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CAREERS EDUCATION CAREERS EDUCATION IN PRIMARY SCHOOL?IN PRIMARY SCHOOL?

+What is Career Development?Career Development is about helping people manage their life, learning and work over the lifespan. It is the acknowledgment of life long learning (Mary McMahon, Wendy Patton, Peter Tatham, 2002).

Career Development is “the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that will assist students to live and work as successful independent learners, and as active, confident, creative and informed individuals” (Shape of the Australian Curriculum – ACARA, Dec. 2010). These capabilities are essential for life long learning. …

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From a Broader Perspective… the notion of Generic Skills are not new!

In Australia, there are a number of existing arrangements to address these generic skills:

General Capabilities that form part of the Australian Curriculum for schools.

The Overarching Outcomes, part of the WA Curriculum Framework,

The Australian Blueprint for Career Development, which addresses career management competencies essential for life long learning.

Employability Skills Framework used in the VET sector.

Graduate Attributes developed by universities.

Australian Core Skills Framework, foundation skills for the workforce.

The Australian Qualifications Framework, which spans all education and training sectors, also refers to four broad categories of Generic Skills.

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Career Career Development Development is High on is High on the the GovernmentGovernment’’s Agenda- a s Agenda- a National National PriorityPriority

It has many social and economic advantages:

From a government and business perspective: career development assists workforce preparation, adaptability, sustainability and reintegration hence increased workforce participation rate, reduced costs, increased efficiency and productivity.

From a human point of view, career development assists increased satisfaction and psychological success in one's life.

From an educational perspective career development assists individuals realise their full potential..

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Career DevelopmentCareer Development

Is not about expecting a child to make lifelong career decisions at a very young age … it is about providing them with a context for their school learning and the skills, knowledge, understandings and attitudes to make future career decisions.

It shows students the real life relevance of their school experience and therefore it is important that career development in schools is a K- 12 approach.

+Did you know research tell us …

The research findings suggest we are missing a valuable opportunity to influence and enhance the career development of our students if we do not begin career education early.

Students from Preschool to

Year 12 have the capacity to understand

career development?

(Miles Morgan Australia (2003). Australian Blueprint for Career Development, P. 87.)

Australian Blueprint for Career Development

Worksheets and Activities

Additional Primary Classroom Activities

+Did you know research tell us …

Six to Eight (6 to 8) year olds have already begun to narrow down the number of occupations they are prepared to consider in the future (Phipps, 1995).

Five (5) year olds can talk about the job they want when they grow up, and …

+Did you know research tell us … … and once these limits are set,

individuals will rarely consider broader alternatives (Poole & Low, 1985).

Individuals start to rule out options at an early age because of the unconscious influences of parents, their friends and the stereotyping of occupations.

+Why is it important to start early?

1. can see how education is connected to a successful future.

3. discover the variety of jobs available to them and are able to imagine themselves in an occupation.

2. connect what they are learning in school to real-world situations.

4. develop work-readiness skills.

Research has shown that children engage more deeply in learning if they …

+STUDENTS CAN BUILD A CAREER FOUNDATION

… in the Early Years by encouraging the useof age-appropriateactivities and play toexplore the structureand function of theworking world which is presented in a Model of Contemporary Learning entitled Exploring Roles in the Community <click to view>

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THEY CAN CONTINUE TO DEVELOP CAREER PERCEPTIONS

… in the Middle Years by building solid foundations for good career decision making by…

• Exploring the range of opportunities in the world of work – both online, and face to face!

• Engaging in authentic learning, and• Reflecting on personal interests,

attributes, values and abilities to develop personal learning goals and aspirations.

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The curriculum focuses on developing the

fundamental knowledge, skills and behaviours in

general skills of literacy and numeracy and

other areas including physical and social

capacities that underpin all future learning.

Career development at this stage includes the

development of self awareness and

understanding of the world around them,

including the roles people have in their lives.

Years Prep to 4 – Laying the foundations:

VELS

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Years 5 to 8 – Building breadth & Years 5 to 8 – Building breadth & depthdepth:: Career development at this stage includes a

deeper understanding of themselves and the

working world and the decision making

processes. They will begin to explore options for

learning that can lead to pathways they may

want to follow.Years 9 to 10 – Developing pathways:Years 9 to 10 – Developing pathways:They need to experience learning in work and

community settings as well as the classroom.

They are beginning to develop preferred areas for

their learning.Reference: http://bit.ly/OcL4cc

VELS

+Other Resources you may wish to explore

Through such programs as the “You Can Do ItYou Can Do It”” you can teach children the Five Keys to Success or in using the “Real Real Game SeriesGame Series” the Five High Principles of life.

These programs gives students the tools to help manage and excel in all aspects of life.

You Can Do It! You Can Do It! http://www.youcandoit.com.au/

The Real Game http://www.realgame.com/australia.html

Squidoo http://bit.ly/P69y7a

Teaching Kids Business http://bit.ly/eT6v7J

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ReferencesReferencesACARA, http://www.acara.edu.au/default.asp

Australian Curriculum, http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au

Chance Clutter (1995) The Effects of Parental Influence on their Children‘s Career Choices, Fort Hays State University, 1995. •http://bit.ly/O4QWoy

Mary McMahon, Wendy Patton, Peter Tatham (2002) Managing Life, Learning and Work in the 21st Century. http://bit.ly/Na8pHq

Miles Morgan Australia (2003) Australian Blueprint for Career Development, P. 87).•Patton, Wendy and McMahon, Mary (2006) The Systems Theory Framework of Career Development and Counseling: Connecting Theory And Practice. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling 28 (2): pp. 153-166. http://bit.ly/N35sJN•Phipps, B.J. (1995) Career dreams of preadolescent students. Journal of Career Development, 22 (1), 19-32. http://jcd.sagepub.com/content/22/1/19.extract

•Poole & Low (1985) Career aspirations of adolescent girls: effects of achievement level, grade, and single-sex school environment, May 2002, Volume 46, Issue 9-10, pp 323-335. http://rd.springer.com/article/10.1023/A%3A1020228613796

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