The Australian Education Reporter
WHEN CAREERS EDUCATION RESOURCES ARE LIMITED
Careers education in secondary schools is under-resourced at a time when young people need more support than ever in a rapidly evolving work landscape.
THE need to re-think the way we approach school careers education and support schools in its delivery is widely acknowledged.
In Victoria, changes will begin from 2019, commencing with Year 7 and 8 students taking part in mandatory ‘career self-exploration workshops’, where they will assess their strengths, set goals and discuss different jobs.
In its ‘New Work Order’ series, the Foundation for Young Australians estimated young people today will have 17 different jobs across seven careers during their working lives.
Importantly, seven job clusters were identified with more in common between jobs than previously thought. They point to the need to change our mindset, as linear careers will be far less common and young people will increasingly need a portfolio of capabilities, transferable across occupation clusters.
Some key skills include; critical thinking, problem solving, digital literacy, data analysis, team work, presentation skills, creativity, flexibility and emotional intelligence.
Given this, how do schools with limited or no dedicated careers resources help their students? A few suggestions below, though much comes down to time, resources and teacher support, with some schools already doing this and more within a busy curriculum.
Ultimately, one-on-one careers counselling and career workshop delivery with a qualified careers practitioner is optimal, with a broader, ‘whole school’ approach adding considerable value.
INTEGRATE CAREERS MORE BROADLY ACROSS THE CURRICULUM.
Specialist subject teachers might introduce some careers related tasks, ensuring students understand the linkages in a “real world” context. Some possibilities might include:
• Age appropriate investigative activities based on futuristic job predictions or examples of people working across one or more fields, with diverse career backgrounds.
• Harness their interest in technology – podcasts, Youtube. There are some very inspirational TED talks for high school students.
• Encourage students to research what they are interested in and share this with the class, whether this be sports broadcasting, trades that pay well, how to become the next Fortnite creator, policing, 3D printing, and so on.
• Excursions and incursions; participation in industry weeks (i.e.) science week. Publicise industry-based competitions, internships, study tours or work experience opportunities students can apply for.
• Have students attempt to solve a problem in teams akin to a collaborative project management, real-world approach.
• Wherever possible, highlight the linkages between disciplines to encourage a multi-disciplinary approach and creative thinking. Why not enrol your school in the $20 Boss initiative?
• Encourage a broad, all-school approach towards team work, problem solving, data analysis, creativity and innovation. For instance, a data analysis exercise might involve working with the latest labour market data.
GET STUDENTS ENGAGED AND RE-THINK COMMUNICATIONS.
Whether through a focus group or student survey, uncover what students want to know about careers, their suggestions and preferred means of careers communications.
Encourage a culture of careers information sharing among students and staff – and (the challenge), an appropriate platform that they will interact with and read.
BRING ALUMNI BACK TO SCHOOL AND INVITE A BROAD SPEAKER BASE.
Alumni and parents are a terrific careers resource. How might they be willing to help? Include younger alumni and involve students’ in the event planning, introduction of speakers, questions to panellists etc.
Consider hosting a careers fair for students with alumni involved.
Is collaboration with a neighbouring school a possibility? Talking with people at various stages of their career across diverse occupations is a powerful career exploration strategy.
OPEN DAYS, CAREER EXPOS, INDUSTRY EVENTS AND INFORMATION SESSIONS – BE CONNECTED.
Encourage students to attend at least some. Remind them to chat to current students and to download Open Day schedules to ensure they visit key talks.
Many institutions offer free careers counselling for prospective students if students book, though few students and parents are aware of this.
Remind students and parents that VTAC and state counterparts run information sessions. Encourage students to ‘follow’ industry associations in their areas of interest, not just educational institutions.
Ideally, when choosing subjects, students should keep their options open and choose a selection reflecting their interests/ capabilities, keeping in mind common pre-requisite subjects for well-known courses and importantly, teacher feedback.
JOBS, VOLUNTEERING AND WORK EXPERIENCE.
Encourage a culture of community engagement and work!
Securing a part time job and/ or volunteering builds confidence, self-awareness and resilience, and connects students to the community.
Many schools are doing a great job incorporating volunteering in school subjects and running programs like the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.
A greater emphasis on work experience will benefit students on many fronts, though school-based programs need to be appropriately resourced, allowing for student follow up and placement assistance.
VOCATIONAL TESTING, SKILL IDENTIFICATION AND SELF-ANALYSIS.
There are some terrific interest and aptitude-based tools available for purchase. However, testing is only part of the careers equation and in the absence of context and careers counselling, can be problematic.
Some broad career quizzes available include Skills road and Job Outlook. Any activities schools provide to help students become self-aware and resilient with a good understanding of their strengths, challenges and interests is positive, reminding students that this can change overtime.
PARTNER WITH INDUSTRY.
Investigate opportunities for students to be involved in a growing number of collaborative initiatives being rolled out by governments and industry, including and going beyond STEM. Helen Green is a qualified careers consultant, careers writer and professional member of the Career Development Association of Australia. She has over two decades’ experience working in senior education and career program management roles, particularly within the tertiary sector where she has assisted many students. She now runs her own careers consulting practice, Career Confident, in the SE suburbs of Melbourne where she helps many secondary and tertiary students and adults. She has two teenage children.