Career Day in Nigerian Schools: What You Should Know

Career day is typically designed to help high school students decide what to study in college. Yet career exploration is an important topic for elementary students, too. Introducing young children to potential career options early on in school can keep students focused and engaged in subjects throughout middle and high school.

Here’s how to plan career days that are fun, memorable, and inspiring.

Planning Career Day In Nigerian Schools

Before planning a career day, teachers should check in with students about how they feel about attending such an event.

It’s especially important to talk to students about their goals and objectives, says Gail Woolf, partnership manager at Montgomery County Public Schools. This ensures that the event addresses topics they’re interested in.

Well-planned career exploration can have a host of long-term benefits for students. These benefits include improved academic performance and more positive career attitudes, explains Kara Goldenhorn at Julian Krinsky Camps. Career exploration also helps students understand how their skills and interests can translate into careers. In turn, this helps them better understand their overall place in the world.

Career exploration is all about helping students carry an idea into reality. “In the truest sense, this is the end-goal for creating access to career; career exploration used as a building block to create a well-educated workforce,” consultant Chanel Fort explains.

She stresses that teachers should help expose students to career paths specific to their state’s workforce development requirements — an idea we’ll explore later on.

Purpose Of Career Day In Nigerian Schools

When the purpose of a thing is unknown, abuse is inevitable. Career day can be easily mistaken to be a fashion parade or an interesting occasion.
However, career days are very crucial in forming the lives of the young ones and helping them have a deep connection with their future.

Check out some purposes of a career day.

Exposure

Students who have desired to become a professional in a particular occupation have the opportunity to meet professionals in that area.

On such day, professionals invited to give a talk will attempt to expose the student to the real world. Much more than the pictures they have seen in books or read about, there would be room for contact with someone who is experienced in the field.

Connection

Career day should indirectly connect pupils and students to the job. The presentation from the guests should be able to help students connect to the profession.
It should help them decide if they can continue with the profession or discontinue at an early stage.

Understand

There is a need to understand what it takes to become a professional in a field. For example, many of us wanted to become a doctor, an engineer, a pilot, and other known career paths.
However, the strength of some students doesn’t lay on the profession they desire. The understanding of the job would help know the requirement needed to survive in the profession.

Motivate

Discussion with known personalities can be a source of motivation to a growing generation. The urge to become like the personality or be better than the person can be a big push to put more effort into academics.
That’s why it’s necessary to bring an influential personality to have a session with the student.

Steps To Plan A Career Day

Planning a career day doesn’t seem easy as it appears. There are numerous plans that would have been executed to have a blissful ceremony.
Consider these core steps before proceeding in planning your school career day.

Set A Committee

If you are the head of a school, or the one supposed to head the team, your first step is setting up committees. To make the planning easier and more creatively engage people to take up different roles.
It would be better when you have different people head different areas and make their report to you. It makes the work easier and makes the panning more focused.

Choose A Theme

Having a theme would give a sense of direction. The theme will make you know who to invite to be the guest. Some things are to be considered before making the decision to focus.

Draw A Structure

Draw the plan and structure of the program. The number of presentations and how they would be conducted. It gives the program a shape and makes it look organized when it’s going on.

Research And Contact Presenters

When the date is chosen, the next urgent action to start is to research the proper person to present on the day and reach out. Most programs fail from inception because of indecision while planning.
Contacting the selected persons early would help to avoid disappointments or making hasty decisions later. Bringing an icon to meet with the students would elevate the day, and make it a dream day for the students.

Real-World Skill Exploration

Exposing students to new career paths should always be combined with skill development. In a Connections Academy interview, science teacher Meredith Stasik says most schools focus too deeply on the college experience and not enough on real-world skills. Yet, skills such as critical thinking, creative problem solving and inquiry based learning are all essential for success in the workplace.

Serial entrepreneur in the EdTech space and StudySoup CEO Sieva Kozinsky agrees. “Methods such as inquiry-based learning require students to dig through any prior knowledge they already have, apply that knowledge to a posed question, and use problem solving to arrive at an answer,” he writes.

Students need to learn the hands-on experience and skills that modern employers are looking for. Using career exploration as an avenue to teach these skills helps students make a clear connection between skills and professional success.

Conclusion

Career Day should be taken seriously, and enjoyable. You don’t have to neglect the entertaining part of the program. Entertainment helps to color the program and ease the tension.