Nearly all states, including my state of PA, have been placing an emphasis on “college and career readiness.” On the surface, and based on the changing times, this seems like a fine idea, but are we falling short? A few sets of questions to ponder:
Are we in the wrong paradigm?
Our public schools are undeniably organized and operated in the school-centered paradigm––it’s about compliance and starting with meeting the needs of a system before addressing individual needs. Yet, ironically “self-awareness” is embraced as one of the career ready skills. What might be if we focused first on helping our learners be more self-aware––truly learner-centered, helping them understand what moves them, what bores them, in what contexts? Don’t we have to change our paradigm first, otherwise our efforts are really about meeting the needs of the system over needs of learners. Evidence: this from the Career Ready PA site:
Pennsylvania’s economic future depends on having a well-educated and skilled workforce that is prepared to meet the current and projected demands of a global, knowledge-based 21st century economy. Learners across the state will be prepared for meaningful engagement in postsecondary education, in workforce training, in career pathways, and as responsible, involved citizens.
Seems to me it’s really not about putting self-aware learners first, but about sustaining an economy first and foremost. The Why? of career readiness is not about helping learners find what moves them, but about prioritizing systemic goals.
What might be if the Why? was focused on individuality first followed by systemic needs?
Won’t today’s learners need to be agile life-long learners?
According to an August 2019 Bureau of Labor Statistics report, the average number of jobs across the lifespan for a Baby Boomer was twelve (12). What will it be for Generation Z? Likely even more. And if it’s accurate that most of the jobs our learners will occupy don’t yet exist, what might be if we framed college and career as agile life-long learning guided by a strong self-awareness? Are educators entrenched in the belief that motives and interests stay static over the life span and therefore a career?
What if we helped learners develop the skills for the purpose of agile learning so that they could effectively transition across jobs and careers as they move through the lifespan?
What about entrepreneurship?
Entrepreneurship is growing––by some estimates there will be 27 million self-employed professionals in the US in 2020. While career education and work standards typically include a nod to entrepreneurship, does it need to become more than a nod based on this growing sector of the workforce and especially as such a large percentage of Generation Z plans to seek an entrepreneurial path?
What might be if we created the conditions for deep self-awareness and the understanding that designing a unique career path is more viable now than at any time in history?
How can our career awareness initiatives in schools shape the larger career landscape?
There is change that happens to us and change that we influence through our actions. Currently, education systems take an approach to career awareness that is largely dictated by the needs of the career “marketplace.” What careers are out there or on the horizon and how do we prepare learners to fill those needs? As a result, we design programs that prepare learners to navigate the possibilities offered by the larger economy, and hopefully a fit for all that self-awareness work. But that’s really only part of the equation. How can we in turn create programs that feed back into the needs of the larger economy? If most of the jobs our learners will occupy don’t yet exist, who do we think is going to create the need for those jobs? Why couldn’t we be a part of creating that need?
What might be if education systems assumed some ownership in designing the careers of the future?
These are just four sets of questions (probably underdeveloped, too) I’ve been pondering that can push us to think differently about career readiness. in
Interested in a unique approach to career readiness. Check out the World of Work in the Cajon Valley Union School District. There are two episodes about this work on the Shift Your Paradigm podcast: Episode 24 and Episode 35.
What other ways can we push on our current assumptions about and reframe career readiness?
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