Are you a headteacher, senior leader, or careers leader?
What is happening to change the role of schools in careers education?
How can @CareersDefender help you?
Research tells us that careers education is the lynchpin for school improvement - pupils are motivated when they know what they want to achieve in their lives and how to go about it.
Research such as that by Trilling and Fadel underpin this assertion and schools that value and promote careers learning as part of their core offer often have far better destination data and exam results.
Starting earlier - fighting stereotypes, widening horizons.
Research by Teach First and Education and Employers in 2019 put forward a very strong case for primary schools to promote careers learning for pupils. This has been backed by the Government in their careers strategy and other publications. You can access this report here
The main aims of primary careers education are:-
- Enhancing the understanding of jobs and careers.
- Growing the skills required in a modern labour market, such as problem solving or teamwork.
- Improving pupil outcomes by changing pupil attitudes and enhancing their understanding of what different subjects can lead to.
This of course will lead to a need for secondary schools to amend and update their programmes as pupils from feeder schools arrive with more understanding of the world of work.
Research by Teach First and Education and Employers in 2019 put forward a very strong case for primary schools to promote careers learning for pupils. This has been backed by the Government in their careers strategy and other publications. You can access this report here
The main aims of primary careers education are:-
- Enhancing the understanding of jobs and careers.
- Growing the skills required in a modern labour market, such as problem solving or teamwork.
- Improving pupil outcomes by changing pupil attitudes and enhancing their understanding of what different subjects can lead to.
This of course will lead to a need for secondary schools to amend and update their programmes as pupils from feeder schools arrive with more understanding of the world of work.
What does this mean for secondary schools?
The old model of careers being a couple of CV lessons and an interview in year 11 is gone. It's now much more cross curricular and can no longer rely on just one person to deliver it It's a whole range of activities and strategies both inside the classroom and out. (see figure 1)
Fig 1.The Gatsby Benchmarks
So what?
The Government has been making changes to legislation to ensure that schools comply with the statutory guidance for careers and especially the Baker Clause which is a legal requirement for all secondary schools to ensure that ALL pupils learn about ALL routes including apprenticeships, school leaver programmes, jobs with training and HE as well as university.
In addition, changes to the Ofsted inspection framework have been tightened to ensure that all schools meet the Baker Clause and deliver good careers education and guidance.
These measures are tightening as are the penalties for not meeting them. However, the bottom line for most teachers is that we want to do what is best for our students. So I refer you back to the research.
Good quality careers education information and guidance results in better long term destinations, higher earnings and job satisfaction
Firstly I'd urge you to ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you think your pupils have REALISTIC & AUDACIOUS aspirations?
- Do you provide unbiased and up to date information to inform decision making?
- Do you support pupils to be able to evaluate the information provided?
- Do you feel they've considered ALL the opportunities?
- Do your teachers & support staff have the necessary skills to support your pupils in making these choices?
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