Reimagining “Career”: Making Sense of 21st Century Learning

Kris MagnussonSimon Fraser University

Benjamin Chi Chi

The Big Picture:

• BC schools are transforming curriculum

• BC schools are world leaders in quality education

• The world of work is changing rapidly

The Big Conclusion:

We need new models of career planning to help students prepare for an unpredictable future

Reimagining “Career” and the New Curriculum

When you were a child, did you imagine being a ...

IOS or Android developer?

Zumba instructor?

Social media intern?

Data scientist?

UI/UX designer?

Big data architect?

Beach body coach?

Cloud services specialist?

Digital marketing specialist?

Linked-in Top 102013

LinkedIn Top 10 (2019)1. Data Scientist

2. Site Reliability Engineer

3.Enterprise Account Executive

4.Product Designer

5. Product Owner

6.Customer Success Manager

7.Engagement Manager

8.Solutions Architect

9.Information Technology Lead

10. Scrum Master

Emerging Fields• Soft Robotics Engineer: Programmable 3-D

materials inspired by transformational capabilities of cephalopods

• App Developer: Apple’s i-Phone, first “smart” phone, invented in 2007. Today, > 50% of the world’s population owns a smartphone

• Uber Driver: Founded in 2009, set record as world’s most valuable startup, valued at $62 Billion

2007 2019

Emerging Fields• Social Media Manager: Facebook went from 0 to

1.5 billion users; add Twitter, Instagram, etc., and any organization that does not seem to manage its social media is seriously out of touch. Russian meddling campaign anyone?

• Cloud Computing Specialist: From nothing in 2005 to >50% of American firms relying on cloud services. Related titles: Cloud manager, cloud engineer, cloud strategist

2007 2019

Emerging Fields• Big Data Analyst/Data Scientist: Super computing,

visual data representation, trend analytics. • 90% of world’s data created in the last 2 years. • Google processes 40,000 search queries every second

• You-Tube Content Creator: Domain activated in 2005; You-Tube “star” will earn millions/year in endorsements; 100 hours of video uploaded every minute

2007 2019

Human Capital Outlook, World Economic Forum, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, 2016, p.1

•65% of children entering school today will end up working in occupations that do not yet exist

•“the major drivers of transformation currently affecting global industries are expected to have a significant impact on jobs, ranging from significant job creation to job displacement, and from heightened labour productivity to widening skills gaps” (p. 1)

Shift Happens:

The average 18-year olds finishing high school today will have 10 occupational shifts before they are 38.

Instead of planning to engage in a standard form of work – the full-time job - they may need to navigate at least 9 other forms of work engagement.

Future skills demands: the need to think critically and creatively.

“E2030 Position Paper” From the OECD

“To navigate through such uncertainty, students will need to develop curiosity, imagination, resilience and self-regulation; they will need to respect and appreciate the ideas, perspectives and values of others; and they will need to cope with failure and rejection, and to move forward in the face of adversity. Their motivation will be more than getting a good job and a high income; they will also need to care about the well-being of their friends and families, their communities and the planet.”

• Canada ranked very high in Reading and significantly above average of OECD countries in Math and Science

• Center on International Education Benchmarking (CIEB) visiting BC March 9-13 to help countries around the world to see what policies and practices the top-performing countries use to drive their systems

Literacy Numeracy Science

Critical Thinking Creative Thinking Communication

Collaboration Character

Experiences to Connect to: - community

- future

A System Design for Educational Excellence

BC’s KDU (KUD) Curriculum Modelwork together to support deeper learning

3-D Curriculum Model K-12: Know, Understand, Able to Do

• Understand

• Know

Do •

Core Competencies are underpinning

Personalized learning cannot succeed without

creating personalized

pathways

What we do and how we got here

is rarely a function of what

we planned?

Isn’t it odd that …

4 Career Development Myths Transformed

Career Development Is ...

... a problem

... normal

1….

Career Development Is ...

... about choosing occupations

... about finding directions

2….

Career Development Is ...

... planning for the future... living intentionally in the present to make a preferred

future possible

3….

Career Development Is ...

... the purview of guidance

... everyone’s responsibility

4….

The word “career” holds multiple

meanings for people, and almost nobody

uses it the way career professionals do?

Isn’t it odd that …

Career:The constellation

of life-roles an individual plays over his or her

lifetime.

It is one’s “life story”.26

4 4 Fundamental Career Development Challenges

Facing Individuals (Magnusson and Redekopp)

27

Coherent Career Practice

Individual Challenge #1

How do I acquire and then make sense of all of the information available to me so I can make choices

that will benefit me in the future?

Career Literacy28

Individual Challenge #2How do I find hope? Once found, how do I build and sustain the enthusiasm, energy and just plain will to

be continuously adaptive?

Career Gumption

29

Career Gumption Defined

•Theenergy,momentum,motivationordesiretoengageincareerdevelopment.

•Beingproactive,takinginitiativeandmakingchange.•Rootedinoptimism(thefuturewillbebetter),hope(even

ifthefutureisn’tbetter,I’llbefine)andself-assurance(Icanhandlewhatevercomesup)

Poor Career Gumption

Usuallyrootedinfear

Fearoftheunknown(andlittleknown);Fearoffailure,Fearofsuccess,

Fearofbeingunique,Fearofbeingdifferent,

Fearofdisappointingothers

Individual Challenge #3

Where do I fit in this world? What is available to me? How do I achieve a balance between my needs and

all of the forces and influences around me?

Career Context

32

Individual Challenge #4

How do I make all of these decisions, and take all of these actions, in a way that allows me to maintain a sense of

who I am? How do I take pride in what I do?

Career Integrity

33

Poor Career Integrity•Whenchoicesaremadeforsuperficialreasons(e.g.,

money)ratherthanidentityreasons•Whenoneischoosingbetweencompetingbutdesirable

values•Whenchoicesarenotavailable•Throughlackofopportunity•Throughcoercion,forceorpressure

•Whenintegrityisachievedonlyaccidentally(becauseitislesslikelytobesustainable)

The “How” of Career Curriculum

The 5 Processes of Career Planning

Personal Meaning

Contex

t Context

Context

Contex

t

Engage

Explore

DecidePrepare

Impl

emen

t

The Career Planning Model

Engage Explore Decide Prepare Implement

Context

Meaning

Barriers

Hope

Potential

Demand

Opportunity

Process

Direction

Next Step

Knowledge

Skills

Attitudes

Action Plan

Sustain

Support

Confidence

Pride Passion Purpose Performance Poise

Which of these outcomes do you NOT want to see for your children?

Engage Quest for meaning I have hope

Explore Quest for opportunity I have options

Decide Quest for clarity I have a direction

Prepare Quest for competence I have a plan

Implement Quest for action I have confidence

5 Career Survival Skills1. Self- assessment: deep and growing capacity to articulate

what I have to offer

2. Environment scanning: ability to identify opportunities and needs in the world around me

3. Creative bridging: developing plans and activities that link what I have to offer with what is needed

4. Documenting Impact: demonstrating the effectiveness of my activities

5. Marketing/promotion: letting others know about my impact

The Essential “Tool” for Career Curriculum

Dynamic Portfolios

• Document, sort and store one’s emerging sense of self;

• Learn how to gather evidence of competencies and characteristics; and

• Learn how to document stories and provide evidence of meaning

• The portfolio becomes a true “Curriculum Vitae” (life’s work)

Portfolio Organization:

Coherent Career Practice Cannexus 2008 41

Career Integrity

Career Gumption

Career Literacy

Career Context My Motivators

My Competencies

My World

My Place

Answering Coherent Questions

Portfolio Content

Self-Assessing

Opportunity Scanning

Creative Connecting

Showing Impact

Telling Others

Engaging

Exploring

Deciding

Preparing

Sustaining

Car

eer P

roce

sses

Career Survival Skills

Career as Life Story

Demands opportunity for creating individualized paths to success

The life stories of too many people turn into biographies. Our goal as educators is to put the pen in their hands, and

help them to be the authors of their autobiographies.

Coherent career practice is not a “component” to add to

the 21st century learning picture. It is the larger frame within which the picture is

placed.

Kris Magnussonkrism@sfu.ca