Careers and transition

Secondary schools aim to develop young people to be “confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners” (New Zealand Curriculum, 2007)

How do people learn to become general practitioners, carpenters and engineering technicians? This report is based on the Knowing Practice project and explores practice-based learning and capability building across three different fields. It is co-published by NZCER and Ako Aotearoa. 

It’s a big deal to become an apprentice. You’ve decided you’d like to get trade qualified and your boss thinks you’re worth the time and effort. That’s why they signed you into a training agreement. While on the surface things might seem a little overwhelming, it’s not out of control. In fact it’s really under your control. So now is a good time for you to take charge of your apprenticeship because let’s face it – it’s your apprenticeship, your qualification and your career!

This report is concerned with the key transition support system of school-based career education. We argue that long-standing deficiencies in career education require a new framework to address young people’s needs. We discuss exploratory research with two schools on how career management competencies can be put into practice to provide this new framework. We suggest that career management competencies have the potential to be a transformative “core service” in career education. They can re-invigorate the direction of schools and sharpen the focus for the New Zealand Curriculum principles and vision of young people becoming confident, connected, actively involved lifelong learners.