Student Experiences of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme

SCHOOL EXPERIENCES AND LEARNING PROCESSES AMONG LCA PARTICIPANTS 85Well, like I mean, going out to work and that, you know, I went to like asolicitor’s office, an accountant’s office … laboratories … and it was just greatright, the experience and skills that it gave me and you know, it just really helpedme in life, helped me decide as well like where I wanted to go. (Niamh, 21,completed LCA, employed)Others recognised how communication skills acquired in LCA enabledthem to participate more effectively in the workplace. Sarah explained howLCA allowed her to take responsibility for her timekeeping and attendanceat work:You’re more aware of what you’re doing, you know, if you’re missing days andstuff, you’re more aware of what that can actually do to you in like the long term.… Since I’ve started working like, I don’t think I’ve ever missed a day likeworking, unless I’m really sick where before in school I’d take off a day youknow, I’d try and get a day off, I’ve a pain in my head, but since then, no, I don’tthink there’s any point in it, that I suppose is good, you know. (Sarah, 21,completed LCA, employed)Jack felt that the LCA gave him the communication and administrativetools to function effectively at work:As far as I was concerned I learned a lot more in that year say then I did in halfa year in normal school but you were learning about different things … It wasn’tall Maths and all about this and that, you learn a lot about vocabulary and howto talk to people and how to write letters and things, things … actually that Istill use today like, really make a difference in the working world. … I was wellable to speak for myself but they helped you kind of word things properly and beable to speak to someone about things, I don’t know whether that works, you’ll beable to tell me at the end but I find it does anyway and it gets me through life, so,yeah maybe it helped in them ways. (Jack, 23, dropped out of LCA,employed)Barbara thinks that she is more professional in her job because of theorganisational skills she acquired through LCA:I always say the LCA kind of showed me where to go, you know, and helped mebe very particular in everything that I do, be professional in my job. Just simplelittle things, you know, even with sample boards [in interior design] and stuff,even if it’s not cut straight, or you know presenting stuff like, it has to be …squeaky clean, presentation in stuff, I have to say and I got a lot of that from theLCA in the project work and, you know, it made me very organised andparticular. (Barbara, 23, completed LCA, employed)5.8.2 PREPARATION FOR ADULT LIFEIn addition to benefits in the workplace, the interviews showed how theLCA prepared respondents for adult life. The majority of respondentsattributed their growth in confidence to the alternative teaching approachesused in LCA (see Chapter 5), in particular, the opportunity to speak up andvoice opinions in class. Anne, Siobhan and Sarah felt they had gainedconfidence during LCA and believed they had benefited from this, not onlyin the workplace but in their day-to-day lives: