Bright futures begin early
Schools
A new Catholic Education SA initiative is ensuring students start dreaming big from the earliest opportunity.
In a South Australian first, Catholic primary schools have been rolling out teacher-led career education lessons with specialist advisors and teachers working with students as young as six to spark curiosity, build confidence and connect their interests and skills to real-world opportunities.
The program is part of the Pathways and Transition Strategy, designed to strengthen career education and Vocational Education and Training (VET). It is based on research showing early career development improves engagement and learning, boosts school retention, increases SACE completion rates and helps students transition confidently to further study, training and employment.
Louise Murphy, Senior Education advisor, SACE, Pathways and Transition, said career development is a lifelong process starting in early childhood.
“Studies show that by Year 3, many children have already started ruling out careers because of gender stereotypes and socio-economic influences,” she said.
“For many students, the first time they think seriously about careers is in Year 10 or 11, when they are choosing subjects and considering career pathways.
“Working with students earlier allows us to break down barriers and open their minds. It’s not about locking them into a career but rather, expanding their horizons and potential. Exploring careers at an earlier age can help students with their future choices.
“A third of our schools and colleges are commencing career education earlier than ever before and this number is set to grow.”
Catholic Education SA’s career learning begins with informal “exploration” activities in junior primary followed by learning tasks introduced from Year 5 which include:
- Exploring career perceptions, possibilities and pathways through a partnership with BECOME Education where students access a dedicated online portal and conduct personalised research projects including interviews with adults to build a deep and real-life understanding of careers
- Learning culminates in a career expo, where students share career investigation findings and learnings with peers, families, and the school community.
- Personalised research projects including interviews with adults to build a deep and real-life understanding of careers
- A “flipped” careers expo, where students share career investigation findings and learnings with peers, families, and the school community.
In addition, through a partnership with RMIT University, CESA is aiming to have a qualified careers adviser onsite at each of its secondary schools across South Australia by 2027.
Ms Murphy said CESA was already two-thirds of the way towards that target, while also building a network of key teachers to champion careers education across its schools.
“While best practice is currently in the UK and Canada, CESA’s commitment sets a new benchmark in Australia,” she said.
“The career options students have now, and will have in the future, are so much more diverse than 20 years ago but often their choices are narrower because they are overwhelmed and stressed by the number of opportunities.
“Starting career education earlier is pivotal to building students’ confidence and self-belief now as well as laying important foundations for social connections, wellbeing and financial security later on.”
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