This is a space for conversation leaders and guests to pose questions propose ideas, share successes, tactics, tools and resources with one another that have not been addressed in other threads.
Stigma toward vocational and alternative education?
I don't think I've yet seen us dialogue about anything related to vocational or "alternative" forms of education. From what I have seen in Kenya, there is such a strong cultural stigma against educating for anything other than access to tertiary education in preparation for professional work. All the youth I work with express strong desires to attend university, and the prospect of making use of other opportunities that are available to them is so often linked to failure. More worrisome is how often one's educational and work status become linked to one's social identity and position, and entrenched beliefs about what certain groups of people (e.g., "low tribes") are expected to do...
Do others see this in their contexts too? Any ideas about how to counter deeply held beliefs about high and low-status education and work?
I don't think I've yet seen us dialogue about anything related to vocational or "alternative" forms of education. From what I have seen in Kenya, there is such a strong cultural stigma against educating for anything other than access to tertiary education in preparation for professional work. All the youth I work with express strong desires to attend university, and the prospect of making use of other opportunities that are available to them is so often linked to failure. More worrisome is how often one's educational and work status become linked to one's social identity and position, and entrenched beliefs about what certain groups of people (e.g., "low tribes") are expected to do...
Do others see this in their contexts too? Any ideas about how to counter deeply held beliefs about high and low-status education and work?