By Gao Liang
With welding gun in hand and red helmet on head, a group of little "iron men" were happily doing VR welding work with help from volunteers; meanwhile, another group pf little chefs put their aprons on, learning how to knead dough with real chefs. These were the scenes from the 2019 Shanghai student career day event. As a career experience provider for this event, Shanghai Yangpu Vocational and Technical School created 9 activities: VR simulated welding, car model making, dim sum making, flower arrangement, paperless painting, porcelain painting, T-shirt painting, and paper folding, which had attracted over 500 students and parents.
To experience a program is to know an occupation and feel its culture. This has been the 6th year that Yangpu Vocational and Technical School held a career day event as these thoughtfully curated experience activities have increasingly become a displaying platform for the school's occupational education achievements. After years of exploration, these activities have become more diverse, interactive, professional and suitable for learning. For example, VR simulated welding and car model making match the school's automobile program; dim sum making and flower arrangement match tourism and cooking program; and paperless painting, porcelain painting, T-shirt painting and paper folding match art and design program and pre-school education program. On the day of the event, each activity began with a 20-minute instruction by the teachers of related programs, followed by student volunteers-assisted on-site skills application, which was designed to help participants learn practical skills and professional knowledge, while familiarizing themselves with the stories and craftsmanship behind an occupation.