LESSON PLAN – Then And Now

Theme – Investigating The World Of Work

CAREER SKILLS – Career Exploration

KEY SKILLS – Communication, Working With Others, Improving Own Learning and Performance

WORK RELATED LEARNING – Learning For Work, Learning About Work

COMPETENCIES – *ai, *aii, *aiii, *bi, *cii, *di, **ei, **eiii, **eiv, **ev, **evi, ***fiv, ***Ii, ***Iii, ***Iiii, ***Iiv, ****mi

SUGGESTED SUBJECT AREA – English, Personal Development, Social Studies

Learning Outcomes

By completing this task students will be able to:

  • Compare and contrast jobs from the past and present.
  • Think about changing trends in work.
  • Assess future developments.

Preparation and Materials

  • Copies of Activity Sheets “Then And Now” (1) and (2) for each student.
  • Blackboard/flipchart.
  • Flipchart (big pieces of paper) and markers for each group.
  • Teachers’ Notes as a prompt for discussion.
  • This lesson could link to “Looking Back” lesson plan.

Method

  1. Put the students into small groups of 4 to 6 and provide sheets of flipchart or similar paper and a pen.
  2. Nominate a scribe for each group.
  3. Explain the aims of the lesson using the learning outcomes on Activity Sheet (1).
  4. Ask the groups to list in 2 columns headed Past and Present
  1. Jobs more prevalent in the past
  2. Jobs which have emerged more recently
  1. Ask each group to feed back to the class.
  2. Draw out from the class which jobs are still done and which are not. Can they suggest reasons for this?
  3. Give out Activity Sheets (1) and (2) and ask students to complete Activity Sheet (2) individually.
  4. Ask the students what they have learned from the lesson.
  5. Summarise the main learning outcomes.

TEACHERS’ NOTES – Then And Now

Introduction

Introduce the session by telling the students of the changes in employment over the years.

Recap on the Industrial Revolution and the style of life before the Revolution i.e. predominance of family and small cottage industries, emergence of coal mines, the age of steam, cotton and woolen mills, factories, mass produced goods, mass movement of populations to centres of industry and commerce.

More recently there has been a decrease in manufacturing industries and an increase in service industries.

Reasons Why Jobs Change

Mechanisation – such as during the industrial revolution e.g. farming and technological advances this century has seen in mass production of products, transport movements, communication.

Communication technology – has created many new jobs in the last decade e.g. telephone answering services, pager services. Speed of communication has also changed the nature of many jobs e.g. secretarial and administration, telephone sales and courier delivery etc.

Globalisation – of technology, production, management and marketing. It is now easier for firms to relocate and build new factories elsewhere to get cheaper costs – this is why it is essential to have a competitive workforce.

With globalisation of work brings demands for secondary skills such as the need for a foreign language – even if it is only used to demonstrate that you have the ability to learn a foreign language.

Consumerism – more affluent society means that we buy more frequently e.g. fashions in clothes, homes, gardens, cars change regularly. In the past people would keep things “until they wore out”. We often replace rather than mend.

Political change – this can be local, national or international. Example of this is legislation in Quebec for the signs. All the signs now have to be in French before they are in English.

The employment market – changes frequently because the pace of change is getting faster all the time. People need to be bale to gain new skills to meet the demands of new technology.

Discuss the Implications

Workers need to have transferable skills and as wide a variety of skills and abilities as possible. They need to be more mobile, moving away from home for work.

What are the modern trends in industry? More women in work, more part time work, more leisure time. Stress the significance of the increase in self employment. What could this mean for employment trends in the future?

Learning Outcomes: By completing this task you will be able to:

  • Compare and contrast jobs from the past and present.
  • Think about changing trends in work.
  • Assess future developments.
ACTIVITY SHEET (1) Then And Now
  • SHEPHERD
  • THATCHER
  • REFUSE COLLECTOR
  • LAMPLIGHTER
  • BLACKSMITH
  • SCIENTIST
  • ACTOR
  • TELEPHONIST
  • ESTATE AGENT
  • POTTER
  • TRAM DRIVER
  • TV PRESENTER
  • WEAVER
  • TELESALES
  • ASSEMBLY PLANT WORKER
  • SERVANT
ACTIVITY SHEET (2) – Then And Now

Look at the jobs described on Activity Sheet (1)

Use the table below to list those jobs more common in the past and those more common now.

Which jobs are still done () and which jobs are not (*)?

ShepherdThatcherRefuse CollectorLamplighter

BlacksmithScientistActorTelephonist

Estate Agent PotterTram Driver TV presenter

Weaver Telesales Assembly plant workerServant

Can you suggest reasons why this is the case?

What could this mean for employment in the future?