Anna Finlasson, Trust Careers Adviser
CEIAG - Careers Education, Information and Guidance.
Purpose:
Contextualise learning towards achievable goals - encourages greater engagement
Training teachers in career education
Opens their eyes to the options
Is CEIAG relevant to teachers?
Teachers have a responsibility of care for students, teachers roles are important as they model and inform professional practices.
What we want to avoid
Telling students what they should do
Telling students what they cannot achieve
Crushing Dreams (instead balance with gentle reality as required)
Exclusivity
Negativity
Careers as a tag on, last thought, burden or chore
Staff feeling unsure/ afraid about careers and their part in a holistic careers education programme.
Gatsby Benchmarks:
CEIAG in schools as a vehicle for social mobility.
Schools legally have to meet the Gatsby Benchmarks.
A stable careers programme
Learning from career and labour market information (LMI)*
Addressing the needs of each pupil
Linking curriculum learning to careers
Encounters with employers and employees
Experiences of the workplace
Encounters with further and Higher Education
Personal Guidance
*Labour market information - Information about what is happening in a labour market. LMI tends to focus on the industries that are growing and declining. It provides information about the types and levels of jobs and the skills required and whether they are increasing or decreasing.
What does effective Careers Education look like in schools?
Successful leadership
Evidence shows that positive impacts from career-related learning are greater when a consistent and whole school strategy is in place.
Make this open to all
Career-related learning in this phase should not be targeted at a particular group or groups (for example; girls, disengaged learners or high achievers) – instead it should be offered universally to all pupils in primary schools.
Embed career-related learning in the curriculum
Schools and senior leaders should make the relationship between career-related learning and the aims and ethos of the school explicit, thereby ensuring buy-in from curriculum staff, subject leaders and the senior leadership team.
Involve external organisations and employers
It is important that the person imparting knowledge about jobs and careers brings real-life, authentic experience of the workplace. When employers engage with children, they are perceived as having real authority and authenticity. Local schools should also focus on sharing best practice and signposting other schools in their network to organisations and programmes that can support the delivery of a consistent career-related programme. The evidence suggests that being able to draw on online and offline brokerage services can help to formalise connections to employers and give teachers the ability to invite volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds.
Start early
The literature has shown that perceptions about the suitability of different sectors and career paths are embedded in the minds of children from an early age. It is therefore important that career-related learning starts as early as age 5.
Ensure activities are age dependant
There is evidence to suggest that primary career-related activities are most effective when they are planned, delivered and adapted depending on the age group.
What careers provision currently is and can be...?
Fun, Interesting, Inspirational, aspirational, Self-reflective, Timely, Relevant, Skill/strength recognition, Skill development, Confidence growing, Confidence boosting, Preparing them for the world of work through knowledge and experience, preparation for next steps, Sixth form, FE, College, Apprenticeship, life.
Post 16 options:
Further Education
Sixth form
College
Sixth form
Traineeship Level 1
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