Helping Your Child in a World of Possibilities
Research tells us that teenagers rank the support of their parents as a greater source of influence on their career expectations than that of their teachers or peers. In fact, career aspirations begin in childhood, in the family context. So – parents, you are crucial! You exert the greatest influence on the learning decisions of your child and will often be the first point of call for career information, advice and guidance.
Yet, many of you feel ill-equipped to offer career support to your children. The parents I have spoken to feel they lack knowledge as to how to access good quality career information and are worried about giving the wrong advice, or even hindering their child’s future development.
My Parent Workshop aims to help parents rethink the meaning of career in today’s world and provides some simple, practical steps parents can take to better support their child with confidence.
What comes to mind when I say the word ‘career’? Job title? Occupation? Work? Maybe you’re thinking you don’t even have a career. I believe a ‘career’ is more than simply the paid work you do. Instead, I consider a career as the many aspects of your life throughout your lifetime: your paid and unpaid roles, your life roles, your leisure activities, your formal learning as well as your informal learning. By broadening your understanding of what a ‘career’ means, you can also start to broaden your child’s aspirations for their life. My Parent Workshop aims to show you how and why.
During the workshop I will give some practical tools to help you support your child with their career development. I concentrate on the “High 5 Career Development Principles” (Redekopp, D (1995) The ‘High Five’ of Career Development, ERIC Digest) which are 5 key messages created by career development specialists across Canada. These principles help us focus on the keys to success in career/life planning. They are worth keeping in mind as you explore the area of careers with your child.
Together we will look at each of these principles in detail and for each key message we will discuss tips and practical activities you can do with your child.
1. Change is Constant
The World Economic Forum in 2016 estimated about 65% of children entering primary school today will end up with jobs that don’t exist yet. With statistics like this it’s easy to see why making future career decisions can be challenging and overwhelming for both young people and their parents! So how do we prepare our children for an unknown future? During the Parent Workshop we will look at the life skills our young people need and some practical steps you can take to help your child achieve their goals and to thrive in the face of change, difficulty, opposition or failure.
2. Learning is Ongoing
You never stop learning in a world that never stops changing! During the Workshop we will consider the importance of lifelong learning and enabling our children to remain open to new experiences, new ideas and new learning. In addition, it’s important for parents and children to learn how to use the huge number of career-related resources available. During the Workshop I will give you practical tools which can help guide your child to navigate career information in order to make informed decisions about their future.
3. Focus on the Journey
We are probably all familiar with the saying: “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” I wholeheartedly agree! I see a career as a lifelong journey, with no fixed destination. Each experience opens new doors to new and different opportunities. During the Workshop we will spend some time considering the different stages in your child’s career journey and I will give you practical tips to help you to guide your child on this journey without missing opportunities along the way.
4. Follow your Heart
People are happier and more productive when doing something they enjoy. Wouldn’t it be great if our children can combine the things that are important to them with earning a living and/or studying? During this part of the Workshop we will look at how parents can help their child know themselves – discover their talents, strengths, skills, passions and values. I will also give you some practical tips as to how to help your child assess realistic options, without dampening their enthusiasm.
5. Access your Allies
The old adage: “It’s not what you know, but who you know” has some truth. Accessing allies is about networking to gain information as well as opportunities to work shadow and obtain work experience. In this part, we will consider how important breadth of experience is and give some practical tips on helping your child use their network.
By the end of the Workshop you should possess a number of practical tips and tools to help you feel confident about supporting and guiding your child as they begin their career journey. If you have children from age 10 years and are interested in attending a Parent Workshop, please contact me.