Career development – Year 7 and 8

Career development helps students connect competencies to real life situations

Career development can help Year 7 and 8 students manage the transition to secondary school. At this stage, students are already developing an early sense of “career” through their existing and aspirational life, learning and work roles.

Career development helps students link ideas about preparation, exploration, self-awareness and decision making to real life situations – including transitions to, through and from school.

Career management competencies

As students develop their career awareness they become aware of the link between education and work and the role of lifelong learning, and understand that people's skills are built up over time because of learning and experience. The career management competencies dimension of the benchmarks outlines four attributes students should have developed to successfully transition to secondary school:

• developing self-awareness – students increase their awareness of their strengths and interests and how they relate to others. They see themselves positively, demonstrating a hopeful picture of themselves in the future
• exploring opportunities – students explore adult roles in their communities and the range of occupations that contribute to the products and services people use in their daily lives, and demonstrate optimism that they will do the same in the future
• deciding and acting – students develop transferable skills in research, goal setting, evaluating options and reaching decisions
• transitions – students become aware of the style and nature of secondary schools and are prepared for this transition.

High-quality career development that engages students is embedded within the school's curriculum.

It is provided through a school-wide integrated approach, where links are made between the student career management competencies, other curriculum areas and the key competencies.

Career development programme content is reviewed, evaluated and improved to ensure the needs of all students are being met to support successful engagement in school and transition to the secondary school environment.

Having a school-wide, integrated approach to career development means all staff:

• recognise career development is a shared responsibility
• contribute to career development within the school.

To support a school-wide approach, schools need to have:

• strong vision and support from the board, principal and senior management
• an across-school careers team to set up systems and evaluate career education
• career activities planned in advance for career-related events in students' lives
• ongoing promotion and communication around careers and sharing of information
• planned and sustainable development of career development programmes across curriculum areas and pastoral networks
• professional development and support for teachers.

It is important to focus on career management competencies when evaluating your career development programme. 

The career development benchmarks for Year 7 and 8 outline the career management competencies students need for successful transition to secondary school.

• Career development benchmarks and supporting resources
• Review your career practice - a step-by-step guide for schools

Tairangi School, Porirua

Tairangi School demonstrates how to weave career development into the curriculum through connected and contextualised learning, using the digital space.

Key messages from Tairangi School's career development:

• links can be made between career management competencies, curriculum subject areas and key competencies
• it is important to connect students' skills, opportunities and aspirations with related careers
• career development can be incorporated into all topics and curriculum areas.

Connecting self, skills and work – Year 7 and 8 career development in the New Zealand classroom – 10.12 mins.

Read a transcript of the video

The video shows how Tairangi School have integrated career development within the curriculum. These worksheets are examples of ways to link careers to classroom activities.

• Linking careers with learning areas: Geometry (Word - 754KB)
• Linking careers with a reading topic (Word - 770KB)
• Using a think board to integrate skills, jobs and careers (Word - 995KB)

Support career development programmes and develop student career management competencies

All resources are available to either download or order online.

• Career Kete - resources to help teachers to design and deliver career education for Year 7 and 8 students
• Curriculum area classroom activities - ideas on how to relate curriculum subject teaching to future careers and life beyond school 
• Kiwi Cards - resource to teach Year 7 to 9 students more about the world of work
• The magic of myths - resource using kōrero pūrākau or Māori myths and legends to connect with students about their future pathways
• Vision of my future - worksheet for students to explore self-awareness, role models, goal setting and support systems

Explore job ideas

All resources are available to either download or order online.

• CareerQuest - online quiz of 78 questions that suggests jobs based on interests
• CareerQuest guide – guide with resources and tips showing how to make the most of the CareerQuest quiz
• Jobs by Interest - pamphlet to help students start thinking about their interests and possible job ideas
• Just the Job - short career advice videos that follow students as they gain first-hand work experience
• Where to? - set of posters to help students explore career options related to subjects they enjoy or might choose at secondary school