Retain and Gain: Career Management for the Public Sector Playbook
November 8, 20262nd Edition – Computing Disciplines: A Quick Guide for Prospective Students and Career Advisors
November 8, 2026Project Partner
Language
English
Complete
Synopsis
How can career development practitioners strengthen theory-practice connections? Career practitioners need to be equipped with the latest theories and models in the field. It is also important for practitioners to make informed choices about the approaches and strategies they use in practice. The aim of this project is to provide practitioners with foundational principles for theory-informed career practice.
Based on an analysis of the practice points in the 43 chapters of Career Theories and Models at Work: Ideas for Practice, the chapters outline core foundational principles that every career practitioner can use and apply in their practice. The project will offer practitioners a “go-to” guide that helps them to trace practice ideas back to the theories and models from where they were derived.
The project is led by Dr. Nancy Arthur from the University of South Australia (formerly University of Calgary), in collaboration with Dr. Roberta Borgen (Neault), Life Strategies and Dr. Mary McMahon, the University of Queensland (Australia).
Project Goals
- To update career practitioners about foundational practice principles derived from contemporary theories and models of career development and career management;
- To provide practitioners with a resource they can use to build upon and enhance their approaches to career interventions; and
- To provide practitioners with a new resource they can add to their toolkit or use as a companion manual to accompany Career Theories and Models at Work: Ideas for Practice.
Supporting Career Development in Children: A Literature Review
This document contains a review of literature which investigates the practices to support the development of career-related foundational skills in children Grades 4-6 in Canadian elementary schools. The review explores the scholarly literature related to career development terminology, career development frameworks and theoretical understandings, and empirical work that examines the ways teachers introduce and develop foundational career skills.
This literature review includes:
- An extensive exploration of career-related terminology that educators might encounter in the career-related work in schools;
- An outline of typical career-related learning outcomes seen in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom; and
- An examination of what career-related learning looks like in elementary schools.
Supporting Career Development in Children: Curriculum and Policy Review
The curriculum and policy review examines provincial and territorial policy, reporting and curriculum documents for career-related learning, including relevant social studies, health and wellness, and social and emotional learning documents. This pan-Canadian exploration provides insight into what is happening in elementary education across Canada with regards to career development and education.
Findings include:
- Some provinces and territories, such as Ontario, British Columbia and Yukon, have embraced a Kindergarten to Grade 12 approach to career education.
- In other areas of the country, career education begins to emerge in Grades 5 and 6 (e.g., Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Atlantic provinces).
- Still other regions do not appear to have any formal career education currently in place at the elementary level (e.g., Nunavut).
Supporting Career Development in Children: A Review of Business and Industry Partnerships
This literature review examines partnerships between elementary schools and business and industry. In particular, it reports on industry perspectives regarding the importance of developing foundational skills. It also establishes where and how the wider business and industry community are providing services, programming, training, resources or partnerships to and with elementary schools across Canada.
This review answers:
- Which provinces and territories have business and industry partnerships?
- What partnerships and programs currently exist between business and industry and elementary schools?
- Which provinces and territories have Industry Education Councils and what connections do they have with elementary schools?
Exploring Possibilities! Journeying Through Career-Related Learning in Grades 4–6 – A Teaching Toolkit
- Teachers – in elementary and secondary schools who are supporting their students with career-related learning;
- Guidance counsellors – who are delivering and managing career-related knowledge, information and services across their schools;
- School leaders and district school board administrators – who are determining the scope of career-related learning across their schools;
- Curriculum developers – who are looking for worthwhile practices to incorporate into career-related programming and development;
- Policymakers – who are directing courses of action across the policy life cycle, and are evaluating the role of different policy actors within career-related policy in schools;
- Government – who are making decisions as to what career-related learning should look like in schools; and
- Business and industry partners – who are making decisions to form or undertake strategies that support career-related learning in their local and broader community schools.