Career education
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Career education involves enthusing children and young people about the world of work, helping them to make connections between learning and work, and equipping them with the knowledge to make informed decisions about their future at every stage of their learning.
Career education isn't just about an interview to decide what to do at the end of school.
Making effective decisions about the future comes from learning about yourself and the world around you from an early age. Children and young people can do this by exploring how they relate to other people and considering what they hope to achieve.
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Through career education, you can enable children and young people at all stages to develop self-awareness, recognise opportunities and develop an understanding of the important transition periods in their lives.
With appropriately focused career education, you can challenge misconceptions that children may have about certain career sectors. Involving employers is crucial as this allows children and young people to make contact with real people in real jobs and to explore what skills and qualifications are needed. The government strategy paper Skills for Scotland gives an insight into the role that education will play in developing children’s careers and supporting Scotland’s economic growth.
Associated practices
You may want to consider and reflect on the following associated practices when planning or evaluating your teaching, learning and assessment activities:
- Do I endeavour to raise my pupils' awareness of the opportunities at transition stages throughout life?
- Do I encourage my pupils to be ambitious and make connections between past, present and future experiences?
- Do I enable my pupils to be self-aware and to reflect on their particular strengths, developmental needs, interests and aspirations?
- Do I offer my pupils the experience of engaging with a wide range of people in society at a local, national and global level?
Useful resources
Sharing practice
These case studies describe some of the successful practice taking place in career education across a range of settings in Scotland.