This report was prepared in 2009 as part of the review and enhancement of the support Careers New Zealand provides to schools. It contains an outline of how effective career education programmes might be developed in New Zealand.
This report is a synthesis of recent evidence for effective practice in career education and guidance. It discusses international thinking about what young people need from schooling in the 21st century. It distils what has been learned from two career education projects in New Zealand schools, Designing Careers and Creating Pathways and Building Lives. The report shows that career education has an important role to play in developing what the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2003) refers to as the competencies young people need for a successful adult life.
Purpose
In January 2009, Career Services formed a working party to guide the enhancement and development of the organisation’s work with schools. The working party’s initial brief was to develop a high-level conception of the purpose of career education and to identify key audiences and processes for supporting career education in schools.
This work was intended to build on the experience and learning gained from the recently completed project Creating Pathways and Building Lives. It would distil the important components of effective practice and bring them together in a coherent overarching framework.