The importance of career development education for contemporary learners Annette Box
Assistant Head of Primary – Wellbeing and Operations (PP-6)
Children starting Prep in 2022 will enter a different world and workplace from today – one which is yet to be conceived, with jobs, technology, and challenges still to be created or anticipated (National Career Education Strategy 2019). As such, young people must be equipped with career development services that ensure accessibility, personalised approaches, and the explicit teaching of career management skills in the education system, with support networks in the home and community (CICA 2019). To account for and cope with this dynamism of roles, contextual factors and the increasing diversity in employment and work, it is poignant to note that research observes that the roots of career development form early in a child’s life (Cahill & Furey 2017). The world of work continues to evolve and adapt to the everchanging economic, social, and political climate (CDAA 2019), and with the surge of digital technologies, it is in a greater state of flux than ever before. The workforce has changed dramatically from the industrial revolution to the digital revolution of today (Cahill & Furey 2017), which must remain at the centre of the minds of those facilitating career education to contemporary learners, who are not digital natives themselves. Quality career education programs not only teach students career skills but encourage them to consider how they balance work and their wider life as citizens of a dynamic world (Hooley 2021). On a global level, the world of work demands flexible, creative, multi-faceted problem solvers who can enter the fields of digi-spheres, bio-health, clean environment industries, agri-foods, and advanced robotics (Cahill & Furey 2017). Career education programs have proven social and economic benefits while possessing the potential to address social inclusion, gender balance and access for minority groups (McCowan et al. 2017). Additionally, impactful career education can also have a global influence on increased health and decreased crime rates (Hooley & Dodd 2015) as individuals find greater meaning and purpose in their lives. On a national level, young people must be future-ready with the necessary capabilities, and technological and enterprising career management skills (National Career Education Strategy 2019) to effectively navigate the specific needs and demands in our country’s climate. The world is inextricably linked far more than it has ever been before (McCowan et al. 2017); however, there is a need for career education to cater to the national context and, more significantly, the local context, in which many young people will create and develop their futures and careers.
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As students respond to the ‘emergent realities of the new careers era’ (Carpenter & Inkson 1999, cited in Prideaux et al. 2002, p. 116), the local contexts of community and school are of utmost importance as they are the key sites in
which career education is designed, delivered and, ideally, creates impact. Prideaux, Patton and Creed observed that careers are not developed in a vacuum (2002) and that they must cater to contextual factors such as people, settings, resources, and time for maximum impact. For the best potential student engagement in a career education program, a strong collaboration between schools, employers and local communities is essential, and partnerships between these groups allow for individuals to thrive in the world of contemporary work (National Career Education Strategy 2019). However, several pressures exist which contribute to a complex backdrop against which students are expected to develop as the workers of tomorrow (McCowan et al. 2017). Objections to the implementation of career education programs may also exist at the global and national levels; however, they are most significantly experienced on the local front. While inventiveness with a focus on new attitudes and skills to embrace beyond the 21st century remains desirable in current program designs, the application of outdated theories and measures for skill acquisitions are an initial stumbling block in the more widespread acceptance of career education (Prideaux et al. 2002). Further common obstacles faced include the knowledge of individuals and institutions to provide and facilitate career education effectively, the provision of sufficient training, the monitoring of programs after implementation, the access to useful and current labour market data, and meaningful collaboration with current employers (TeachFirst 2015). Additionally, recent findings show that national career advice is inadequate, with concerns that the programs in place are fragmented, ineffectual, and lacking quality, equity, and substantial policy (Groves et al. 2021). As such, catering a career education program to a context’s specific needs and values with an awareness of existing challenges and objections is the key to successful implementation. Career education should be a whole school responsibility, in which every teacher plays a role (Hooley 2021). St Margaret’s mission is ‘to provide excellence in teaching and learning within a broad, balanced and flexible curriculum complemented by other school activities, preparing confident, compassionate, capable women able to contribute in a global community’. Additionally, the Student Wellbeing Framework for Pre-Prep to Year 12 details six aspects of wellbeing, one of which is ‘vocational wellbeing’, which commits to ‘inspiring students to prepare for a career, in which they will gain personal and enriching satisfaction in their lives’. This lays the foundations for a context open to quality career education to prepare ‘confident, compassionate, capable women’ with the capacity to contribute more broadly.
