Three Steps and Resources to Inspire Career Exploration Starting in Elementary Education

Children are naturally curious and think about their futures. How many times have students shared that they want to be a doctor, engineer, or professional athlete when they grow up?

As an elementary school teacher in the Midwest, I have shaped many young minds over my 28-year career. In my time, I have seen how student curiosity can pave a potential pathway for a growth mindset geared toward careers. This lived experience makes sense as research shows that students want engaging classroom content that connects the wider world to the lesson plans.

Yet, many elementary school teachers (myself included!) are focused on the standards students learn and how quickly we can teach in line with school and district calendars. In that focus, we can often forget how crucial it is for students to start learning about future careers now. However, there are opportunities to show students the clear through line between classroom lessons and exact jobs and career fields.

Here are three steps and reliable resources for teachers of any grade can use to effectively engage students in a career-connected exploration:

1. Build Background Knowledge

To build background knowledge about careers and jobs, I began by creating a collection of resources on Epic. Epic is a digital reading platform that contains more than 40,000 searchable books and audiobooks on many topics. It is free for educators, and there is a limited version for students.

There are collections made by others, including educators, so it’s easy to organize searches and curations based upon student interests and classroom needs. For example, the reading level range in my third-grade classroom varies greatly. With Epic, I can find books on the same topic and differentiated by Lexile level. I also like that students can enlarge the text and grab the definition of any word, an affordance particularly helpful for English as a New Language students. Then, you can follow up on the lesson with a quiz, either self-created or from a library of quizzes on Epic.

You can assign books and quizzes to individual students, groups, or the whole class. So, I recently sent my students a wide variety of books on jobs and careers to connect my lesson plans and prepare them for other upcoming opportunities.

2. Connect Engaging Opportunities

After my students dove into reading about potential jobs and careers, I joined Futures Fairs hosted by Discovery Education. This free, online event offered interactive presentations from professionals across industries, mentorship opportunities, and hands-on activities.

My students got to meet directly with a professional from Clayco and learned all about efficiency in construction. While this was a higher-level topic for a third grade class, they rose to the occasion and asked insightful questions! The students came prepared with background knowledge of the manufacturing industry and what it can take to become an engineer or a construction professional.

I complemented the Futures Fair session with a hands-on activity where the students took what they learned from readings and the event to draw what they think is an environmentally friendly building. This gave them the opportunity to critically apply what they learned, creatively imagine, and communicate their thoughts.

I am so proud of my third grade class for taking what they learned from the virtual career connection and how they were able to demonstrate and communicate their learnings. The students must have carried this knowledge home for I even had one parent share, “I am so excited for my child to have this experience. Thanks for making this possible.”

3. Cement the Learning

To cement student learning, I like to pull in the topics of student interest into my other lessons. For example, I used PBSto search for resources about construction. With PBS, it’s simple to put together new lesson plans or grab resources using the lesson builder feature. With interactive lessons, videos, and articles, there is so much for the students to explore! You can even send the content directly to students with a link so they can follow along during class and continue exploring afterwards.

In another example of connecting the dots and cementing learning, I have had former students come to class for a mini career session. During Hispanic Heritage month this year, a former student of mine came to my current class to explain their roles as a bilingual public relations consultant specializing in connecting multicultural entrepreneurs. This was a full circle moment for me as I began my career as a bilingual teacher in Houston. My current students were able to meet with some of my first students and see how knowing two or more languages can be such an asset in many careers.

Shaping the Future, Today

“Teaching is the one profession that creates all the other professions” is a widely circulated quote by an unknown author. As educators, we need to use our power and position more effectively by providing our students with specific resources and opportunities to learn about a variety of careers and jobs that appeal to a wide range of learners.

We have the ability to shape the future, and our students are the future. Let’s utilize the amazing resources we have all around us by providing paths for our students’ future careers and jobs.

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