In today’s rapidly evolving world, preparing learners for the future isn’t about gathering academic knowledge. It is also about helping all learners explore potential careers and develop the future-ready skills that will support success in the “real world” beyond graduation, writes Jessica Stanford, a high school STEM teacher at Baldwin Preparatory Academy, in an eSchool News essay.
I’ve tried a lot of different tactics to get kids engaged in careers over my 9 years of teaching. Here are my current top recommendations:
Internship opportunities — hands-on learning is effective for students. The same is true for learning about careers. Internships are a way to practice a career by doing the job.
I advise students to contact local businesses about internships during the school year and summer. This is a wonderful way to make connections, learn an industry, and practice career skills while gaining professional experience.
Tallo is a digital network of internships across a range of industries and internship types. It’s easy for high school students to find and get real-world work experience relevant to school learning and career goals. It helps educators provide pathways for students to gain employable skills and transition into the workforce or higher education.
Career events — in-person career events allow students to meet individuals in industries they are interested in order to explore future careers. One initiative is Futures Fair by Discovery Education. In a series of 30-minute virtual sessions students meet with professionals from various industries who share an overview of their job, industry, and the path they took to achieve it. Students see how the future-ready skills they are learning are used in a range of careers. Virtual sessions are accompanied by standards-aligned, hands-on student learning tasks that reinforce the skills outlined by industry presenters.
CTE connections — all students at Baldwin Preparatory Academy participate in a career and technical education pathway of their choosing. They take 6-9 career specific credits and obtain an industry-recognized credential over the course of their secondary education. I like to connect with my CTE and core subject colleagues to learn about the latest innovations in their space. I connect those innovations to my classroom instruction so all students benefit from learning about new career paths.
My industry partners advise me about the Trending Career Clusters that are experiencing significant growth in job demand — industries like cybersecurity, energy, and data science. I then look for relevant reads or classroom activities related to one of those clusters.
Our role as educators extends beyond teaching content–-we’re shaping futures. Career readiness programs help students understand the relevance of what they are learning and gives them confidence to pursue their goals. These resources help us make career readiness meaningful, engaging, and empowering for every student.
eSchool News
