Page 20 - Guidance Education 11-12 (2006)

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Some Considerations for Program Planning in Guidance and Career Education
Teachers who are planning a program in guidance and career education must take into account considerations in a number of important areas, including those discussed below.
Teaching Approaches
Students learn best when they are engaged in a variety of ways of learning. Guidance and career education courses lend themselves to a wide range of approaches in that they require students to research, think critically, work cooperatively, discuss relevant issues, and learn through practice in a variety of settings. Helping students become self-directed, lifelong learn- ers is a fundamental aim of the guidance and career education curriculum.When students are engaged in active and experiential learning strategies, they tend to retain knowledge for longer periods and develop meaningful skills.Active and experiential learning strategies also enable students to apply their knowledge and skills to real-life issues and situations.
Some of the teaching and learning strategies that are suitable to material taught in guidance and career education include cooperative small-group learning, one-on-one teaching, guided learning, personal reflection, role playing, simulations, case-study analysis, presentations, tasks involving real workplace materials, experiential learning, and independent study.Teachers must provide a wide range of activities and assignments that promote mastery of basic concepts and development of inquiry/research skills. Learning activities should always be age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate, as necessary.
In the guidance and career education program, teachers provide students with opportunities to develop self-knowledge and make connections with the world around them. Students learn how to work independently and with others as they acquire the essential skills and work habits needed for success in school, in the workplace, and in daily life. Students learn how to make decisions about future learning and work, how to put plans into action responsibly, and how to reflect on the actions they’ve taken and revise their plans as necessary.They learn by doing. They synthesize what they have learned by reflecting, analysing, evaluating, making decisions, and setting goals.They apply their learning both in the classroom and in other contexts, and they evaluate their progress. Ultimately, students learn to take responsibility for their own learning in preparation for life beyond secondary school.
It is essential to emphasize the relationship of guidance and career education to the world out- side the classroom, so that students recognize that what they learn in these courses can have a significant influence on the rest of their lives, from their educational choices to decisions about their careers and personal lives.
Planning for Experiential Learning and Cooperative Education
In courses within the guidance and career education program, there is a specific emphasis on experiential learning as a key method of instruction – that is, learning acquired wholly or in part through practical experiences inside and outside the classroom.The curriculum expecta- tions incorporate a broad range of experiential learning opportunities (e.g., information inter- views, worksite visits, job shadowing, community involvement, work experience, and virtual or