CAREER EDUCATION LEADERSHIP BRIEFING

Careers Education drives student engagement, hope and optimism for the future. 

This event for school and system leaders explored the connection between wide career exploration and student engagement, and how this boosts student optimism about the future!

TRANSFORMING THE SENIOR SUBJECT SELECTION EXPERIENCE

Become Your Own Careers Advisor is our new special program supporting year 10 students (11 in NZ).

It transforms the senior subject selection process by linking aspirations and selections in a structured approach that is deeply considered but remains open. Hear more plus the experience of the schools who piloted BECOME Your Own Careers Advisor.

NOTES FROM the CLASSROOM (An EXTRACT)

The Transformative Impact of Careers Education in Year 6.

At this event we heard from several inspiring educators about how they used BECOME in the year 6 (or 5/6) classroom. This extract (14 min) covers one school's experience and the benefits they saw in student engagement, curiosity and optimism.

Change & challenge in elite sport

We chatted with Justine Whipper, who was at the time General Manager of player development and wellbeing at the Australian Cricketers' Association to explore career challenges in elite sport. We discussed the conflicting priorities for athletes and changes in careers approaches in sport.

INNOVATION IN TIMES OF CHANGE

In May 2022 we welcomed Matt Dolan, Futures Educator at Lindfield Learning Village. With Matt's insight, innovation is on the table, specifically how we innovate in careers education as the pandemic changes people's expectations.

ACKNOWLEDGING UNCERTAINTY IN CAREERS

Jim Bright, co-author of the Chaos Theory of Careers, discusses the role of ambiguity and uncertainty in careers education and career planning. If two years of the pandemic have taught us anything, it is that change is constant. We discuss what this means for students and careers educators.

STUDENT FUTURES IS THE JOB OF ALL EDUCATORS

Peter Hutton, CoFounder and Director of Future Schools, joins us for a provocative chat about the role that student futures plays in a great school, and why student futures is relevant to all educators.

WHY ARE STUDENTS' CAREER IDEAS SO RESTRICTED?

Overwhelmingly, student aspirations come from a very short list of career ideas. Recent data analysis by BECOME provides a real-life look at how student aspirations are shaped by their context.

We discuss the data in detail and talk to educators and researchers about what it means and why we ought to do something about it.

RESEARCHING YOUNG WOMEN'S  CAREER CHOICES

Jo Gleeson is co-author of a Monash University discussion paper that has been  making waves: Young women choosing careers: Who decides?

Jo and her colleagues found that young women aren't exercising full agency over their own career direction and ideas. We discussed how much of your aspirations should be shaped by your context, and why it's worrying when that causes career stress.

The Burning Issues Facing
Careers Leaders in 2021

As a careers educator, what keeps you up at night? We revisit the topic we discussed a year ago (in 2020) to talk about how far things have moved on and what challenges lie ahead.

The discussion ranges from the reading, reports and events that are informing our professional practice now, to how careers guidance is seen as crucially important in a time of change and uncertainty.

Teenage Career Preparation:
What Really Works?

Special guest, Dr Anthony Mann of the OECD presents on the latest results from the OECD Career Readiness project. Using data from over 70 countries including Australia, the project identified important new teenage indicators of better outcomes in adult employment. These include how teenagers think about their futures in work and what they do to explore these ideas.

What keeps you
up at night?

In 2020 as we waited for news about COVID restrictions in Australia, we devoted our first session to discussing the implications of the pandemic for careers education. What are the biggest challenges for young people that we'll need to address?

What opportunities and ideas have come up as a result of the COVID pandemic?

From Work Experience
to Work Experiments

Our second session focused on reimagining work experience from 2020 onwards. Matt Dolan, Futures Educator, discussed with us the question: What are the elements of work experience that we need to retain, and can the current lockdown challenges provide a catalyst for an even more valuable approach to emerge?

The mismatch between
aspiration and opportunity

During National Careers Week 2020, we looked at the global PISA data on aspirations of 15 year olds and our own local data.

Are we doing enough to bring young people's career aspirations closer to the opportunities of today and tomorrow?

'Life Design' as a Core Subject

We welcomed Greg Miller, Principal Leader of St Luke's Catholic College. Greg discussed designing a whole school approach to student futures, and what this can achieve.

DoES CAREERS Ed Have AN IMAGE Problem?

The topic for this session was chosen by the community. We dived into the question of careers education and its 'brand image' in a workshop discussion. Are some of the biggest challenges we face down to Careers Ed having an image problem? If so, what do we do to start addressing the issue?

Making THE Value OF CAREERS ED Visible

It's time to explore some of the issues in the way careers education and its outcomes are perceived. The data show valuable interventions do occur, but how do we make them more visible to others? We share success stories and practical ways participants have made student outcomes more visible.

CHANGES TO University Tuition FeeS

In Australia, the fees for university courses dramatically changed. This 2020 session discussed the implications of these wide-scale University tuition fee changes. What do these changes mean for students and for those helping them make choices about courses?

Parents as Informed and Valuable Collaborators

Young people's aspirations and career decisions are heavily influenced by their parents. Parents are also powerful forces for change within a school context. This session focuses on how to engage parents as informed and valuable collaborators, and their role in guiding young people and supporting an increasing focus on student futures in schools.

Virtual Initiatives DURING Remote Learning

As lockdowns returned and remote learning became the norm again, it was time to share the virtual learning initiatives that worked well. Melanie Timmerman, Leader of Community Partnerships & Pathways for the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay discusses their learnings and the effect of their virtual talks series -- a stand-out initiative for collaboration and sharing value beyond your remit.

Year 12 STUDENTS of 2020 need to know...

Careers Advisors from across states and sectors  talk about the conversations and concerns of the 2020 Year 12s (and Year 13s). We talked about the big things worrying students and shared ideas for supporting them, both practical and psychological.

a whole school approach to careers education

How do we plan for a whole-school approach to careers education? What are  the benefits and the barriers we need to consider? We welcome Grace Kinch, Director of Curriculum, Korowa Anglican Girls' School for this week's discussion.

excellence in careers education programs

Tristram Hooley, Professor of Education at the University of Derby and author of The Careers Leader Handbook joins us to chat about delivering excellent careers programs (even in a pandemic). Tristram is also Professor II at the Inland Norway University of Applied Science and Chief Research Officer for the Institute of Student Employers. His research often focuses on career education and guidance in schools, the transition point to the labour market and the role of new technologies.

Wellbeing and Careers Education

How does wellbeing and career development overlap, and what's the opportunity here for K-12 schools? Our guests Dave E. Redekopp and Michael Huston are leaders in this field and authors of 'Strengthening Mental Health Through Effective Career Development: A Practitioner's Guide', available through Amazon.com.au or for a free pdf download, from www.ceric.ca/cdmh.