Student Experiences of the Leaving Certificate Applied Programme

148 ENGAGING YOUNG PEOPLE?Leaving Certificate programmes. Maths and English, in particular, attractedcomment, with some respondents characterising them as ‘babyish’ andoverly repetitive of junior cycle material.Findings also highlight that LCA students describe negative perceptionsof the LCA among other Leaving Certificate students and, in some cases,teachers. Negative labelling and name-calling were reported by some ofthose interviewed in addition to feelings of segregation through physicalseparation from the LCE/LCVP classes and non-inclusion in all-schoolevents such as sports days. The qualitative interviews showed that someLCA students were frustrated by the lack of awareness of LCA amongsttheir family, friends and society in general.9.1.5 WORK EXPERIENCEAmong LCA students, work experience is perceived to be a positiveelement of the LCA curriculum. The uptake of LCA work experience ishigh and LCA students generally felt positive about their work placement.However, it is clear that a lack of financial reward is often seen as adisincentive for some students, particularly males. As with the vocationalspecialism courses, a strong degree of gender differentiation is evident inthe types of work experience placements engaged in by male and femaleLCA students. It would seem, therefore, that LCA relies heavily on certainsectors and an over-reliance on the construction sector was particularlyevident among males.The effectiveness of the programme in providing specific workplaceskills was raised in Tuohy’s (2002) research. In this study, it was clear fromthe interviews that many students had the ability to reflect on the taskscarried out and the nature of the skills acquired (if any). Some young adultscould identify how useful the work placements were in terms of genericskills, such as communication skills, team-working and increasedconfidence, but perceived less focus on specific vocational or problemsolvingskills.The role of work experience in career decision making differedaccording to whether career aspirations were in place before the workexperience placement. Some students had a clear idea about whatoccupation they wanted to pursue after leaving school and many of thesestudents used the LCA work experience to sample that occupation. Otherstudents had a vague idea about what they wanted to do and found thework experience useful in helping them make a decision later on. However,many of the students we spoke to, particularly the young women, had noclear idea about what they wanted to do after school (a stark contrast tohigh achieving females pursuing the LCE). These students tended to relymore on the work experience component in framing career aspirations andbecause they knew less about the occupation from the onset, they oftenfound out too late that access to further education was hindered because ofthe restrictions of the LCA. The latter issue was a more general problemfor many of the LCA students we interviewed.The major difficulty that LCA students face in terms of their futureoptions is knowledge relating to the courses and colleges that accept LCAas an entry requirement. Furthermore, it was not clear among studentswhether a pass LCA would gain entry to similar courses as a distinctionLCA. While some of our respondents indicated that their guidance teachers