The relevance of career education in the primary school sector

Abstract

The dissertation focuses on the relevance of career education and it gives reasons why it can be beneficial, especially when it starts to be taught in the primary years of schooling. The focus of this dissertation will also be on the proposals made in the recently published 'Career Guidance Policy for Schools' (2007). The policy proposes that there should be a developmental career education programme which should be delivered in all primary and secondary school and that career education should be integrated within the PSD lessons. This study explores what PSD state school primary teachers think about these proposals and whether they feel that PSD is the right medium for the teaching of career education topics. The data were gathered from questionnaires and a focus group interview. The questionnaires were distributed to all state school PSD primary teachers. A focus group interview was then held with 7 participants from the same sample of PSD teachers. This study made use of two different research tools to acquire a complete view of the research topic. The data indicate that career education should equip students with the necessary skills which will eventually help them to manage their own career. The majority of PSD primary teachers are of the opinion that such skills need to be instilled in our students from an early age. Within the subject a lot of social skills are already being developed and therefore PSD is the right medium where career related topics can be addressed.