much to be optimistic about’, but if things changed that would be good. All students who
expressed a view said that they couldn’t envisage change when asked.
A version of this question was retained in the questionnaire that followed.
11. Plans for the next ten years
We asked everyone if they had a strong sense of what they would like to be doing in
ten years’ time. A lot of people said they didn’t know. What does this tell you about
them and why don’t they have an idea?
Students did not respond easily to the question. Students appeared genuinely confounded
by this. The majority answered that they simply didn’t know. One wanted to be a lawyer,
one a soldier and another a footballer, with the others noncommittal.
This question was not included in questionnaire two.
12. View of the future
How do you see your future? What do you expect from it? Is education part of that
future? Why/why not?
All students said that they saw education as playing a part in their future. They said that
going to college was the way forward in order to do well and both groups accepted this as
correct. All of the students said that they expected to go on to ‘A’ levels. Academic
success was a general target. Students expressed little vision of what they would do at
University or what occupation they would pursue.
There may have been self-censoring on this question since owning up to certain
ambitions may have had implications for their personal self-presentation to the group.
Some responses may have been withheld. Education was seen as important and the
destination of choice for students in the short-term.
This question was retained for the questionnaire.
13. Qualities needed for the 21st century
What qualities do you need to succeed in the 21st century?
Hard work came top (18) with nearly all students mentioning it. Being a good
communicator (14) was agreed to be the next most important quality. After these came:
kindness (12), caring (12), motivation (11), getting on with people (11) and being a good
person (9). Trust (8), Leadership (7), Love (7), Communication (6) Respect (4) and
Kindness (4) were also mentioned. Thinking about Others (3), Selflessness (3),
Independence (3) and Passion (3) were the next most frequent qualities.
A question derived from these responses was used in the next phase questionnaire.
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