26 March 2026
There’s a well-known story told in many forms: a person notices a cocoon on the footpath, gently wriggling as the creature inside works to break free. Wanting to be kind, they take the cocoon home and carefully snip it open to “help.” The casing loosens easily - far more easily than nature intended - and the emerging creature sits still, its wings soft and unable to lift it into the air.
What the person didn’t realise is that the struggle is part of the process. Pushing against the cocoon strengthens the butterfly’s wings so it can fly. Without that effort, the transformation can’t complete in the way it’s meant to.
Just as the butterfly needs the gentle resistance of the cocoon to strengthen its wings, our young people grow through moments of challenge. When we step in too quickly or smooth difficulties away, we can unintentionally take away the experiences that build resilience, confidence and independence. As parents and educators, our role isn’t to remove every struggle, but to walk alongside students as they learn to push, stretch and discover what they’re capable of.
Discovery, exploration, independent research – these things underpin our involvement with students in our Careers program at Aitken College. This must be a student-driven endeavour – one where they explore independently with support and gentle guidance from those around them.
The Careers program supports students to prepare for life after school in the careers space by exploring things such as who they are, what their strengths are, what they can offer the world and what they can do in life to support themselves.
Our students’ career exploration is based on two key elements:
We live in an ever-changing, rapidly evolving world that consequently has a workforce that changes with it.
Studies by the Foundation for Young Australians suggest that this generation will have many more jobs than the generations before. FYA estimate about 17 jobs in five different career areas. Flexibility and adaptability are givens.
Other studies state that key skills employers want are those we refer to as ‘soft skills’:
Students develop these skills in areas such as collaborative and independent projects at school, extracurricular activities like part time jobs or being in a sporting/performance team, and through responsibilities at home.
The Careers program at Aitken College begins in Year 10 with the Morrisby Profile. Morrisby has supported student career decision?making for more than 60 years and offers clear, objective insights to help students understand their strengths, interests, and possible pathways.
It is not a traditional test; it simply helps students recognise one’s abilities, preferences and emerging interests so students can make informed choices about future study and career options. The assessment is followed up by an individual review with a Morrisby-accredited Careers Advisor. Many students find their results affirming and eye-opening! Students retain lifelong access to their Morrisby account, allowing them to revisit their results as their ideas evolve.
This exercise also supports upcoming decisions about VCE or VCE Vocational Major pathways and subject selection.
Later in Year 10 students attend the Subject Selection Expo where they learn more VCE subjects and program of study during senior school years. Students are encouraged to make subject selections in an informed way:
What do I enjoy?
What am I good at?
Do I need this subject as a prerequisite for a tertiary course?
Choosing subjects based on whether they scale up is a slippery slope! To have a student commit to a two-year program of study if they do not enjoy, connect or cope with the content can have a negative effect on both their school experience and end of Year 12 result.
We also encourage students to attend Tertiary Open Days to learn more about options for study. Whilst we take Year 11s to RMIT in Term 4, and Year 12s to La Trobe University in Term 2, there’s more to see and learn at Open Days as students can hear from academic staff and university/TAFE students.
This is just the very start of their journey of what happens in ‘life after school’, a process that would have begun many years before at home. Parents and family are a significant influence in shaping a student’s future and decision making.
When having conversations with your young people at home, avoid questions like “What do you want to do when you grow up?” – which can make many creatures shrink back into their cocoon! Rather, ask questions like:
Which of your interests, skills and abilities do you think will help you most in your future career?
What sort of environment would you like to work in?
There are more conversation starters available on the Careers Group on AIMS for use as parents and guardians gently support and encourage their young people toward their future.
Rather than drawing to job titles or occupations, we encourage our students to explore job clusters. Occupations fall into key areas and these groups illustrate how one set of skills can be applied across a number of occupations. Understanding job clusters helps students see that their strengths can open doors across many related pathways, giving them confidence and flexibility as they navigate this ever?changing world.
As your young people navigate these choices, there will be times when they need to lean into the stretch of new experiences. Those moments are where confidence is formed. Just as the butterfly gains strength through its own effort, our students grow most when they’re given room to try, to wonder, and to work things out for themselves. With gentle guidance rather than intervention, we give them the space to emerge with wings strong enough for whatever comes next.
A school in association with the Uniting Church.
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