Quote:
Originally Posted by MTVN
12 is too young imo, some people will start to prosper academically much later when they've had more time to hone their abilities and start to appreciate them more. Also at 12 kids will have only been in secondary school a year, they will all be at different levels of preparedness for that step up depending on their primary school and background etc. and it would be very hard to make such a big life decision on only one year of secondary education. From my own experience I certainly don't think a decision could have been made for me at that age and would have had no idea of the path that I was going to take and I very much doubt my teachers at that time would have either.
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Yes, that's true too. The academic side of things probably doesn't "click" with some people at all until the teens, so I would definitely say 14 or even 15 before any sort of decision is made. I would also definitely not make it mandatory, but rather have an in depth and serious discussion about abilities and skills, and how to best direct them. The choice should ultimately be the pupil's though, never the teacher's. Although with that in mind - I would also be tempted to ensure than the decision really IS coming from the pupil, and not a "pushy parent" like in my first example above. Some get angry at their kids and expect top grades, try to bribe them, blackmail them, hold things over them to "make" them achieve and then are disappointed when they still don't. I would be very wary of kids making decisions to please their parents.