From the first Career Technical Education (CTE) course in middle or high school to the final class in a pathway, course content should encourage learners to envision a future in high-pay, high-growth careers. As a State CTE Director, you may be leading your state CTE adoption, interested in increasing the number of learners in your state who take CTE courses, or working in a state that needs to boost its economic development through CTE. Whatever your initiative is, build CTE momentum in your state by encouraging your state’s CTE department leads, administrators, and teachers to try these three ways to encourage career exploration, provide up-to-date career information, and help learners prepare for a job search.
1: Have Learners Self-Reflect
Introduce learners to the world of work, but also encourage them to learn more about themselves, by evaluating their own personality, interests, and learning style.
CTE courses should allow time for learners to step back and reflect on their personal values and life goals to find connections between that vision and the skills they are learning in CTE.
Self-reflection activities could include:
- Creating a list of 10 things they like to do and see how their interests align with potential careers
- Interviewing people who know them well to help them recall activities they’ve enjoyed or projects they’ve done well.
G-W resources like Discovering Careers and School to Career help learners connect those traits and values to potential careers.
2: Explore Career Opportunities
After understanding more about themselves, learners are ready to learn more about career opportunities. In G-W titles, you’ll find career features that help learners explore the full picture of employment—job responsibilities, work environment, required education and skills, certifications, and salary information.
Offering time for career exploration in CTE courses can also help teachers introduce practice of cross-curricular skills, weaved seamlessly into G-W resources. Learners can write a journal entry about their dream job and imagine what a day at work is like, practice speaking as they interview other learners who are in work-based learning programs, or practice math skills as they role-play as a financial planner advising a family about affording college.
3: Practice Career Skills
The key to CTE is practicing and building industry-specific skills.
- Use Case Studies, like those in G-W resources, to offer real-world scenarios of young people working in a particular career. Learners can put themselves in the characters’ shoes as they choose a career or as they imagine themselves on the job interacting with others.
- Build a Portfolio: Guide learners in creating career portfolios of the work they complete throughout the course. Share the portfolio with guidance counselors, future colleges, or employers.
At G-W, career exploration is integrated into the content and activities for every title, across the original National Career Clusters® Framework. We will be reviewing the new modernized Framework for future alignment opportunities. In the meantime, use our current Career Navigator to find relevant, up-to-date resources for your state. Together, we can Shape Tomorrow’s CTE by preparing a workforce that is informed, eager, and ready!
Maureen Brennan | Senior Director of Marketing, G-W Publisher | [email protected]
Together, We Build Careers®
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