Integrating Career Awareness in the ABE/ESOL Program

Description: This two-part workshop is an excellent opportunity for teachers and counselors from programs to learn together about a career planning process which will motivate students by providing them with the tools and information to reach their career and employment goals. Workshop participants will receive and learn how to use the new SABES Career Awareness Curriculum which is related to the MA Curriculum ELA, Math and ESOL frameworks strands and standards and was developed for use in ABE and ESOL classrooms and programs. We will demo some practical and easy to use online career exploration and employment resources you can use with your students. Attendance at both workshop sessions is required. Each workshop session is three hours. You will be able to try out activities in your program between the first and second sessions. Topics covered include: career planning, cultural awareness, identifying transferable skills and values, informational interviewing, how to be a good consumer of education and financial considerations.

Learning Objectives:

As a result of this workshop participants will be able to:

· integrate career awareness into their curriculum/program using a variety of methods, activities and outside resources (e.g., guest speakers, career fairs, job shadowing)

· understand how supporting students’ career and employment goals can increase student persistence and motivation

· have a clear understanding of the steps/building blocks of the career planning process and how to guide students through it

· understand the role of various types of career inventories/assessments and how to interpret them with students (skills, interests, experience, values)

· use/adapt the tools and techniques, such as career inventories/assessments outlined in the curriculum, in their classrooms

· identify their learners’ transferable skills and understand how these relate to career action planning

· locate some useful information resources regarding the world of work and the job market, and use and apply regional, statewide and national labor market resources

Integrating Career Awareness in the ABE/ESOL Program - Day 2 of 2 (CMA)