On March 6, 2018, CACEE West in partnership with SFU Career & Volunteer Services and SFU Public Square, hosted an event titled Preparing Students for the Future World of Work: Challenges and Opportunities for the Post-Secondary System. Sharing their thoughts on the topic were three leading experts in the fields of career development and experiential education: Dr Jim Bright, Dr Kris Magnusson, and Dr Nancy Johnston.

Dr Bright started the day by questioning many of the pillars of traditional career support. He questioned the value of traditional approaches to goal setting and planning and made the case that career decisions are not rational decisions (like most other major life decisions). He also identified the keys to career support from a CHAOS perspective: Creativity; Happenstance; Adaptability; Opportunity; Strategy.

A video link to Dr Bright’s presentation can be found here: https://vimeo.com/265481777/3b134b90f0

Dr Magnusson’s presentation looked at how the educational system has “messed up” the career curriculum in the last 50 years and how the new BC K-12 curriculum shows real promise in addressing these historical shortcomings. Some of his key points are 1. The career curriculum has failed because it offers out of date tools for today’s complex times. 2. We know how to make this better, but it has to be taken seriously.  3. We need to harness the potential of career thinking if new curricula are to be successful.

A video link to Dr Magnusson’s presentation can be found here: https://vimeo.com/265487726/c57b608248

Dr Johnson’s presentation focused on the concept of Transfer of Learning. She argued that post-secondary institutions do not do a good enough job in supporting students in their abilities to transfer their learning from school to work-related contexts though many assume they do. She highlighted that not all individuals are effective at transfer and that educators and educational institutions have the responsibility to help develop these skills in their students.

Due to technical issues, a video of Dr Johnston’s presentation is not available.