Career-Connected Learning: Educator Resources to Get You Started

Career-connected learning (CCL) has the power to transform how young people see themselves and envision their futures. Catalyze-funded programs have served over 65,000 learners, and a recent survey of 470 of these learners reveals that career-connected learning is having a positive impact on their lives. In fact, learners engaged in Catalyze-funded programs consistently report feeling more positive than their Gen Z peers about setting achievable goals, being prepared for life after school, and gaining the skills they need for career success. So what exactly does CCL look like in practice? And how do practitioners integrate CCL career exploration activities into their unique contexts to bring this positive impact to their learners?

At this year’s SXSW EDU, the Catalyze community hosted a standing-room-only workshop—underscoring the growing demand for expanding access to CCL for all learners. Through interactive exercises, participants explored practical, learner-centered strategies that support middle and high school students to build agency to chart their own career paths. Featuring four organizations from the Catalyze community of practice—CAST Schools, REACH Pathways, Scoutlier, and unCommon Construction—the session highlighted accessible, actionable ways to integrate career-connected learning into any educational setting. 

Check out these Catalyze community examples and accompanying resources of career-connected learning in action that support learners of all ages in their career exploration!  

Jumpstart Mentorships

CAST Schools employs a mentoring program designed to support and empower students through meaningful, personalized guidance. Their speed mentoring framework is a way for schools to get started with mentoring by facilitating a one-time mentoring experience for learners and adults that could potentially lead to more.

Learn more and download the CAST Schools Speed Mentoring How-To Guide here.

Teach an Innovative Mindset

Scoutlier.com is a lesson design and delivery platform supported by NSF, DoD, and philanthropic funding so that formal and informal educators can deliver innovation based education. To prepare students for a STEM-dominated future, Scoutlier believes innovation is a skillset that needs to be practiced. The “It Starts On a Napkin” activity encourages students to take on an innovative mindset as they are presented with a question, iterate ideas, and solve real-world problems using science and technical skills, showcasing the importance of innovation-based learning as a necessary skill for STEM careers.  

Engage Learners as Co-Designers and Decision-Makers 

REACH Pathways employs a Youth Advisory Group as co-designers and decision makers to operate their business and platform. These student advisors participate in vendor decisions, strategic decisions, board meetings, UI/UX product testing, grant writing, social media, coding and curriculum design. By meaningfully prioritizing learner voice, REACH ensures they are creating a product that truly serves their target learner audience while also providing learners with an authentic tech career learning experience.

Celebrate the Durable Skills

At unCommon Construction, learners receive “Awesome Cards” on worksites as a way to recognize and celebrate durable skills in action, reinforcing the behaviors that lead to success in school, work, and life. Derived from MHALabs.org’s 21st-century skills frameworks, this simple yet powerful practice helps students build their durable skills by making them visible, acknowledged, and valued.

Call to Action: Bring Career-Connected Learning To Your Learners!  

Career-connected learning is for learners of all ages, and practitioners working with youth can integrate these approaches and activities into their unique learning contexts. 

If you are a practitioner, we encourage you to commit to one step today to support career exploration for youth in your community. Whether you incorporate an activity from this workshop or adapt an approach to fit your context, even small actions can create a meaningful impact on learners and their future careers.

Let’s work together to ensure that all learners have access to engaging and meaningful career-connected learning experiences!