Competency Category:

20.1 – Promote Benefits of Career Development in Educational Settings

Purpose & Context

Educators (e.g. K-12 teachers, career course facilitators, school administrators) play a vital role as career development professionals (CDPs) within the educational system. In their existing work delivering curriculum, supporting academic achievement, promoting mental health/wellness, and fostering student engagement, educators already integrate career development competencies (e.g. adaptability, critical thinking, problem solving) in their practice. As CDPs, educators link work, life, and learning to strengthening student success in the classroom and beyond.

Effective Performance

Competent career development professionals must be able to:

  • P1. Situate career and career development within the context of the classroom and educational system
  • P2. Foster a holistic, lifelong, and critical approach to career development, for example:
    • Integrate work, life, and learning
    • Appreciate the complexity of careers and the world of work
    • Address common career development myths held by others, e.g. educators, families, students
  • P3. Connect career development with student outcomes, for example:
    • Academic achievement
    • Student engagement
    • Mental health/wellness
    • Life satisfaction/happiness
    • Meaning/purpose in life
    • Community contribution/involvement
    • Relationships
    • Coping skills
  • P4. Integrate relevant career concepts with educational frameworks, for example:
    • CASEL’s Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)
    • CMEC’s Pan-Canadian Global Competencies
    • UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
  • P5. Articulate the transferability of career-related skills, e.g. adaptability
  • P6. Infuse age- and grade-appropriate career development interventions into mental health/wellness lessons, activities,
    and discussions, and also mental health/wellness interventions into career development components, for example:

    • Developing understanding of career-related demands and how those demands may act as stressors
    • Reducing stress and developing career-related coping skills
    • Providing information on mental health resources, making referrals where appropriate
  • P7. Link career development with mental health/wellness campaigns and community events

Knowledge & Understanding

Competent career development professionals must know and understand:

  • K1. Interpersonal and interviewing skills and strategies
  • K2. Career development theories and frameworks

Contextual Variables

Competent career development professionals must be able to perform this competency in the following range of contexts:

Mental health/wellness can still be a difficult subject amongst many individuals and communities and therefore CDPs may experience barriers in effective implementation

Glossary & Key References

Terms

Industry-specific terms contained in the standard defined here, where applicable.

Educators: Represent a diverse group of professionals involved in the education system at all levels, grades, and ages. Educators comprise K-12 and post-secondary classroom teachers/instructors, early-childhood educators, career-related course facilitators, school administrators, and curriculum/program developers. Although the scope of their role as CDPs will vary depending on their specific context, all educators play an important role in the career development of students.

Information Sources and Resources for Consideration

Social and Emotional Learning https://casel.org/what-is-sel/

Global Competencies https://www.cmec.ca/682/Global_Competencies.html

Sustainable Developmental Goals https://sdgs.un.org/goals

Context Rating Scales

Criticality

Q: What is the consequence of a professional being unable to perform this skill according to the standard?

Severe risk: EXTREMELY CRITICAL

Frequency

Q: How frequent and under what conditions is this skill performed?

Circumstantially, e.g. per project, when a specific event arises

Level of Difficulty

Q: Under routine circumstances, how would you rate the level of difficulty in performing this skill?

Moderate difficulty or complexity

Time Required to Gain Proficiency

Q: What is the average length of time or number of repeated events that are minimally necessary for an individual to become proficient in performing the skill to the standard?

A career development professional requires a minimum of one year of experience as an educator and varied experiences in applying a career lens in their education practice.

Autonomy

Practitioners typically perform this competency without supervision, and alone and/or as part of a team.

Automation

It is unlikely that this competency will automate.

Requisite Work Aids, Tools, Equipment or Materials

None

Career Development Professional Centre

Code of Conduct

Help us cultivate a Centre we all enjoy by reviewing and following the Code of Conduct.

Our Purpose

Thank you for being a part of the Career Development Professional Centre. To ensure that all members have the best possible experience, we have a few ground rules that we ask everyone to adhere to. This code of conduct applies equally to every person in the community and is intended to foster an online space that is inclusive, safe, and welcoming to all.

Centre Rules

Be welcoming

We strive to be a place that welcomes and supports people of all backgrounds and identities. We aim to be a place that promotes excellence and innovation in career and workforce development. Please extend respect to all members; we all come from different backgrounds and levels of knowledge and there is no such thing as a stupid question.

Be respectful

We won’t all agree all the time, but when we disagree don’t let those disagreements turn into personal attacks. A place where people feel uncomfortable or threatened will not be a productive one. When having discussions in the online community, commenting on a library article, or participating in other Centre activities, strive for productive conversations around the content being presented, not the person behind the content. Any comments determined to be “hate speech” towards any individual or group will be deleted, and the user account may be locked until an investigation regarding the comment has been concluded. The user may be given a written warning or removed from the CPDC platform depending on the findings of the investigation.

Hate Speech could include and is not limited to:

  • Violent threats or language directed against another person
  • Discriminatory jokes, language, or materials
  • Defamatory or abusive language or materials
  • Profane or illegal materials
  • Advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior

A good rule of thumb is to never say anything that you wouldn’t be comfortable with the world seeing or that you wouldn’t want anyone knowing came from you. We ask that you keep in mind the focus of this place, which is building excellence and innovation in career and workforce development for all individuals.

Be considerate of the purpose of the Centre

The Centre focuses on building excellence and discussing innovation in the career and workforce development field. The goal of the social learning community is to communicate goals, challenges, constructive feedback, and questions in relation to career and workforce development. The Centre should be a place for continued learning and development as well as a place to discuss the future of our field (solicitation without written consent by the Project or Advisory team, is strictly prohibited). Any post or comment that is determined to be soliciting any individual or group will be deleted, and the user account may be locked until an investigation regarding the post has been concluded. The user may be given a written warning or removed from the CPDC platform depending on the findings of the investigation.

Post your discussions or documents in the most appropriate group or topic

Especially within the social learning community, make reasonable efforts to ensure that posts and materials are allocated to the appropriate group or topic. This will prevent cluttering the feed and make it easier for everyone to find the information that they are seeking. Individuals who do this repeatedly will be contacted by one of the group admins and asked to follow these guidelines.

Privacy and Release of Information

CDPC-CEDC will not release your information to any third-party agencies.

Thank you and welcome to the CDPC