Page 8 - Creating Pathways to Success

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Career Development in the Twenty-first Century
In the late twentieth century, leading career development theories suggested
that with access to accurate information and some guidance, individuals would independently acquire the skills they needed for effective career planning (Krumboltz & Worthington, 1999). More recently, research has indicated that
to make sound career decisions people also need to develop tools for processing the information (Dietsche, 2010). Traditionally, career development practice has operated on yet another assumption – that only some students require support and that they will seek out assistance as they need it. The reality is that the challenges and opportunities faced by students in this century are unlike those of any previous generation, and that all students today require specific knowledge and skills in education and career/life planning to support them in making sound choices throughout their lives.
The term career has several meanings. It can refer strictly to a person’s occupational history in a particular field or, more broadly, to the sum of a person’s experiences in a variety of roles throughout life. In the second sense, every person has a career, which includes work, learning, community engagement, and relationships with family and friends. This document focuses on the second meaning of the term
– and makes that meaning explicit by using the term career/life. Pursuits related
to personal strengths and interests, whether in education or in volunteer or paid work, are all part of a person’s career and are relevant at all ages and stages of life. Education and career/life planning refers to a process that assists in the development and application of the knowledge and skills needed to make informed education and career/life choices.
Creating Pathways to Success responds to the realities of a complex, rapidly changing world. It is based on the understanding that education and career/life planning
is now a lifelong process that requires all learners to be flexible and able to adapt to changes in themselves and in the world around them. This policy document recognizes the need to place a greater emphasis on helping all students develop knowledge and skills in this area from an early age and throughout their school experience.