Bring Your Child to Work-Day
Employees of companies are invited to take their children to their workplace for a day. The “RealityCheck” approach to this is: Children increasingly do not know what their parents are “really doing”. A “take-away” to the work of father and mother can offer an authentic insight into a section of the real working world.
At the same time, this shared experience enables a family discourse on work and the world of work.
The Reality Check “Bring Your Child to Work Day” invites companies to encourage their employees to take their children – typically in the 3rd or 7th grade – to their workplace for one day. The aim is to give pupils an authentic and vivid impression of what their parents, relatives, or close family members do in their professions. By accompanying their mother, father, or another trusted person at work, children gain first-hand insights into everyday tasks, workplace environments, and the relevance of different skills.
The pedagogical method follows a simple but effective structure: experience – accompaniment – reflection. Pupils directly experience the workplace, are guided and accompanied by their parent or relative, and later reflect on what they have seen and learned, both at home and in school. This combination creates a strong emotional connection between family life, school, and professional orientation, and helps children to understand the meaning of learning for real careers.
Lernergebnisse
Zusätzliche Lernergebnisse
- This format is a particularly effective approach to motivate companies to address their employees in their role as parents and thus activate contact with schools for “RealityChecks”.
- The fact that children no longer know what their parents do for a living, which has been proven by many studies (Bertelsmann, Shell, etc.), can be effectively addressed by this format.
- What is particularly innovative is that not school and parents, but companies are actively integrated into this process – this multiplies the effectiveness of this approach.
Umsetzung
Schritt für Schritt
- Coordination with the school authorities: define target group (3rd/7th grade), legal and safety requirements, duration and timeframe.
- Information for companies: provide clear, detailed materials to support internal communication and employee participation.
- Central registration via schools: announcement, parental communication, collection of applications, creation of participant lists.
- Preparation & materials: info sheets for parents/children (purpose, schedule, expectations, follow-up); clarify safety issues, clothing, insurance; check materials.
- Implementation in companies: children accompany their parent/relative, gain authentic insights into the workplace, ask questions.
- Support by career guidance staff (BFB): coordination, motivation, acting as interface between schools and companies, ensuring smooth organisation.
- Follow-up & evaluation: online survey, reflection in school and family, document lessons learned and plan future editions.
Beteiligte Berufe
The crucial, innovative aspect is that companies are invited and motivated to see their employees in their role as parents of schoolchildren and to find contact with schools, teachers and young people via this channel.
Previous approaches in this direction (example “Daughters’ Day”) tend to seek contact through school – in this approach, the active involvement of companies with their employees is the innovative approach.
The role of parents in participating in the decision-making process for educational and career choice is undoubtedly well documented, in different forms.
The involvement of parents in their personal “profession” in working life is the essential aspect of this RealityCheck approach, combined with the activation of companies to use this role of their employees based on the characteristics in the company
Vorbereitung und Nachbereitung
In preparation, companies, schools, and parents were informed about aims and benefits, while legal and organisational issues (liability, safety, procedures) were clarified early. Ready-to-use templates for calls and invitations made internal communication in companies easier. Schools and parents’ associations were included to strengthen awareness, and coordination with the Directorate of Education provided official approval and embedded the initiative in the educational framework.
Nachbereitung focused on reflection and evaluation. Children discussed their experiences at home and in school, linking everyday impressions to the relevance of subjects. Teachers integrated this into lessons, while feedback from students, schools, and companies was collected through surveys. The results showed high motivation and clear learning effects. Lessons learned were documented to further improve and ensure sustainable continuation of the format.
Bewertung
The RealityCheck is evaluated through student and teacher feedback (surveys, interviews), observation of motivation and learning effects, and company reflections. Results highlight benefits, challenges, and improvement needs for sustainable implementation.