Career Development

Career development is an ongoing process through which learners integrate their personal, family, school, work, and community experiences to facilitate career and lifestyle choices. The main emphases of career development are career awareness, career exploration, career preparation, career planning, and career work experience.

In the process of career development students develop:

• an open attitude toward a variety of occupations and types of work
• an understanding of the relationship between work and leisure, work and the family, and work and one's interests and abilities
• an understanding of the role of technology in the workplace and in daily life
• an understanding of the relationship between work and learning
• an understanding of the changes taking place in the economy, society, and job market
• an ability to construct learning plans and reflect on the importance of lifelong learning
• an ability to prepare for multiple roles throughout life

Career awareness promotes an open attitude towards a variety of career roles and types of work. Topics include:

• the role of work and leisure
• the relationships among work, the family, one's personal interests, and one's abilities

In Grades 4 to 8

The emphasis on self-awareness and career awareness is continued. Topics include:

• interests, aptitudes, and possible future goals
• technology in the workplace and in our daily lives
• social, family, and economic changes
• future education options
• career clusters (careers that are related to one another)
• lifestyles
• external influences on decision making

In Grades 9 and 10

The emphasis is on providing students with opportunities to prepare for and make appropriate and realistic decisions. In developing their Student Learning Plans, they will relate self-awareness to their goals and aspirations. They will also learn many basic skills and attitudes that are required for an effective transition into adulthood. This will assist in preparing them to be responsible and self-directed throughout their lives.

Topics include:

• entrepreneurial education
• employability skills (e.g., how to find and keep a job)
• the importance of lifelong education and career planning
• involvement in the community
• the many different roles that an individual can play throughout life
• the dynamics of the working world (e.g., unions, unemployment, supply/demand, Pacific Rim, free trade)

In Grades 11 and 12

The emphasis of career development in grades 11 and 12 is focused more specifically on issues related to the world of work. These include:

• dynamics of the changing work force and changing influences on the job market (e.g., developing technology and economic trends)
• job keeping and advancement skills (interpersonal skills needed in the workplace, employment standards)
• occupational health issues and accessing health support services
• funding for further education
• alternate learning strategies and environments for different life stages
• mandatory work experience (minimum 30 hours)

Work experience provides students with opportunities to participate in a variety of workplace experiences that help prepare them for the transition to a work environment. Work experience will also provide students with opportunities to:

• connect what they learn in school with the skills and knowledge needed in the workplace and society in general
• experience both theoretical and applied learning, which is part of a broad liberal education
• explore career directions identified in their Student Learning Plans

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