each solution on a slip of paper and place the papers in a hat.
• Choose
a partner; draw a solution slip from the
hat.
