Career Development 10 is a mandatory full credit course for first year students in the Options and Opportunities Program. It consists of four modules based on the following themes:
1. Process of Self Discovery
2. Exploring Education and Career Goals
3. Financial Literacy
4. Workplace Readiness with Rationale
Process of Self Discovery
Self-awareness is an important concept in the career planning process. Being self aware requires self reflection and is a continuous/ ongoing process. As part of reflective practice, learners will acquire a better understanding of their personal interests, strengths and weaknesses, skills and values and the role these have in influencing education and career goals. This will help learners make connections between aspects of themselves and aspects of particular careers and occupations.
Learners will be introduced to the importance of employability and essential skills in the workplace and how they are also utilized in everyday life. They will explore strategies for the development of these skills and investigate their relevance in the education and career planning process.
As part of their exploration of careers and the workplace, learners will investigate the organizational structure of different work environments reflecting on their personal suitability for those workplaces. This will also involve examining the importance of maintaining appropriate and effective relationships in the workplace and their potential role in this process
Exploring Education and Career Goals
A number of factors can influence learners’ career and education goals, some of which may change throughout the time a learner is investigating their options and areas of interest. It is important for learners to be able to identify factors that can impact their choices and decisions such as life’s circumstances, academic achievement at school, increased awareness of labour market information, and outside influences that includes family and friends. Learners need to understand how to assess these factors in the context of education and career goals so they can make informed decisions when planning their future. They must also be prepared to problem solve and overcome challenges that can affect goal achievement.
When exploring education and career goals, learners need to be prepared for a “reality check”. To do so, learners must analyse and reflect on personal skills, attitudes and aspirations to determine how they align with postsecondary and workplace expectations. This will require learners to examine multiple options and the skills that are expected in a range of workplace settings.
As part of the “reality check”, learners will show evidence of their learning by constructing goals and formulating a preliminary plan for achievement of these goals. They will investigate what it means to be resilient in a workplace/career, reflecting on whether their goals would align with workplaces that are facing rapid changes.
Financial Literacy
As learners begin to explore careers and education that may be required to enter different career pathways, they need to understand the importance of being financially literate in their everyday lives as well as in how it pertains to their exploration process. As they increase their awareness of the importance of being financially literacy, they will investigate and analyse basic money management principles, applying them to their personal spending decisions. This will extend to how decisions can contribute to vulnerabilities and risk related to personal financial identities. Through a range of learning experiences learners will show evidence of understanding of financial options for pursuing education and career goals by documenting them in a preliminary financial plan that could guide them in achievement of their goals.
Workplace Readiness with Rationale
As learners begin their career exploration journey, they will be introduced to regulations and legislation that promote safety in the workplace. This will require learners to reflect on the role of occupational health and safety committees and how safety risks can be managed/ reduced in different work settings. As part of this process, learners will acquire and apply knowledge of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) based on site specific needs. They will also investigate workplace hazards and incidents, analyzing the impact these have on employees as well as employers. They will also investigate return to work programs for injured employees and how they can effectively be implemented.
As part of their investigation into workplace readiness expectations, learners will analyze workplace readiness skills, reflecting on their own employability skills and personal readiness. Learners will create a portfolio that shows evidence of their readiness while making connections between their learning experiences and their education and career goals.
Citizenship and Community
▪Learners extend their exploration of self to their role as active citizens in the community in support of community needs
▪Learners investigate community needs and analyse resources that could support those needs. They will develop a plan that can be put into action using skills previously identified
Career and Life Planning
▪Learners evaluate resources that could help them achieve their goals as well as reflect on community experiences in relation to their goals.
▪Learners will investigate how their goals align with specific career pathways
▪Learners will create a plan to achieve their education and career goals
Financial Management
▪Learners will analyse the impact of being financially responsible and evaluate responsibilities associated with personal income
▪Learners will create a financial plan to achieve education and career goals
Workplace Culture and Safety
▪Learners analyse strategies that support a culture of safety and support safe and effective responses to workplace incidents and hazards
▪Learners will analyse workplace organizational environments, relationships and expectations