The large overarching message I got from this course is how important it is to embed career education into our regular classes because students are currently receiving a limited amount of Career Education or time with teachers on this subject, and this area of education is one of the most important ones for our learners’ futures. For example, one of the most common questions we get from students is: why? Why does what we’re doing right now matter? In my own practice, I would be curious to see what might happen if I taught English again to embed more career-related instruction into my classes. As we’ve learned in this class, it is quite easy to shift a topic from an old lesson plan to create some of the cross-curricular connections with Career Education.

The youth of today are facing a different world than our parents did. I feel that my generation is straddling this transition. A lot of the advice I have received from role models and educators that I looked up in the past gave me a lot information that was outdated. At the time, I didn’t realize that it was outdated. It wasn’t until I tried to pursue a career in opera, for example, that I found out how nearly impossible it is to get an agent during a Young Artist Program — where in the past, it was more common. Our students need us to prepare them for this future filled with uncertainty. Gig economy and the side hustle are the now more-real future for our students than the 9-5 salary.

I think shifting our perspective is the biggest step in making this transition in thinking and instruction for our students. Educating ourselves on the realities that students face is crucial. The gap will only get bigger if we don’t. Teachers who haven’t retired yet experienced when computers were first introduced into the classroom, for example. We all take computers for granted now, but it is a very real reality that the world changed so quickly that a lot of older teachers either can’t or haven’t kept up with the times. I myself am straddling this huge shifting career climate, and I struggle to keep up with what’s going on in the world. Everything is moving to fast and quickly to keep up with, it feels like, but we all must do our best to do so in order to right by our students.