Career Coaching Across the Curriculum: Enhancing the Career Competencies of the 21st Century Learner

Abstract

This article examines the effectiveness of a pilot project offered by members of the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge entitled, ―Career Coaching Across the Curriculum: Integrating Career Development into Classroom Instruction‖. It explores whether this pilot project effectively prepares pre-service teachers to integrate career education into curriculum. It also explores whether this pilot project contributes to the attainment of important career development competencies for students in the Kindergarten-Grade 12 educational system. There is a growing recognition of the need to provide students in the Kindergarten-Grade 12 educational system with opportunities to develop critical career/life management competencies (Government of Alberta, 2010; McMahon, Patton & Tatham, 2003). The workplace of the knowledge era is a radically different place at the beginning of the 21 st century compared with the 20 th century (Jarvis, 2006). To thrive in the 21 st century world of work individuals need to be equipped with competencies that will enable them to transition repeatedly between learning, work and other life roles in order to create a life balance for themselves that is both satisfying and productive (Amundson, Parker & Arthur, 2002, McMahon, Patton & Tatham, 2003). These competencies include: building and maintaining a positive self-image, participating in lifelong learning supportive of life/work goals, locating and effectively using life/work information, understanding the changing nature of life/work roles, being resilient and managing change in chaotic environments, remaining hopeful and self-confident, setting short and long term goals in the face of obstacles and competing pressures, engaging in activities that promote self-recycling and self-renewing, understanding, engaging in, and managing one‘s life/work building process, and working effectively in diverse teams, (Borgen & Hiebert, 2006; Campbell & Ungar, 2008; Hartung, Porfeli & Vondracek, 2008; Jarvis, 2009; Partnership for 21 st Century Skills, 2004). A document recently released by the Province of Alberta (2010) entitled ―Inspiring Action on Education‖ exemplifies the growing importance being attached to developing career/life management competencies in students. This document sets forth an agenda for transforming the education system in Alberta and specifically targets competencies such as lifelong learning, self-direction and personal management. The writers of this document argue that these competencies need to be more central in the education of young people if they are to be active participants in an increasingly knowledge-based and globalized society. As stated in the document, Alberta students develop competencies that help them to contribute actively and positively in their communities. Throughout life, students balance various roles and life-work priorities while understanding their personal strengths, history and identity. They participate in career exploration and planning as they adapt to change and seek opportunities for personal and professional growth throughout their lives. (p.11) The most effective way to develop career self-management competencies in students is to 1 Slomp and Bernes: Career Coaching Across the Curriculum: Enhancing the Career Compe Published by PDXScholar, 2011 FALL 2011 127 infuse career education across curricular subjects and throughout the Kindergarten-Grade 12 educational experience (Gyspers, 2001; Magnusson & Bernes, 2004; Magnusson & Bernes, 2002; Palladino Schultheiss, 2008, Partnership for 21 st Century Skills, 2004). In the past career planning support has typically been provided through ancillary services (for example, guidance counsellors) or through stand alone courses (for example, courses such as Career and Life Management offered to high school students in the Alberta K-12 school system) and has been primarily targeted at high school students. However, there is increasing recognition that career development and transition services must emphasize a process rather than a single event or series of events and must be provided throughout the K-12 educational experience (Levinson & Ohler, 2006; Palladino Schultheiss, 2008). As experts in the field of career development suggest, an effective educational curriculum is one that infuses career-building competencies throughout the school program (Harkins, 2000; Magnusson & Bernes, 2004; Palladino Schultheiss, 2008). According to this model, teachers across all grade levels and subjects support the development of career self-management competencies by infusing career education into regular curriculum. This can be done in many creative ways. In elementary Science classes, for example, teachers could read stories about people who work in various science-related occupations. As well, guest speakers could be brought in from the community to describe the roles they fulfill in their science-related occupation. Students could also go on fieldtrips to organizations focused on science related work. In middle school Health classes, for example, students could learn about how the pursuit of personally meaningful goals contributes to wellbeing. They could learn the characteristics of effective goals and the role of optimism in achieving such goals. In high school English classes, for example, students could engage in journal writing activities that help them identify sources of personal meaning. Students could write about past personal experiences in their lives that generated feelings of pride and satisfaction. Following this they could share their stories with their peers and with their teacher and could receive feedback concerning the themes contained in their story (e.g. what personal skills and characteristics were exhibited in the story, what seemed to be particularly meaningful about the experience described, etc.). These are only a few brief examples of how the competencies described earlier in this article could be fostered in children and adolescents through an infusion of career education across curriculum topics and grade levels in the K-12 educational system. Such an approach, if conducted in a systematic and developmentally appropriate manner, would build relevance for learning and would assist students in developing, over the course of their K-12 education, the knowledge, skills and attitudes to successfully navigate the 21 st century world of work. One example of an initiative designed to facilitate the infusion of career education into curriculum is the pilot project Career Coaching Across the Curriculum: Integrating Career Development into Classroom Instruction currently being offered by members of the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge. This pilot project involves two main components. In the first component, pre-service teachers in the Faculty of Education are given the opportunity to take an elective course entitled Career Education. In this course, they learn about the career planning process, career theorists, career counselling skills, career counselling outcomes, career assessments (informal, semi-formal, and formal), effective initiation and engagement strategies, effective decision-making strategies, effective goal-setting and preparation strategies and effective exploration and goal-implementation strategies. They also learn about the world of work in the 21 st century and how changes in the world of work impact the career planning of students. As well, they learn how to integrate career education lesson plans, unit plans and 2 Northwest Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 9, Iss. 2 [2011], Art. 11 https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/nwjte/vol9/iss2/11 DOI: 10.15760/nwjte.2012.9.2.11 128 NORTHWEST PASSAGE, 9(2) school wide interventions into regular curriculum. In the second component of this pilot project, after successfully completing the Career Education course, pre-service teachers function as interns in various schools (elementary, middle, and high schools) throughout Southern Alberta. They are provided with a 15 week internship wherein they are given the opportunity to implement into elementary, middle and high school classrooms the career education lesson plans, unit plans and school-wide interventions they developed in the Career Education course. During their internship they work under the supervision of a Teacher Mentor and are given the responsibility of maintaining 50% of the workload of a full-time teacher. It is important to examine whether this pilot project is effectively preparing pre-service teachers to integrate career education into curriculum and whether this training is enhancing students‘ attainment of career/life management competencies. At the time of this article, two (out of four) cohorts of students have taken the Career Education class and have completed their internship experiences. This article will examine the effectiveness of the Career Education class in training these two cohorts of pre-service teachers to integrate career interventions into curriculum. As well, it will examine the impact of this training on the career development of students in the K-12 educational system. The following section will describe the research methods utilized in this research study.