OPTIONAL COURSE

CAREER EDUCATION

10TH GRADE

Author,Teacher Popa Daniela

Craiova

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ARGUMENT

Developing one’s career is a continuous process, a series of changes,

generated by those in one’s personal and professional life. Making a decision and

planning one’s career is a process which can be learnt and applied throughout one’s

life, due to the influence of many factors, such as: interests, abilities, school

acquisitions, habits, needs, values, self-image, or other subjective factors.

This is why the current ”Career Education” Optional Course addresses

those teenagers involved in one form of studying or another, in all fields:

theoretical, technological, vocational or professional, while aiming at becoming a

useful tool in the future professional life and in the students’ insertion on the labour

market, in terms of self-knowledge. Previous experiences influence our students’

current needs and interests, and they are important references in their social and

professional future, as they influence their own opinions, their colleagues’

expectations, as well as the teachers’, parents’, relatives’, or other important

people, while society can also have a significant impact in shaping career-related

decisions. Each of the following contents start with a motto, including a set of

activities consisting of various exercises with detailed objectives, scenarios and

analyses.

It would prove useful to include the exercises in the “Career Education”

optional course in order to get more familiar with our students, complete their

personal portfolios, and improve communication between the school, the family

and society. The issue of career guidance is essential, all the more so given the ever

growing expectations of the young and those regarding the world in which they are

living. Focussing on the main characteristics of a person’s personality, on

relationships, on an accurate needs analysis, on developing abilities in view of a

better social and professional insertion, all lead to a correlation between the

contents in this optional course and the students’ choices, as future professionals on

the European labour market.

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Specific competences Contents

Self knowledge in terms of intellectual resources, abilities, habits, skills.

The role of career education in one’s personal development. Learning styles.

Developing self-confidence and creating a positive and realistic self-image.

Do I trust myself? I want to trust myself! Self-esteem: self-assessment. Individual and group work.

Connecting with other people, shaping, communicating, relating with the others.

Efficient communication. The elements of communcation. Exercises and activities.

Designing a magazine consisting of various articles within a project, taking on various roles, solving various tasks while working in a team.

Team work. Roles and responsabilities. Group activities: magazines,

collages.

Vocational socializing, becoming familiar with the labour market, with their future jobs; developing decision-making abilities and independence in career planning. Identifying the causes, the nature and the extent of decision barriers. Becoming familiar with various concepts such as choice, decision, career planning, career plans.

Personal marketing. Personal decisions School success v school failure Individual activities: CV,

customized diploma, commercial video, personal portfolio

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3. VALUES AND ATTITUDES

1. Developing one’s career by a personal, pro-active attitude and affective stability

2. Creating relationships based on reciprocal respect and cooperation with the others within the framework of various projects

3. Moving on from a behaviour set on avoiding failure to one based on achieving success and realistic decisions

4. Becoming aware of the social and cultural status in relation with one’s moral values, interests, educational influences, personality, skills

5. Informing the students about the world of jobs, analyzing occupational profiles and job offers

6. Getting the students familiar with the instruments they need to promote themselves on the labour market (CV, letters of intention, recommendations, interviews)

7. Showing initiative and availability to approach various tasks within team work and taking on various responsibilities within a group.

4. METHODOLOGICAL SUGGESIONS

The learning situations are varied, attractive and adapted to each of the

contents in the study programme. Each of them has detailed contents, including

objectives, key concepts, scenarios for various activities and conclusions.

Methodological suggestions:

1. Activities centered on individual, group work or pair work problem-solving,

practical activities and realistic tasks

2. Teaching-learning-assessment methods based on developing various

abilities, such as self-knowledge, self-assessment, efficient communication

3. Developing team work skills and responsibility

4. Dividing students into groups according to their personal preferences, role

plays, encouraging self-reflection

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5. ASSESSMENT

Assessment will be done constantly, individually or as a group, while

considering the students’ characteristics related to age and interests. Some of the

assessment methods that will be used during the optional course are listed below:

- written tests concerning self-knowledge;

- various questionnaires;

- oral assessment by direct answers to questions/tasks;

- practical activities;

- group projects on a given or suggested topic;

- an electronic individual portfolio consisting of: a CV, a customized diploma, a

commercial video;

- a class magazine.

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