Student Experiences of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme

WORK EXPERIENCE IN THE LEAVING CERTIFICATE APPLIED 91I’d say if I didn’t take it I’d be thinking about another course, I was, I’m happyI done it because it showed me that I’m, that’s the job I like, you know.Yeah, so you think you might have taken longer to figure out?Yeah, definitely, I wouldn’t be qualified now like, because a lot of people whenthey leave the Leaving Cert they don’t know what they’ll do and they’ll go offtravelling for a year. (Justin, 22, completed LCA, employed)It was interesting to find that some former LCA students felt that theywere better prepared to make the transition from school to work and betterprepared for the world of work relative to those who opted for the LCE.Many students, particularly males, believed that they were much morefocused on their careers because of LCA and LCA work experience thantheir peers in the LCE. Ronan made a comparison between his friends inLCA and his friends that went on to college in terms of their attitudetowards work, indicating that LCA students got real experience of theworld of work from the curriculum:It’s ingrained in them [LCE students] they just can’t seem to get up and workbecause they’ve been studying all their lives, you know, they’ve had no experienceof work from school really. Some of them might have worked but others theyactually don’t need to work, so they’ve no experience of working so when it comesnear the end it’s actually very hard for them to work. They’re so used to studyinga thing, than actually doing it. (Ronan, 25, completed LCA, apprentice)Andrew also shared this sentiment drawing comparisons between LCAstudents and students who opt for the LCE making the point that workexperience as part of the curriculum helps students think about their futureand what they want to do as a career:I’d say the lads who were doing the ordinary Leaving, I’d say when they get tothat stage of thinking what to do they think I’ll just go to college because I don’tknow what I’m going to do. I think that the LCA stands out, everyone in myclass went off to do something, so it gets you thinking, it’s very good. (Andrew,21, completed LCA, apprentice)All of the interviewees had undertaken a work experience placement andthe workplaces are outlined in Table 6.1 for males and females separately.The interviews highlighted significant variation in the types of workexperience placements undertaken by males and females. What isparticularly evident is that many of the students opted for gender-specificoccupations, with males opting for construction industry related workexperience placements and females opting for service sector placements inChildcare, Hair and Beauty.