Connecting Life Skills and Careers

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Connecting Life Skills and Careers

• Rebecca Dedmond, Ph.D., George Washington
  University
• Doris Humphrey, Ph.D., Career Solutions
  Publishing
• ACTE Charlotte, 2008

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Cutting Edge Careers

• Simulation Developer
• Data Miner
• Wellness coach
• Asian Business Development Specialist
• U.S. News and World Report, June. 08

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Millennials at Work

• Liabilities 
• distaste for menial work
• lack of skills for dealing with difficult people 
• impatience 
• lack of experience
• confidence

• Assets
• multitasking
• goal orientation
• positive attitude
• technical savvy
• collaboration

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Todays Students Need to See Immediate Relevance
in What They Learn

• Data from a study on dropouts1
• 47 said classes werent interesting
• 81 called for more real-world learning
• 69 said they were not motivated to work hard
• 88 had passing grades, and 70 said they could
  have graduated if they tried
• 1 From The Silent Epidemic Perspectives on High
  School Dropouts, March 2006, as cited at
  http//www.gatesfoundation.org/UnitedStates/Educat
  ion/TransformingHighSchools/RelatedInfo/SilentEpid
  emic

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Freshman Transition Initiative

• Dr. Rebecca Dedmond

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How Can We Help These Students Connect?

• Connect instruction to things they care about
• Themselves
• Their lives now
• Their future
• Their family
• Their career
• Making money

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Project into the Future and Understand
Consequences of Actions and Choices
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Project into the Future and Understand
Consequences of Actions and Choices
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Project into the Future and Understand
Consequences of Actions and Choices
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Project into the Future and Understand
Consequences of Actions and Choices
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Preparing Students for Life and Careers

• Meet them where they are now.
• Connect the future to topics they care about now.
• Familiarize them with careers of the future.
• Give them a strong grounding in what employers
  expect.
• Communication
• Work ethics
• Readiness to work
• Prepare them for the disconnect between what they
  believe work should be like and what work is
  like.