Front-line teaching staff and others vested in the local education sector are preparing to participate in a transformative professional development workshop entitled “Creating A Generation Focused on Success” on Thursday July 14, 2016 at the Medallion Hall Hotel.  It will be presented by CHOICES Career & Education Advice.

Teachers, counsellors, principals and parents from across the island will attend with the aim of transforming their thinking about “Generation Z” (young people born since 1995) and understanding of how their global outlook, unique thinking, nature, judgement and identity affect their educational and career aspirations.

Senator the Honourable Ruel Reid, Minister of Education, will give an address at the opening and Dr. Leahcim Semaj, renowned psychologist, will be one of the presenters. Another presenter will be Dr. Faithlyn Wilson, education, leadership and management specialist.

According to Angela deFreitas, General Manager of CHOICES, “We decided to offer this training because we realize that for Jamaica to meet its 2030 targets for human resource development our youth must be ready to be a part of this process and therefore their teachers to understand how they are being influenced.  It will be a unique opportunity for anyone involved in directing or guiding young people to add to their arsenal of tactics and strategies in preparing them for their life success path. We want participants to up-end their thinking, to throw away old notions and concepts and begin to think differently about this new generation, how to keep apace with them and to help them on their path to achieving their full potential”

She also says that practical strategies will be shared and new ways of bridging the generation gap unearthed as a means of creating classroom success for these “digital natives”.

For almost 20 years CHOICES Career & Education Advice has provided direction, support and assistance to counsellors and other school personnel by facilitating training workshops and expos and by providing career-related support materials. The company produces The Career Key (Caribbean edition) which has aided thousands of users in career planning and is the only authorised publisher and distributor of this tool in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, where it is now used by students in hundreds of schools. The company will this year launch its online Career Key for the Caribbean.