By: Catalina D’Achiardi-Ressler, Ph.D., Kuder, Inc. Vice President of Research

Considering what tools to use to stimulate career exploration during the elementary school years is often a daunting task for those who are expected to deliver such services. Stringent curriculum requirements, time constraints, and perhaps most importantly the lack of tools that are engaging, fun, and educational, frequently preclude children from being exposed to early career exploration. Moreover, available tools in the market provide a lot of information about the world of work but little about the skills that encourage self-understanding and lead to satisfying career choices. Young adults are expected to make good career decisions, but we don’t always teach them at an early age what is needed to make such decisions in the future.

In the past, much of what was done for career exploration began at the middle school or high school level. Little time was given to career exploration and career planning during the elementary school years, but that trend is starting to change as we become aware of the importance of early career awareness. The National Career Development Association (NCDA) and the American School Counseling Association (ASCA) have well-researched and well-established career goals that are developmentally appropriate for these grade levels. At Kuder, we have gathered these research-based goals and created Kuder^® Galaxy to introduce students in pre-K through fifth grade to both self-understanding and exploration of the world of work activities. For example, the self-understanding goal for kindergarten is to learn to develop a positive view of self, while the world of work goal is to help kids understand the link between their “likes” and what they do at school.

Galaxy has a set of age-appropriate activities and is organized in a flexible framework containing four action-based categories – Play, Watch, Do, and Explore – under which all content is classified. To keep users engaged and coming back to the system, the content is scheduled for continuous updates throughout the year. Galaxy is an “edutainment” product; while the activities we have selected are educational in nature, they are also fun and interactive. The system encourages kids to meet the grade-level goals by rewarding them in two main ways: 1) allowing them to unlock more fun activities as required ones are completed, and 2) earning points as they complete activities so they can select advanced avatars to guide them through Galaxy.

Both parents and teachers are able to learn what types of activities are most attractive to their kids through the parent and teacher dashboards. In these dashboards, data regarding the child’s activity within the system is presented in graphic displays. Each activity within the system is associated with a school subject, a career cluster, and a goal outlined for each grade level. Parents and teachers are able to view where the students’ interests lie and drive more content or select materials (such as books, videos, or others) that continue to encourage the development of those interests. Moreover, by displaying goals that have been met by the students on these dashboards, parents and teachers are able to learn about the progress that the child has made toward career development.

To learn more about Galaxy, please contact us at 877.773.8444 or info@kuder.com.

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