I work in a Distance Education School and our students are very diverse with 66% experiencing mental health challenges. We do a lot of one on one work with the families so we can develop strong relationships. We have to be mindful of the situation at any given time so that we can encourage when students are more positive. I think careers specialist teachers are very important in a school for working specifically with students but also for sharing knowledge and ideas with the teaching cohort. I would like to see this raised as a strategic area of interest in our school and will discuss it our next professional development meeting.

It goes to show that even quite unintentional experiences can colour the aspirations of students and open up their minds to a range of ideas. Perhaps that is a positive role that social media can play. Building broader networks so students have more far-reaching connections, not just local.

I was very interested to read the data from the research. I worked in a relatively remote rural school for 8 years and we put into place many programs to encourage students in their aspirations. It really made a difference and set up a bit of a culture in the longer term. It is worth making the effort. We exploited the competitiveness between universities to get them to visit us and to facilitate visits. We worked with other high schools in the area. It definitely supported our students and the culture of aspiration.

Often, students have strong ideas about what they want to do but they may struggle to listen to what teachers have to say about how to get there. There is often more importance placed on Cold knowledge than Hot knowledge, particularly what parents and peers say.

It is very interesting to consider how this domain influences how we feel about what we might become, what we would like to become and what we are afraid of becoming.