Exploring Possibilities! Journeying Through Career-Related Learning in Grades 4–6: A Teaching Toolkit

As an elementary school teacher, I know the importance of developing foundational skills in children. This is a hugely important part of my practice. This toolkit gives specific, practical teaching (and assessment!) strategies for developing skills such as collaboration, responsibility, and self-regulation. While there is a “career” focus to the toolkit, the truth is that these skills are useful in school, at home, and everywhere in life.

Career-learning activities are important for all students; they are engaging and often foster motivation to do other activities in school. However, the students who gain the most from the activities are children from low-skilled and low-economic backgrounds which makes this toolkit an important contribution. This Exploring Possibilities! Journeying Through Career-Related Learning in Grades 4-6: A Teaching Toolkit inspires practitioners as well as policymakers and researchers to share that career is ‘A lifelong journey of learning about oneself and the individual interactions you have with learning, work, and life experiences.’ And that a career is about the life you want to lead – not just a job, occupation or profession. It involves deciding among possible and preferred futures. It answers: ‘Who do I want to be in the world?’ ‘What kind of lifestyle am I seeking?’ and ‘How can I make an impact?” The toolkit helps readers to see that their understanding of career brings norms and expectations regarding work and life into the classroom. This toolkit supports teachers, educators and parents to be reflective about this and investigate their own norms and assumptions.

This career development in children toolkit, Exploring Possibilities! Journeying Through Career-Related Learning in Grades 4-6, is a comprehensive career development resource for elementary teachers. The toolkit offers detailed research to build a powerful rationale for using a career development lens in elementary school work and activities and reshapes the word “career” into a thoughtful and imaginative journey full of learning and experiences that ignites students’ life journeys. 

The Exploring Possibilities! Journeying Through Career-Related Learning in Grades 4–6: A Teaching Toolkit is an important project in education but more specifically, in the area of elementary career education. The resulting teaching toolkit is a resource that can not only inform the practice of educators but to support a shift in mindset leading to the significant and intentional delivery of career development for elementary learners. The use of the toolkit will without a doubt have a lasting impact on the lives of our learners. It is with great hope that we will see its use across the relevant grades in allowing for more universally accessed career-connected learning. 

This toolkit offers an interesting perspective on career-related learning throughout Canada. Its innovative and creative activities can serve as inspiration for educators who wish to initiate and develop career-related skills within their community. The use of this toolkit can benefit students, helping them develop various facets of their lives, including healthy habits, social and emotional skills, self-confidence, and more, as they prepare to embrace their future.

As research is increasingly pointing to the critical role of career development at earlier ages, this toolkit is such a timely resource. It offers a powerful blend of conceptual clarity, linkages to research, tailored strategies and practical tools/activities for classroom or community application. Any educator or career influencer working with children will want this toolkit as their go-to guide. 

This teaching toolkit offers valuable insights into the integration of career-related learning within elementary education. While its primary focus is on preparing young students for future opportunities, it subtly emphasizes the importance of cultivating foundational skills such as healthy habits, social and emotional competence, self-confidence, empathy and collaboration. These skills not only support career development but also contribute to character development and lifelong flourishing. By recognizing that elementary education plays a vital role in helping children discover their passions and aspirations, this toolkit aligns with our commitment to holistic individual development. It provides educators with a valuable resource to foster both career readiness and the long-term well-being of young minds. 

As both a Grade 4 teacher and a career coach, I have been searching for quality career–related learning materials for my students. The Exploring Possibilities! Journeying Through Career-Related Learning in Grades 4–6: A Teaching Toolkit was the resource I was looking for. It seamlessly blends current research with practical, classroom-ready activities. This manual for career education will prove invaluable to both experienced career educators and those new to the topic. The teaching toolkit makes it easy to bring career–related learning to our elementary students in meaningful, age-appropriate ways. 

This is a timely and important new book. The Exploring Possibilities! Journeying Through Career-Related Learning in Grades 4–6: A Teaching Toolkit represents an important step forward in addressing a severely neglected subject. It responds to a growing recognition that truly effective career development will begin well before secondary education. Elementary (primary) schools have important roles to play in helping children to understand the links between their education and future possible selves and to question deep-seated assumptions about the careers that are reasonable for them to pursue. In these ways, early career development nurtures the spirit of curiosity and exploration that optimizes successful engagement through education and transitions into fulfilling employment.