Career Based Learning In Schools Is A Necessity

A child’s sense of the world, life, and self begin in her/ his home and school. Their career is a journey that starts with how they think and perceive everything about jobs and people – right from the day they step into their first classroom! Hence, career-based learning and education is not just a choice; but a necessity in schools, to shape students into responsible professionals and citizens of tomorrow.

Why Is This Important?

Student perceptions about careers determine what they pick in the future and how they will stick to it. Children carry many impressions of the world around them. They develop ideas and beliefs about the work world from their family, peers, and the media. This is why teachers, parents, and the school should get younger children receive the right information and ideas about careers.

Hence, career information and guidance is needed in the student-formative years for the following reasons:

Children get increased knowledge about different jobs and work lines.
These help inspiring students and broaden their aspirations.
Knowing the demands of a career line helps them work on the skills (including soft skills) that they may need.
It helps develop a healthy sense about careers that students may not have considered and have greater respect for them too.
It also guides parents in knowing whether the career is meant for the child or not.
Students can check and do away with unhealthy attitudes about work lines. For instance: Boys are not suitable for customer service or human resources roles. Or that girls don’t become cricketers!

Take sports as a career. Until a decade and a half ago, how many students were even aware of team management, healthcare, and data analytics in sports?

A continuous process of relevant and open learning

Learning about the various career lines and their demands paves the way for successful career guidance for school students. As, the understanding and beliefs that students build up until they complete their schooling, determine the career choices they make. And they also influence their professionalism and commitment when they grow up.

Career-based learning is not just great practice for college goers or 12th graders. Because it is important to prepare students for the real world before they decide their subjects and stream for the 11th & 12th grades.

How Can Career Based Teaching Be Imparted In Schools?

At school, there is time and ample opportunity to re-examine work-based perceptions. Some of the popular ways schools impart career-based learnings are:

Support and help from parents and professionals

Many overseas schools invite parents and alumni from diverse professions to interact and share their experiences and careers with the students. While it is fun for younger children, other students get to hear the firsthand story – and this helps the curious minds gather information from a source that can be trusted.

Linking real-world learning to classroom teachings

Introducing new professions to students can encourage them to try unconventional careers and roles with enthusiasm.

For eg. How many students in your school want to become disaster management experts or forensic scientists? How many of them wish to work in stem cell research instead of becoming a doctor? What about mining safety, gemology, oceanography and we can keep on listing until we run out of space!.

Use real-life training materials and equipment for awareness

Well, you certainly can’t set up a flight simulator in the school to describe a pilot’s profession. But you must prepare students with the materials and equipment that can help them understand concepts like workplace safety, gender equality, diversity, ensuring the inclusion of all people, etc. to name a few. This includes relevant videos and demo prototypes. For eg., if you wish to familiarise students with designing, then you show them the video of a typical designing set up, the latest AI and technologies used in the field, have print materials or charts to depict the various areas in designing (industrial, graphic, transportation, product, etc.).

Here are some Unconventional Careers for the 21st century for your school students to know about.

The Benefits

Early exposure to learning about careers can help children in big ways. Such as :

The biggest benefit for students is they can align subjects and take an early interest in career selection.
They can know what is expected in particular career roles.
Helps them avoid making the wrong career choices and mistakes.
Can inspire them to step outside their comfort zone.
They can work early on their networking and communication skills
Can help them understand ethics and accept diversity
Enables them to take up responsibility and respond to failures
Teaches students to work with available resources

Getting Ready For Life

Career-based learning equips students with the skills and the ability to plan, make and implement career choices. Such learning in school years can guide them in understanding the world of work. It gets them to think about their present and future roles as students, workers, and citizens.

Career-related learning is about building on the natural curiosity of children and their existing perceptions of work roles. It must be complementary to the school curriculum. Besides, it is also a way of helping children be connected to the real world and prepare for it.

Find out how your school can get started on early career help for students, here.

Nisha Ramachandran

Nisha is an ex-banker, who has also worked in the IT industry. Being a 'chai ke saath book' lover, she decided to take forward her love for writing through blogs. When she's not making her own DIY cosmetics and jewellery, she tries growing her own veggies at home and experiments with new ways to reuse trash. An avid yoga enthusiast, she is also a trained instructor.

Career Based Learning In Schools