Self-focus makes Career & Enterprise a popular choice

 Manjimup Senior High School teacher Judy Brockman said it was easy to engage students in the course because they were learning about themselves, including their strengths and weaknesses and their general employability.

 

“The course builds on the former Work Studies course and it is important because it helps provide students with direction as they consider their life after school,” Ms Brockman said.

 

“At the moment, most of my class is on a vocational pathway, but I am hoping that more tertiary pathway students will choose the course in the future. I think it’s a great fifth subject for tertiary-bound students because it’s about self-improvement and most of the coursework is done during class time. 

 

“One of the tasks students found a lot of value in was developing a personal profile where they identified their strengths and weaknesses and then researched websites which matched personality traits to possible job opportunities. This task also highlighted their transferable employability skills.

 

“An emphasis on interview skills obviously helps students prepare for the workforce, but also for work experience.

 

“The course complements other courses and programs, too. For example, the emphasis on occupational health and safety helps students undertaking a vocational certificate course in areas such as automotive, furniture design, hospitality and IT.”

 

Ms Brockman said a challenge in teaching the course was the potential for repetition.

 

“In terms of assessment, our school is working with Northam, Australind and Bunbury senior high schools to share assessment ideas.”

 

Robyn Edwards, head of Career Education at Lake Joondalup Baptist College, has 90 students enrolled in the course across years 10 and 11.

 

She said the Career & Enterprise course is relevant and has lifelong applications.

“A strength of the course is that it can be adapted to the needs of a school cohort,” she said.

 

“In some ways, the students drive the direction of the course.

 

“Career & Enterprise is highly relevant to tertiary –bound and VET students. For tertiary students, for example, it is a rigorous course that complements Political & Legal Studies, and Economics.

 

“The Career and Enterprise course promotes better self-understanding and management and provides an opportunity for students to research information on future options resulting in better career decisions.

 

“One of the ways the course is different from the previous Work Studies course is the emphasis on constant change and the consequences of the changes for individual career development pathways. Students need to be more enterprising.  

 

“In terms of vocational students, the relevance of the course to their everyday lives has helped turnaround disengaged students.

 

“Throughout the course, tertiary-bound students spend time researching the global economy and changes in technology and business culture,” Mrs Edwards said.

 

Year 11 student Erin Kavanagh said she chose Career & Enterprise 2A/2B because she is unsure of the career path she wants to follow and the course provides her with an overview of the workforce and the Australian economy.

 

“I like this subject as it is about personal knowledge and opinion and helps me identify a career path,” Erin said.

 

“If I develop my own business it will also provide me with the knowledge to prevent making mistakes with employees and to make sure I maintain a healthy workplace,” she said.

 

“The challenges that come with this course include the processing of information and turning it into a real situation without having the experience and understanding of adults.”

 

Year 11 student Shannen Mulder said the course provided her with information about workplace changes and how she can help herself get the job she wants.

 

“It is very interesting and it has helped me understand the changes in the workplace and how the economy and technology affect what business owners are looking for when they hire someone,” Shannen said.

 

“This course has also helped me to think more carefully and research a whole lot more,” she said.

 

Curriculum Council course project officer for Career & Enterprise, Robbie Burgess, said one of the strengths of the course is that it can be used in a wide variety of contexts.

 

“In conjunction with some workplace learning, it equips the students to manage their future careers, rather than just drifting from one thing to another,” Ms Burgess said.

 

“It is of equal value to our TEE students as it is to our more vocationally-oriented students,” she said.

 

To find out more about the Career & Enterprise course, visit http://www.curriculum.wa.edu.au/internet/Senior_Secondary/Courses/.