Introduction: Career Exploration
There are two issues that define our school’s success and remind is that our students need plenty of encouragement from us – the narrow range of their ambitions and what we teachers and adults can do to expand that narrow range. We tackle that narrow range of ambitions with our curriculum in this manner.
We first ask our kids these questions. “What do you want to be when you’re an adult?” “What inspires you?” “Who inspires you?” Ask those questions, and you’ll get some thought-provoking, even scary answers. How realistic is it that so many kids are relying on careers as professional athletes and singers? Kids are inspired by many things – the arts, science, cook new technology – and we as their teachers need to make sure they follow their inspirations. You can judge a culture by its inspirations and ambitions, so listen carefully to what they want to do when they’re grown-ups. Besides those athletes and singers, what other options are our kids looking at? What other options are we encouraging? What heroes and heroines do we highlight for our students?
We are showing our students that their options are limitless, especially at a time when increasing numbers of nations have the smarts, the skills, the drive, and the imaginations to compete for a future that hold far more that we can imagine. Students from China and India dream big. Here’s how we are helping our students widen their ambitions. Here’s how we are helping steer our students into new and exciting careers that they haven’t considered or even heard of. Each student chooses 2 career exploration, small group team for a 36-hour study paths each semester.
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