Virginia Career VIEWFall 2013 Workshop

Integrating Career Exploration into the Core Curriculum

• How are you/your school currently integrating career exploration into the core curriculum?

• Has anyone tried working with a teacher to implement career development in core classes? In what ways?

• What are some barriers you have run into? How are the barriers different at the elementary and middle school levels?

• How would overcoming those barriers make your job better?

Discussion in groups

• “When students perceive math (e.g., Hulleman, Godes, Hendricks, & Harackiewicz, 2010) and science (e.g., Ainley & Ainley, 2011) to be useful, they tend to be more interested in it. Instructors can demonstrate the usefulness of the content by explaining to students how the material is related to their interests, career goals, and/or the real world; or by providing opportunities for students to engage in activities that demonstrate the usefulness of the content (for examples, see Jones, 2009) (Jones, B., Ruff, C., & Osborne, J.W., in preparation).”

Why should we connect career development to classroom learning?

Jones, B. D., Ruff, C., & Osborne, J.W. (in preparation). Fostering students’ identification with mathematics and science. In K.A. Renninger, M. Nieswandt, & S. Hidi (Eds.), Handbook on interest, the Self, and K-16 mathematics and science learning. Washington, DC: American Educational Research Association.

• “There isn’t a negotiation if you’re a teacher,” says [Lynn] Linde, a past president of ACA. “Why as a school counselor do you have to negotiate? You don’t tell a math teacher how to teach math. Teachers have a lot of latitude within their classrooms. Why don’t we [as school counselors] have the same latitude (p. 35)”

• Counselors will play a role in ensuring that all students have access to the courses that properly prepare them for college (p. 36).

• Often times administrators looks at school counselors as “not having a class list and papers to grade,” and programs suffer because counselors are often assigned to “extra duties, such as running the school wide testing program, filling in for absent teachers, performing supervisory duties, etc. (p. 36)”

• “[Administrators] simply don’t understand the depth of what these counselors offer”, says Patricia Henderson, school counselor and guidance administrator for over 30 years (p. 36).

Counseling Today ArticleCommon Core Standards

Shallcross, L. (2013). Claiming their rightful place at the table. Counseling Today, Volume 56/Number 2. August 2013.

• The Virginian-Pilot article: http://hamptonroads.com/2011/11/virginias-way-common-core

• Virginia and the Common Core Standards article: http://www.schoolimprovement.com/common-core-360/blog/Virginia-and-the-Common-Core-Standards/

• VDOE: Virginia Standards of Learning and Common Core State Standards: http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/common_core/

• Recent news article: Politicians voicing opinions on Common Core Standards: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-05/common-core-standards-have-tea-party-seeing-u-s-school-takeover.html

Other ArticlesCommon Core Standards

Shallcross, L. (2013). Claiming their rightful place at the table. Counseling Today, Volume 56/Number 2. August 2013.

• Career Pathways

• Academic and Career Plans

• College and Career Readiness

• STEM Initiatives

• 21st Century Skills

• Others?

Federal and State Initiatives

• Support classroom learning

• Reinforces/reviews classroom learning

• VIEW’s resources address SOLs and Counseling Standards

• Adds the “usefulness” piece that is so important to academic motivation

• Makes information learned in class relevant to their future [for students]

How can career exploration connect to classroom learning?

• Reach out to teachers– Send a letter with attached resources and ask

teachers to consider using the resources to support a lesson

– Offer to come help teach the lesson (co-teach)

– Suggest including career exploration resources as part of a substitute teacher lesson plan

– Invite teachers to a 30 minute training about how career exploration connects to classroom learning…and give them resources!

– At the middle school level, ask exploratory teachers to include a career development piece relevant to their subject; offer to provide resources

– Or, ask elective teachers to be a part of a school-wide assembly and have each teacher talk a little about what careers relate to their field of teaching

How to engage teachers

• Point out the state and/or federal initiatives will be supported by integrating career exploration into the core curriculum

• Start a school-wide program Classroom Career Connections including information for teachers, parents and students

• Add the information to the school website; use a program logo

• Keep track of the connections being made (accountability)

• Note successes and evaluate failures

• Use pre- and post- tests to show how student learning has [improved] because of the classroom-career connection

How to engage administrators

• Use the Classroom Career Connections program as an opportunity to talk to parents about Career Pathways, ACPs, 21st Century Skills, STEM Initiatives, etc. and why career exploration is relevant to their child’s future [and so important!]

• Parents are the MOST influential figure when it comes to making career choices

• Post updates to the school website, facebook page, or weekly newsletter/email

• Keep parents informed

How to engage parents

• Connect classroom learning to the real world

• Make the core curriculum relevant to a child’s future

• Encourage students to explore interests– Kid’s Search and Who R U

– Career Search and School Search

• Post contests/experiences on school bulletin boards, in newsletters, emails, or school website

• Recognize student successes; highlight great work– Vimeo Video

– Glogster

– LiveBinder

How to engage students

Barriers• Counselor doesn’t have enough time to teach a lesson in

every class

• Teachers not interested in having classroom time interrupted

• Administrators not supportive of career exploration; don’t see the importance

• Community [in general] doesn’t value post-high school plans

• Others?

• K-8 printable resources

• Guides and grids (by career cluster, SOL, Counseling Standard)

• Interest Assessments [Kid’s Search, Who R U?

• VIEW Toolkits– College and Career Readiness

– Academic and Career Plans

– STEM Occupations

• Booklists

• Parent and Teacher Guides

VIEW Resources Supporting Core Curriculum

• Includes material at the elementary and middle school levels

• Provides easy-to-edit templates

• Sample resources broken down by grade

• Includes an easy-to-implement program to help connect career exploration to classroom learning

• Includes supporting resources for teachers (ie: teacher guides)

• Includes guides and grids to easily identify SOL connections

Strategic Planning Guide

• Classroom Career Connections Program

• Sample letters/response cards

• Teacher guides

• Sample event flier

• Career Pathways document

• Academic and Career Plan Educator Guide

• At least 4 resources per grade connecting career exploration to career exploration

Strategic Planning Guide Resources

Explore VIEW Website• K-5 Printables/Activities

• 6-8 Printables/Activities

• New resources

Group Activity

• What other questions or concerns do you have that may be school- or district-specific?

• Does anyone have other ideas to share that would support integrating career exploration into the core curriculum?

• Has your outlook on connecting classroom learning to the real world changed?

Final Discussion

Virginia Career VIEWfieldere@vt.edu

Emily Fielder