Reflecting on career paths should be a priority

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/05/2022 (1357 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Considering its ubiquitous and highly relevant nature to every student in every K-12 school system, thinking about ‘careers’ surely gets serious attention in schools, right?

Not really.

Students are often left on their own to work out a career plan after high school. Schools prioritize completing the required 30 credits; there often isn’t time to help students figure out what to do with them.

And that’s a problem according to Grade 11 Glenlawn student C.J. Campbell, who felt that courses lacked discussion about how they connect to future skills and jobs.

“I came to the broadcast media program (in the Louis Riel Arts and Technology Centre) hoping to build some skills and give me some ideas or connections into the workforce world,” Campbell said.

The problem is that when schools assume career development naturally happens, without substantive help from the education system, they ignore a serious disconnect with many students who lack the skills, knowledge, and confidence to make informed and purposeful decisions about their futures.

The structure and organization of how schools deliver courses is part of the challenge.

Student timetables are handcuffed by compartmentalized formats with specialized content and tight timelines, leaving little or no time for connecting the content to career paths.

Perhaps, most importantly, there is little time and space in schools for students to stop and reflect about ‘why’ and ‘how’ courses may link to their lives in the present and to assess how the skills and knowledge within those courses may contribute to their futures.

This isn’t about money. Stakeholders can immediately do more within current budgets to help students plan for post-high school life.

First, each school administration can prioritize career development in its posted yearly plan, a document that contains priorities, themes, initiatives, opportunities, and exploratory ideas.

Second, teachers can inject career development into their classes to ignite discussion about how and why the content may affect their lives beyond the classroom experience.

Third, parents can create accounts and converse with their children about careers using online tools such as www.myBlueprint.ca or the LEAN Career Design Canvas at www.careerdesigncanvas.ca, available to LRSD Grade 7-12 students.

Fourth, government can mandate career development in schools as they do in the U.K. with the nnovative Gatsby Benchmarks. In 2018, the Canadian Ministers of Education Council (CMEC) created our own Canadian career benchmarks for schools, but has anyone heard of them?

C.J. took charge on her own, leaving the beaten path of high school to do more reflecting about what the future can hold.

Infusing career development into the mainstream of curricula delivery will ensure that every student has this chance.