Research has identified middle school as a time when students can benefit the most from career exploration. A key way career exploration is provided to middle school students is through exploratory and introductory CTE courses. 1 Middle school is a time of transition in a young person’s life.
Opportunities for career exploration give young people broader exposure to the working world they will one day enter. It helps them “connect the dots” between school and career in ways that keep them motivated to graduate with the skills they will need for the future.
www.careercruising.com www.acteonline.org CAREER EXPLORATION IN MIDDLE SCHOOL: Setting Students on the Path to Success Research has identified middle school as a time when students can benefit the most from career exploration, a process of building self-awareness, learning about potential careers, and developing a plan for reaching future goals.
To overcome these barriers, educators and administrators have developed a variety of flexible practices for middle school career exploration, including exploratory and introductory CTE courses, career and academic planning through scalable technology, CTSOs and work-based learning experiences. Exploratory and Introductory CTE Courses
Research has identified middle school as a time when students can benefit the most from career exploration, a process of building self-awareness, learning about potential careers, and developing a plan for reaching future goals.
Career exploration is an important tool in helping to find a desired career. The steps students take in career exploration can help guide in making positive, well informed educational and career decisions.
Depending on the structure of the program or course offerings, students can learn about employability skills, connect academic interests and classroom learning with potential careers, and begin the process of identifying and planning for learning opportunities in high school.
Middle schoolers who have done CCR exploration will have a better sense of their aptitudes and interests. This means they're better positioned to make informed decisions about the specialized programs available to them – and can create a course plan that's unique to their journey.
Middle School Explorations is an opportunity for middle school students to explore electives that are an extension of the regular curriculum, to pursue an interest or talent, or discover a new one. Small, cross-grade groups provide a setting for students to interact with students in other grades.
Career Exploration is simply learning about various occupations and their "fit" with your unique career preferences, e.g. the skills, interests and values you want satisfied by your career. Ideally, you engage in career exploration during or after identifying your career preferences through self-assessment.
Career exploration improves students' knowledge of career options, encouraging them to develop and work toward goals during the critical years when they are also beginning to venture beyond the orbit of their parents.
Awareness – Should begin in the elementary years. Learning about jobs in the community and understanding that one day they will find their way into the workplace are important concepts. Exploration – In the middle school years students should begin to explore their interests and abilities and connect them to careers.
During the career exploration stage, children are trying to sort the roles they see adults playing and determine which of those roles might suit them. This is the time that they explore their talents and determine how others are using similar skills and abilities in careers.
CCR stands for College and Career Readiness. CCR is modeled after the AVID program. CCR is a challenging elective course designed to prepare students at the middle school and high school level for college readiness and success in a global society. CCR is a class that requires motivation, commitment, and teamwork.
Page 1. College/Career Indicator (CCI): Measures of Career Readiness. The CCI shows how well local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools are preparing high school students for success after graduation, whether in postsecondary education or in a career.
Doorways to College and Career ReadinessSet ambitious learning goals and take challenging classes. ... Take a class on study skills / test taking / research techniques. ... Read widely on your own. ... Keep up with your assignments and ask for help when you need it.Make sure you have time for homework.More items...
A key way career exploration is provided to middle school students is through exploratory and introductory CTE courses.
Career exploration is a process of learning about oneself and the world of work, identifying potential careers, and develop- ing a strategy for realizing education and career goals.9The National Career Development Association recommends that middle school students learn about themselves by devel- oping awareness of their occupational interests, aptitudes and career values; gaining an understanding of the value and concept of work; and making preliminary occupational choices that are open to change.10Self-knowledge is a nec- essary first step toward developing decision-making skills for education and careers, even as goals and interests change over time. Research has identified middle school as a time when stu- dents can benefit the most from career exploration.11In addition, middle schoolers’ brains are receptive to developing the competencies known as 21st-century skills, non-cognitive skills, soft skills or employability skills. These skills include critical thinking, adaptability, problem solving, oral and written communications, collaboration, creativity, responsibility, pro- fessionalism, ethics and technology use.12Employers report that employability skills are critical to the workforce, and many are also positively associated with academic achievement and postsecondary success.13
1. Incorporate career-related project-based learning in the classroom. 2. Design projects and activities to develop employability skills. 3. Be flexible when offering exploratory and introductory CTE courses. 4. Facilitate academic and career planning with scalable online tools. 5. Enable short-term interactions with business and community leaders. 6. Provide opportunities for CTSO participation, including financial support when needed.
Career and technical education (CTE) is well positioned to help students explore careers and develop employability skills in middle school and beyond. According to research: • CTE students are significantly more likely than their peers to say that they developed a clear career goal as well as prob- lem-solving, critical-thinking, communication, time man- agement and work-related skills, according to a study that compared CTE and non-CTE students as they transitioned into postsecondary education.14
Students often begin crafting personalized education and career plans in middle school to help guide decisions about future course-taking and career exploration. The plans are known by many names, including individualized graduation and learning plans, and are typically developed in collabora- tion with counselors, educators and parents. Career develop- ment technology can enhance this planning, offering tools that can be flexibly configured and scaled to meet local, state and regional needs. According to research from the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth, individualized learning plans are a promising strategy for all students when they are implemented starting in middle school; incorporate a web- based career information system with an e-portfolio; and include opportunities for self and career exploration, work- based learning and the development of employability skills.36
Projects and other activities should foster employability skills, as students assess the skills and knowledge needed for a project, collaborate with others and solve any issues that occur. Students also learn proper workplace behavior when classrooms and laboratories mimic the rules and cul-ture of the related work environment. In addition, students can learn to be conscious about career decision-making —another skill with lifelong value—when counselors and educators help them think critically about their interests, abilities and goals.
Middle school is a time of transition in a young person’s life. Students’ experiences in the middle grades have a strong influence on whether they will close achievement gaps, com- plete high school and be considered college-ready, particularly students in high-poverty neighborhoods.1
They also increase the likelihood that these students will complete high school and pursue post-secondary education.
Opportunities for career exploration give young people broader exposure to the working world they will one day enter. It helps them “connect the dots” between school and career in ways that keep them motivated to graduate with the skills they will need for the future.
With a better understanding of the working world, young people can more easily envision how they fit successfully into that world. Knowing the preparation they will need for specific careers, participants also become better able to set realistic goals for themselves and pursue them.
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Is having fun a “need”? Most people would say “Yes!” Our life would be boring and tedious if it was all work all the time. In order for us to function in a healthy way, we must take time for recreation. The career clusters that we will consider now are the professionals in charge of many aspects of our recreation—Human Arts, AV Technology & Communication cluster and the Hospitality and Tourism cluster. We’ll take a look at some of the careers that are available in these industries and learn a little more about how these careers work. If you love to travel or enjoy being center stage—or somewhere in between—pay special attention.
Rather than set students on a specific career path with no room for deviation, career exploration programming must open up a world of opportunity to students and expand their career choices, helping them build flexible education and career plans that grow along with their talents . When implemented properly, career exploration can break down the societal biases and stereotypes that can begin to color young students’ perceptions and lead to a self-imposed narrowing of options. Remember, at a young age students already have preconceived notions about who can do what job, so it’s crucial to tap into the fact that middle school is a time when kids are still open to possibilities.”
For example, if you’re doing a lesson on outer space, in addition to talking about the astronauts, why not talk about the mechanical engineers that built the space shuttle, the mathematicians that plotted the trajectory to the moon, the communications specialists who have to talk about space in a way people can understand, the photographers who will take pictures from space, or the government ocials who will work at NASA to get funding for future missions. If you’re talking to someone who is really interested in sports, the conversation shouldn’t just revolve around being a professional athlete, but maybe a sports reporter, statistician, athletic trainer, sports equipment designer, and so on. Every subject matter has a variety of interesting careers associated with it for many differing interests and skillsets. Students just need to understand the possibilities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Career Outlook page (bls.gov/careeroutlook) is a great resource for kids to start to explore, and dream, beyond what they may be exposed to in their day-to-day life.”
Today's high school graduates face a much different economy than did graduates in the past. For example, students now face increased job competition, different skill requirements, and retirement uncertainty. For these reasons, starting career exploration early is more important than ever.
Interviews and profiles. Another way students can discover different career possibilities is through the Share Your Road website. Hundreds of Texas professionals have written miniature “journal entries” on this site, recounting the path they followed to pursue their career goals and how it’s going so far. Students can use this site to read real accounts of their dream careers or familiarize themselves with careers they didn’t even know existed!
Career pathways help students and parents understand the connections between what students learn in school and their future career. Talking about career pathways is also a great opportunity to gauge whether a student is on the correct academic path to achieve their dreams and, if not, what can be done. Students may be confused about which career pathway is best for them. With some help from their counselors and advisers, this choice can be made more manageable for students.
Think of career assessments as tools that help people understand how their personal attributes impact success. Counselors and advisers can use them to help individuals make more informed decisions. And students can take multiple career assessments throughout high school since their skills, attitudes, aptitudes, values, and interests often change as they get older.
It should have various entry points so that students can take advantage of both education and occupational preparation opportunities. Entry points are ways for students to begin a career pathway regardless of the education and skills they currently possess. In other words, students can start in an entry-level job in a career pathway and, with more education and experience, can move up within that pathway.
Counselors can use labor market information to help students explore and understand valuable career options.
Here in Texas, middle schools must provide students with career exploration and readiness instruction in 7th or 8th grade s. Students are also required to select an endorsement (a cluster of career pathway-aligned classes they take throughout high school) before they enter 9th grade.