The Transition from Academia to the Workplace / Transition Vision for Students

From Academia to the Workplace

As a student, writing always came easy for me. It seemed that I was always able to understand what my teacher was looking for in the way of a complete assignment. It was just a matter of researching the subject, gathering the information, recording the sources and writing the paper. When I had to write in a workplace setting I quickly learned that writing as a student was very different from writing in corporate setting. I had to understand the difference in order to know how to change my writing style.

The first time, that my boss asked me to write a report, I handed in what I thought she was looking for, but she handed it right back to me, and told me that it needed to be redone. I remember feeling frustrated because I knew that if I handed the same report in to my last teacher I would have gotten a great grade. When I asked a colleague to assess the report, she told me that it read like an essay instead of a workplace report. It took some time for me to understand that what was acceptable for my teacher would not be acceptable for my boss. I learned that in order for me to effectively communicate at work I would have to make some adjustments to, not only my writing, but also to my way of thinking. I had to better understand genre theory.

Andre and Schneider write about genre theory, especially in regard to how "writing is always shaped by writers' understanding of the communicative action required by particular situations". I found this to be particularly true when it comes to writing. That is because you are writing for very different situations and very different audiences. The form of writing will be different depending on what the situation is. My instructors were looking to evaluate my writing to see if I understood the material that was being covered. My boss was looking for information to become more informed on a subject. According to Andre and Schneider the composing process is also different in the workplace. Students are encouraged to work independently in a school setting, but that is not the case in the workplace. Many people write collaboratively and use each other's ideas and work. The other point that I could relate to is the issue of writer identity. In my academic setting my instructors knew more about the subject than I did and my writing was to show that that I understood the topic. When I wrote in a workplace setting my goal was to inform my boss about a subject. I needed to be the expert.

Making the transition from academia, to workplace, writing was challenging for me. I had to learn more about my style of writing and I had to understand the purpose of my writing. Once I was able to understand myself as a writer, I was able to transition smoothly.

Transition Exit Points

Just as with any other sound educational plan, developing a good transition plan requires a beginning assessment of the student's skills, abilities, desires, and needs and attempts to fit these together so that the end result is the most efficacious and positive one for each student. The completed assessment then should lead to appropriate strategies for developing transition goals and strategies for realizing the transition vision for the students.

The authors make several recommendations concerning transition assessment. First, they caution that this kind of assessment ought not to be overwhelming, but should be kept in perspective. It is very much tied to the ongoing assessments that have been a part of the student's educational life since the beginning, and the assessment should be geared toward the questions that IEP team members have asked. The assessment should also be considerate of several different level s and types, including social assessments, academic skill assessments, vocational assessments, and so on.

Team members must also take into account the post-school opportunities to which the student has reasonable access. In urban areas, this is less problematic than in rural ones, but deciding that a students should attend post-secondary schooling when there is no college or university nearby should certainly be a consideration. This is true of vocational opportunities as well, or supported employment opportunities.

Sitlington, Neubert, and Clark (2010) also discuss strategies for making transition a part of the ongoing assessment process. Divided by development level, these strategies include such things as discussions of families and what ach person in a family does, service-oriented projects that enable the student to contribute to the larger community, discussions of careers, technology integrations, and the application of academic content to life skill development.

Reference

Sitlington, P.L., Neubert, D.A., and Clark, G.M. Transition education and services for students with disabilities. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.