Explore

Background Information

High school career education helps students connect their learning, strengths, interests, and experiences with informed choices about the pathways they may pursue beyond Grade 12. Alberta’s high school programming is designed to support students in achieving success in school, work, and life while preparing them to contribute to a changing society and economy.

Alberta Education and Childcare’s (n.d.-b) High School Completion webpage identifies several foundational principles that support student-centred high school learning: mastery learning; rigour and relevance; personalization; flexible learning environments; educator roles and professional development; meaningful relationships; home and community involvement; assessment; and welcoming, caring, respectful, and safe learning environments. For career education, these principles draw attention to learning that is relevant to students’ aspirations, responsive to their strengths and interests, connected to authentic contexts, and supported by educators who serve as teachers, guides, coaches, and career mentors.

The province also identifies school structure, school culture, school pedagogy, and school leadership as four areas in which schools have implemented changes to strengthen the high school experience. These areas include flexible schedules and varied instructional settings; student voice, engagement, and belonging; responsive planning, instruction, and assessment; and leadership that informs policy and fosters collaboration with community partners. For system education leaders, they offer a framework for considering how the high school experience is organized and supported across the school authority and how career education is embedded within that broader experience (Alberta Education and Childcare, n.d.-b).

Alberta’s High School Completion Strategic Framework (Alberta Education and Childcare, n.d.‑c) addresses challenges students may face in completing high school and supports the goal of providing all students with opportunities to succeed. It identifies five areas for action: tracking progress, student engagement, successful transitions, collaborative partnerships, and positive connections. These areas emphasize the use of evidence to understand student progress and needs, meaningful student involvement, intentional transition planning, collaboration, and strong relationships among school staff, students, and families. The framework is relevant when considering how career education may contribute to high school completion and successful transitions beyond Grade 12 (Alberta Education and Childcare, n.d.-b).

Source: Alberta’s High School Completion Strategic Framework: 5 Starting Points

Effective career education also helps students understand how graduation requirements, course selection, and postsecondary or apprenticeship prerequisites connect to their intended pathways. Because completing a high school credential does not necessarily satisfy the admission requirements for a chosen program, students require timely guidance and access to accurate information as their plans develop (Alberta Education and Childcare, n.d.-a).

From a system education leader perspective, career education is part of creating a responsive high school experience in which programming, guidance, partnerships, and career-connected learning support high school completion and preparation for life beyond Grade 12. When approached intentionally, it can broaden students’ understanding of what is possible and help them move forward with greater clarity, confidence, and purpose.

References

Alberta Education and Childcare. (n.d.-a). Graduation requirements, credentials and credits. Government of Alberta. https://www.alberta.ca/graduation-requirements-credentials-and-credits

Alberta Education and Childcare. (n.d.-b). High school completion. Government of Alberta. https://www.alberta.ca/high-school-completion

Alberta Education and Childcare. (n.d.-c). High school completion strategic framework. Government of Alberta. https://www.alberta.ca/high-school-completion