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Career Curiosity: Exploring Future Paths

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Lesson Plan

Career Curiosity Lesson Plan

Students will explore various career options through interactive activities, role-playing, and career mapping to identify personal interests and potential future paths.

This lesson fosters early career awareness, helping students understand personal strengths and interests which can guide future educational and career choices.

Audience

Grades 6-12

Time

60-90 minutes

Approach

Interactive activities and guided discussions.

Materials

Career Curiosity Lesson Plan, Slide Deck: Career Mapping, and Discussion Guide: Exploring Careers

Prep

Preparation and Review

15-20 minutes

Step 1

Introduction and Icebreaker

10 minutes

  • Begin with a brief discussion on what careers are and why exploring them is important.
  • Conduct an icebreaker where students share one dream job.
  • Introduce the lesson objectives and agenda.

Step 2

Career Mapping Activity

25 minutes

  • Display the Slide Deck: Career Mapping to show various career paths.
  • Guide students through a mapping activity where they identify their interests and match them with potential careers.
  • Encourage group discussion and peer sharing.

Step 3

Role-Playing Exercise

20 minutes

  • Divide students into small groups and assign different career roles to each group.
  • Allow students to role-play a day in the life of a professional in the assigned career.
  • Facilitate a debrief with discussion questions guided by the Discussion Guide: Exploring Careers.

Step 4

Wrap-Up and Reflection

10 minutes

  • Summarize the key takeaways from the lesson.
  • Prompt students to write a short reflection on what career interests and personal strengths they identified.
  • Discuss how these insights can guide future learning and career exploration.
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Slide Deck

Welcome to Career Mapping

Explore various career options and discover the connections between your interests and potential careers. Let's start this exciting journey together!

Introduce the career mapping concept. Explain that this slide deck is a visual guide to help students see the connections between their interests and potential career paths.

What is Career Mapping?

Career mapping is a tool to visualize your personal interests, strengths, and how they connect to potential career paths. It helps you plan for your future by making informed decisions.

Present an overview of the career mapping process. Highlight that mapping involves self-reflection, exploring interests, and identifying skills.

Discover Your Interests

Identify your passions and strengths. Consider:

  • What activities do you enjoy?
  • What subjects intrigue you?
  • What skills come naturally to you?

Use these questions to start mapping your interests to career options.

Display a graphic or diagram (if available) showing different career clusters aligned with interest areas. Prompt students for discussion.

Mapping Your Career Path

Step 1: List your personal interests and strengths.
Step 2: Explore related career sectors.
Step 3: Connect the dots by identifying careers that align with your unique profile.

Remember: There is no one-size-fits-all career!

Guide students on how to take the information and use it to map a career. Encourage them to think broadly and creatively about potential career links.

Let’s Discuss!

Now that you've seen a visual guide to mapping career paths, share your thoughts:

  • What career paths spark your interest?
  • How can your skills and passions align with these careers?

We are excited to hear your insights!

Wrap up the deck and encourage students to engage in discussion; prompt them to share what they learned or ask any lingering questions.

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Discussion

Exploring Careers Discussion Guide

Welcome to our discussion session on exploring potential career paths! This guide provides structured questions and prompts designed to help you reflect on your interests, skills, and the wide array of career opportunities available. This discussion is intended to be open, thoughtful, and interactive.

Discussion Guidelines

  • Listen Actively: Respect everyone’s ideas and take turns speaking.
  • Share Freely: Your thoughts and experiences are valuable; feel free to contribute.
  • Be Open: Consider careers outside of your current interests to broaden your perspective.

Key Discussion Questions

1. Self-Reflection on Interests and Strengths

  • What activities or subjects are you most passionate about?





  • What are some personal strengths or skills you’ve noticed in yourself?





  • How do you think these interests and strengths could translate into a career?





2. Exploring the World of Careers

  • After looking at the Career Mapping Slide Deck, which careers caught your attention and why?





  • Were there any career options that surprised you? What made them stand out?





  • Discuss how different careers might require combining several skills and interests. Give an example.





3. Role-Playing Insights and Practical Implications

  • For those who participated in the role-playing exercise, how did assuming a specific career role change or influence your perspective about that job?





  • Did you discover any new interests or skills during the activity that you hadn’t considered before?





4. Planning for the Future

  • Considering the discussion today, what steps might you take to explore a career path further?





  • How can you use the insights from this lesson to guide future learning or extracurricular activities?





Follow-Up Points

  • Research Assignment: Choose one career that you found intriguing and research it further. Identify the education, skills, and experiences required for that career.





  • Creative Mapping: Create a career map that details how your current interests can connect to multiple potential careers.





  • Group Reflection: Share your career maps with a small group and discuss similarities and differences.

We hope these questions encourage a dynamic and engaging discussion that will help you uncover new career ideas and understand how your unique skills and interests might shape your future path!

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